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“That’s what I said,” Cammie added. “Reed can’t actually be dating her.” If only my sister knew how close to the truth she was.
“Oh, nonsense,” Mom said, coming to my defense. “Any girl would be lucky to date my Reedy. Right, Violet?”
“Uh, right.”
“Now, why don’t you make yourselves comfortable in the living room?” Mom said, leading the way. “Dinner’s almost ready.”
Violet smirked slightly as she glanced my way. “Reedy?”
“My mom is the one and only person allowed to call me that,” I muttered.
“But why? It’s so cute.”
“Funny,” I grumbled. “Maybe we should just go back to your house and hang out with Luke. That might be more enjoyable for me.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said with a smile before she took my hand and nodded in the direction of the living room. “Let’s go, Reedy.”
I laughed and led her into the room, trying my best to steady my racing heart, which had taken off at a gallop the moment she intertwined her fingers with mine. Mom had disappeared into the kitchen and probably dragged Cammie along with her. I imagined she was afraid my little sister was going to say something to embarrass Violet. If anyone in my family was going to scare Violet away, it would be Cammie. I hadn’t been lying when I told Violet my sister was the scariest Darling of all.
Parker had thrown himself down on an armchair, and Grayson was already on the couch watching TV with Paige. Her legs were curled up in Grayson’s lap, and my brother was sitting so rigidly he couldn’t have looked more awkward if he tried.
Paige jumped up the moment we entered the room. She couldn’t contain her excitement as she dashed over to meet Violet. “Hi, I’m Paige.” She pulled Violet into an even more enthusiastic hug than my mom.
Violet gave her a warm smile once she’d been released from Paige’s grip. “I’m Violet.”
“Oh, I know that. Reed’s told me all about you.”
“Has he now?” Violet tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and her eyes danced with curiosity.
“She practically waterboarded me,” I grumbled.
Paige laughed. “Oh, please. It doesn’t take that much to get you to spill all your deep dark feelings.”
“Deep dark feelings?” Violet lifted an eyebrow at me. I sincerely hoped she wasn’t taking Paige’s chatter seriously. I didn’t want her to know I’d broken the golden rule.
“Well, he might not have dark feelings.” Paige laughed. “But they’re definitely deep.”
I officially wanted to kill Paige. She was clearly trying to remind me about our conversation in class the other day when she’d tried to convince me to open up to Violet about my last relationship. If anything, she was putting me off the idea even more.
Violet seemed to sense we were treading on uncomfortable territory and quickly changed the subject. “So, are you related to Reed too?” she asked.
“No, I’m more of an unofficial Darling who gate-crashes family dinner every week. Grayson’s my bestie, aren’t you, Gray?”
Grayson grunted in response from his spot on the couch, like he took personal offense to the word bestie. Paige was completely oblivious though. She grabbed Violet by the hand and dragged her toward the couch. I felt somewhat relieved when the girls sat down and I saw there wasn’t room for me. While Violet had seemed comfortable so far, I was still scarred by the way she’d frozen up when I’d sat close to her at Nino’s. I didn’t want the same thing to happen tonight in front of my whole family.
If anyone was acting uncomfortable, it was me. My family was to blame. They all seemed set on embarrassing me, in their own unique ways, and I was on edge as I waited to see who would strike next.
“We didn’t see you at the game yesterday, Violet,” Parker said.
“Yeah, I was sorry to miss it,” she replied. “I had work.”
“Where do you work?” Paige asked.
“Hug in a Mug.”
“Oh, I don’t drink coffee, but they have the best choc chip muffins in there,” Paige gushed. “I’ll have to come visit you sometime and get one.”
“If you think the muffins are good, you should try the cookies,” Violet replied. “They’re always so soft and gooey inside.”
