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“Actually, I think your dad was the one who did the rescuing,” I replied.
Danny laughed. “Yes, and I did it in such style. Don’t try and steal my moment, son.”
"You do make a great lobster.” Reed nodded in agreement. “But I’m pretty sure I was the gallant knight in shining armor.”
“No way. You’d have been useless without my noble steed.”
“Are you talking about your tow truck?” Reed laughed. “It’s hardly noble.”
“Sorry, Reed,” I added. “I have to say, I think Danny and his tow truck are the real heroes here. You can’t rescue a girl without a steed.”
“Okay. Okay. I’ll make sure I bring one next time.” He grinned at me, and I smiled back.
Sitting around the dinner table with Reed and his family made me question how he’d ever developed such a bad reputation. I wondered what people would say if I told them about this side of him. Like most other Reed Darling rumors, I imagined it would morph into something completely different and ridiculous.
“Aww, you guys are so cute,” Paige cooed.
Reed and I both flushed and glanced away from each other.
“See?” Paige continued, turning her phone around to show us. She’d taken a picture of us smiling at one another, and, I had to admit, we looked surprisingly like a couple. Reed’s eyes were soft as he gazed at me, and my own almost sparkled. Was that really how I looked when I stared at Reed?
“I’m sorry about Paige,” Reed said. “She’s worse than the paparazzi.”
“Hey,” Paige complained. “Someone had to capture the moment…”
“Well, I’m very unimpressed,” Reed said before lowering his voice and grinning. “Send it to me.”
“I will.” Paige laughed. “I’ll call it the damsel and her knight in shining armor.”
“Look, I think we all know I’m the real knight in this family,” Parker added, making everyone groan.
“Dude, you’re the one the girls need rescuing from,” Cammie said.
Even Reed’s mom and dad joined in with the laugher that erupted from the table.
It was impossible not to get caught up in the whirlwind energy of the Darling family dinner. One moment, they were bickering, and the next, they were all laughing. It was definitely not boring, and by the time it was over, I was sad to leave.
Each one of them hugged me as I left. All except Grayson, that was. He just caught my eye and gave me a simple nod. I knew Reed had told his twin about our fake relationship, so I wondered if his aloof attitude toward me meant he didn’t approve of what we were doing.
“Gray’s not a hugger,” Reed said when I brought it up on the drive back to my place. “But he liked you. I could tell.”
“He barely said anything to me.”
Reed chuckled. “He barely says anything to anyone.”
“But he knows I’m not really your girlfriend…”
“They all liked you,” Reed insisted. “Including Grayson. I think you’ve been unofficially adopted by my family.”
I didn’t know how I felt about that. A part of me was honored by how quickly and easily the Darling family had made me feel at home, but another part of me regretted going tonight at all. Seeing Reed with his family and getting to know them all was going to make it so much harder when this was all over.
“I really liked them too,” I murmured.
Reed reached out and took my hand, giving it a light squeeze. It sent gentle tingles racing across my skin, and my stomach dipped like I was about to go over the edge of a rollercoaster's first drop.
“Thank you for inviting me,” I said, smiling across at him. “I really liked being your girlfriend tonight, Reed.”
“Don’t you mean fake girlfriend?”
