“Don’t be. I think they’re great.”
“You’ve barely had a taste of what they’re like. Give them a little time, and my family will drive you crazy.”
“What you think of as being driven crazy might make me feel right at home.”
His mouth tips down again, and the muscle in his jaw tics. Oh.Right. I’m not supposed to feel at home with his family. Not for real.
“I’d better get going or my ice cream will be sludge by the time I get through check out.” I maneuver my cart to the side and finally pass him. Getting rejected from family dinner by my pretend boyfriend shouldn’t sting—I’ve endured way worse from actual boyfriends. The confusing pang in my chest has no place in this arrangement.
“Good luck with your barbecue sauce dilemma.” I flash one last smile and push my cart away from him.
He exhales a laugh behind me. I keep walking, telling myself to focus on dinner ingredients. I will not turn around to see if I can spot his smile.
I already know it won’t be there.
12
reed
I should have skippeddinner tonight. I knew my family would have questions, but I wasn’t prepared for the unsettling looks they’re giving me. In Jovie’s case, the looks come with a high-pitched whining sound like a mosquito trapped in a tent.
I showed up late, which I hate doing, but I hoped I could avoid some of this. As if in some kinder, less meddlesome universe, they might have burned off their obnoxiousness before I got here. Clearly, they saved it up for me.
We’re sitting around my parents’ dining table, everyone filling their plates and working their jaws. They’ve bombarded me with questions and commentary, and I haven’t got a word in yet.
“Your girlfriend is so pretty, Uncle Reed.” Jovie’s got a dollop of ketchup on one side of her mouth already, and a bite of burger tucked into the other cheek like a hamster. “I bet her hair is really soft.”
I bet it is, too. Which I will never say to my little niece.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, please.” Luke passes her a paper napkin and gestures at her face. She pouts but wipes the smear away.
“I’m still waiting to hear the origin story behind you two.” Nathan’s got a glint in his eyes like a kid about to run screamingthrough the aisles of a candy store. “And I’d like to voice my grievance that you never told us about her. It took outside pressure for you to admit it.”
“I second that.” Lucy raises a hand like we’re in a town hall meeting. Or possibly her classroom. “You kept it from us for weeks.” She pauses, staring laser beams at my face. “Months?”
I say nothing. She can wonder.
“Maybe it’s been years, and they’re already married.” Jovie giggles over her burger. Then her expression shifts, and she glares at me. “I wanted to be a flower girl.”
“They’re not married, nugget.” Graham doesn’t look up from methodically adding condiments to his burger in the same order he always does. “He’s not that much of a brick wall.”
That’s the nicest compliment they’ve sent my way all evening.
“How could you have kept her secret for so long?” Lucy wants to know.
Keeping Rose secret for one date let alone several is the most unrealistic snag in our dating story. Except possibly why she would want to date me in the first place. Thankfully, no one’s brought that up yet. My money’s on Nathan blurting it out before the night is over.
“I would have climbed the courthouse bell tower and shouted it down Maple Street.” Nathan pauses with his burger halfway to his mouth, probably to avoid getting scolded for talking with his mouth full, too. “When I fall in love, everyone’s going to know.”
“I don’t think there was ever any doubt of that.” Graham passes Jovie another napkin from her other side. She scrubs it over her face like she thinks she’ll miss part of the conversation if she takes her time. “We know everything about your life as it is.”
“You are a sharer, son.” Dad chimes in with his usual amusement.
“Learn from my wisdom, young Padawan.” Nathan takes a big bite of burger, chews obnoxiously, and swallows, managing to smile at me like a maniac the whole time. “I’ll take you under mywing. I’ll have you sharing all your innermost thoughts in twenty-four hours.”
“That’s a losing bet,” Luke says.
“Can we just eat please?” I snarl. Naturally, every last one of them laughs.
