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Bentley had taken Sixx home early that morning. With Sixx’s hands bandaged up, we didn’t know how to expect his parents to react. Other than to text Ali he made it home, he’d been radio silent all day.
But that didn’t mean his parents hadn’t called ours. Hence, Ali’s anxiety.
I didn’t think she had anything to worry about regarding our parents. Sammy had called to tell me the pervy teacher had been dealt with. All the pictures of Ali had been destroyed. And Sixx wouldn’t be on the radar of the fight club organizers in a few more days.
As long as everyone kept to the story we’d agreed on, our parents would be none the wiser about our warehouse adventure in gang territory.
No, it was I who had reason to worry. I was the one who had to tell Mom and Dad I was married to a man they’d never met before. My professor, who hadn’t actually been my professor. Who was also the father of my child.
Hearing a door shut, I tensed. Nausea churned, making sweat bead on my throbbing lip. After I’d iced it regularly for the last thirty-six hours, the swelling had gone down, but there was no hiding the bruises that covered half my face or the busted lip.
“What’s the worst they can do?” Ali muttered to herself. “Keep me from Sixx? I won’t survive.”
“They won’t keep you from Sixx,” I assured her. “Stop worrying.”
“Easy for you to say,” she grumbled. The front door opened, and her face lost what little color it had. “I’m going to be sick.”
“Girls, we’re home!” Dad called out. “Where are my babies?”
“Give them hugs, and then go to your room,” I hissed to her as we both stood. “Trust me. They won’t care about anything you did this weekend. They will be too focused on me.”
Her eyes flared with surprise, but she didn’t have time to ask me what I was talking about. Mom came into the living room. Their weekend away with their closest friends had left her with a glow, like it normally did. Guilt gnawed at me. I was about to erase her happy vibes.
Dad dropped their cases on the floor, and Ali gave him a tight hug. “Did you two have fun?”
“Your dad lost twenty grand playing poker. But Lucy won it back at the roulette table,” Mom said with a laugh. “We spent the rest of the weekend in the suite, gorging on room service. What did you two do?”
“Abi and Hayat went to First Bass Friday night. But we mostly stayed home and relaxed. Hayat, Evan, Bentley, and Sixx hung out with us.”
“Yeah?” Dad slung his arm around her shoulders, his face going stern. “Then how did Sixx end up needing stitches in four knuckles?”
“He was playing around with Bentley and Evan,” I excused, making sure my hair covered most of my face. “You know how boys are.”
“Yeah, I’m so glad we had girls.” Kissing Ali’s head, Dad released her and moved to hug me. “How about we order some dinner and have a family night in front of the T…V.”
He finally focused on my split lip. As he pushed my hair back, his eyes narrowed when he saw the bruise that went from my mouth up to my eye. “What the fuck happened to your face, Abi?”
“What?” Mom turned from hugging my sister to look at me. “Jesus, Abi, do you need to go to the hospital? Or maybe the dentist? Did you knock any teeth loose?”
“I slipped in the shower,” I excused, giving them the story we had all agreed on. “And no, Mom, my teeth are fine. It looks worse than it is because of all the bruising.”
Her fingers gently prodded at my cheek, making me grunt at the discomfort. “Sweetheart, what made you fall?”
“I dropped my conditioner. Half the bottle spilled, and I slid in it. Connected with the handle.”
“Damn, Abi-cakes. You could have lost an eye.” Dad hugged me gently, like I was breakable. “I need to put you in a bubble.”
Smiling, because Sammy had said something similar Friday night, I hugged him back. But realizing what I was doing, I mentally scowled. No, I was not going to think Sammy was sweet. She was the enemy.
“I have some studying to do,” Ali announced, slowly backing out of the room. “Huge bio test this week. You guys know I suck at science.”
“But dinner as a family,” Dad whined, pouting at her.
She laughed. “Order whatever you want. Yell for me when it gets here, and we can have the family night.”
I waited for her door to close upstairs, but as soon as I heard it, I chickened out. Dad was laughing at something Mom whispered to him as she passed. It was gross but adorable how they still flirted with each other and thought we didn’t know they went to Vegas to have wild sex. They’d just gotten home. After they’d worried about me all week, I didn’t want to dump my crap on them.
There was no getting out of it. I couldn’t hide everything from them forever. Especially not a baby.
