After an eternity, she says, “Stop calling me Cherry and I’ll think about it.”
“No can do.”
“Why the fuck not? It’s a stupid nickname.”
“It’s a brilliant nickname. It’syournickname, so no.”
She’s exasperated, but the nickname is non-negotiable. She’smyCherry.
“What’s wrong with Cherry anyway? You love cherries.”
“Exactly,” she breathes. “I love them, and your nickname just mocks that.”
“You think that’s why I call you Cherry? To mock you?”
“Isn’t it?” she asks. I plan on telling her that it isn’t, it’s so much more than that, but before I can, my phone starts to play the ringtone I have assigned to my mom.
I clear my throat as I pull the phone out my back pocket.
“We should get going. She’s probably getting impatient.”
She shakes out something invisible from her body as she straightens her spine, more tea spilling onto the floor. I snatch the cup from her hand.
“Give me that.”
Her eyes roll as she moves around the couch. “Whatever. And who the hell has their phone on loud nowadays?”
“I work in construction, smartass. If my phone isn’t on loud, I don’t hear it.”
A couple more jabs here and there and we’re finally on our way to my parents’ house. The whole journey has my stomach clenching and my fingers tapping on the wheel, because the one thought I can’t get out of my head is that Oakleigh didn’t say no…But she also didn’t say yes.
* * *
We both step out of my car after a silent drive over. I decided to leave the truck at Wren’s, since Lee shouldn’t have to sit in a dusty old truck like that. The only reason I picked up my parents in it is because I needed space for all their luggage.
Oakleigh meets me at the hood of my white saloon.
“So, what exactly does your mom think is happening here?” she asks.
Hope widens my eyes. “She thinks that we’ve been seeing each other secretly for a while. That we haven’t even told Wren.”
She nods. I’m about to explain further when I see movement in the corner of my eye. How like my mother to come and spy through the window. Well, her idea of spying anyway since she’s shit at it.
“Fuck.”
Before I can warn her, I grab Oakleigh by the waist, hauling her closer toward me. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight enough that even as she attempts to wriggle out of my hold, I still have a tight grip.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she hisses, eyes turning to slits as she leans her head up to throw daggers at me.
“Stop wriggling,” I growl at her. “My mom is watching.”
She freezes, eyes turning wide as she tries to subtly turn her head toward the house. She clearly sees my mom grinning like she just won the lottery. God, I’m really not sure what’s going to be worse—the mom who insisted that we need to be together; or the mom who thinks that we are.
I throw my fakest smile onto my face, leaning down so I can whisper into Oakleigh’s ear. “Just smile as you talk.” I feel a small shiver rake down her spine as my breath hits her ear and a shot of adrenaline races through me.
She plasters on her own fake smile before saying, “I swear to God, if this backfires on me, I’m going to kick you so hard, your kids’ balls will hurt.”
I fake a laugh. “And I swear that if you tell them the truth, I will take that little notebook of yours and throw it in the shredder.”
