“Wow! So what did you do?”
“My mom was so happy that Justin was there, at least a guy she thought was Justin, and I was happy that I didn’t have to defend him for not coming, so I just…you know.” I shrug. “I let everyone think that Caleb was Justin.”
Vivian gasps, closing her hand over her mouth. We stare at each other for a whole two seconds before she lowers her fingers enough to speak. “Did your family know it wasn’t the real Justin?”
“No.” I shake my head. “They loved him. It was a great night. My mom was finally off my back about our relationship, and I could just enjoy the tradition like old times.”
“Did you guys kiss again?”
All my reactions happen at once. My brows bunch, I frown, and my head kicks back. “No! Why would we kiss? I’m with Justin.”
“Because he’s pretending tobeJustin.”
“No, we barely touched. It was all very brother-of-my-boyfriend kosher.”
“So what happened next?”
“Well, Justin came the next day to Thanksgiving.”
“The real Justin?”
“Yes, and he was distracted the whole time with work because of the Black Friday stuff, which made my mom mad again, and I don’t know… I hated feeling like we were back to square one despite all the progress we’d made from Caleb showing up the night before. After how hard Thanksgiving was, Justin and I talked, and we decided to officially ask Caleb to be his holiday stand-in. So on Friday and Saturday, Caleb came with me to my family parties.”
“And nobody knew?”
“Nobody knew.”
“And Justin is okay with it?”
“Yeah, it was pretty much his idea.”
“And the brother doesn’t care that you and your family take up all of his free time?”
“No, he’s been really cool about it.” I don’t know why.
Why does Caleb not care? I’ll have to dive deep into analyzing that at some point. Or maybe I don’t. Maybe Caleb’s motivations don’t matter.
“You’re living your own personal version of the movieThe Parent Trap.”
“I know. Young Lindsey Lohan would be so proud.”
“You’re not going to fall in love with the brother over Justin, are you?”
“No!” I’m overcompensating my answer with loudness. “It’s not like that. Caleb and I are just friends. I’m one hundred percent committed to making things work with Justin. I wouldn’t be doing this whole charade if I didn’t have all my eggs in the Justin Davidson basket.”
“Okay.” Vivian studies me as she nods. “How did you end up ice climbing alone with Caleb?”
“Oh, that was what Caleb wanted in exchange for going to all of my family parties.”
Her brows lift. “To ice climb?”
“Not that exactly. He wants me to do some of the holiday things on his list with him. So this weekend, we’re going backcountry skiing.”
She shifts her position on my desk, switching what leg crosses over the other. “So in exchange for spending time with you, Caleb wants to spend even more time with you?”
“That’s correct.”
“That has disaster written all over it.”
