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“Roughly an hour.” I give her a sheepish look. “I neglected an essay that’s due tomorrow.” I shrug. “It’s nearly finished so I wanted to wake you up.”
She pats the bed beside her. “Join me.” Placing the coffee cup down on the night table, Paige curls into my side. “I’m still sleepy, and I ache in a very good way.”
“Ugh, don’t say that, I’m trying to be good.”
“Last night was hot, but I think I’d rather just keep it to the privacy of our own space in future,” she admits, her cheeks going rosy.
I kiss the top of her head. “I think so too, even though it was pretty explosive.”
She chuckles. “I’m happy here, Seth. With you, and with Boston. I don’t know why I was so panicked before, I feel silly about that now.”
“You had a lot going on babe. That’s nothing to feel silly about. I’m just relieved you’re managing here. I’d have moved anywhere for you though, finished out my last semester wherever we ended up.”
“I know.” She kisses my chest through my T-shirt. “That makes me love you all the more”
I hesitate, really not wanting to mention this. “I hope you will still love me when I tell you that my parents want me to bring you to dinner.”
Her wandering hand stills on my chest and she her gaze finds mine.
“You want me to go to your parents’ house for dinner? After last time?”
I slide down in the bed and wrap my arms around her. “I really hate what happened last time. I do Paige, but they’re my parents and I want them to officially meet you as my girlfriend—the love of my life.”
Paige rolls out of bed and grabs one of my T-shirts to cover her nakedness. Pacing back and forth, I try to grab her and pull her back into my arms, but she pushes me away. “I don’t want to go to their house for dinner. I can’t Seth.” Her breathing becomes fast and panicked.
“Paige, calm down and breathe.” I manage to grab her arms and pull her into me, her back to my front. “Just breathe, and we’ll discuss it.”
She shakes her head, pulling away, tears rolling down her face. “I’m not going to dinner with them, Seth. I love you, but I’m not putting myself through that again. I can’t.” Slipping past me, she locks herself in the bathroom.
I drop to the bed and sit staring at the bathroom door wondering how our lazy morning suddenly went to shit. I do understand why she’d be opposed to dinner with my parents, but I’d at least have thought she’d give them a chance to redeem themselves. I knew she’d be upset, but this has completely thrown me.
I’m trying not to be annoyed but it’s difficult. They’re still my parents at the end of the day, I love them in my own way. They’re difficult to be around because I don’t fit the mold they want to put me in. But they’re still my family, and I’m around Paige’s family every damn day.
Deciding it best to leave her alone right now, no matter how upset she is, I head out into the living room and kitchen, slamming the bedroom door behind me in a burst of temper.
Sofia’s head swivels toward me and her brother, Jaxon, raises his brow. “Something wrong?”
I brush my hands through my hair in frustration and letting out a loud sigh, stomp into the kitchen. “Paige refuses to have dinner with my family.” Once the coffee is delivered into my mug via the Keurig, I sit with her cousins. “I’m trying to look at it from her side, you know? But it’s not so easy because they’re my family and I’m around her’s every day.”
Sofia bites her lower lip. “Our family haven’t treated you the way yours did Paige, Seth.”
“Sofia don’t get involved,” Jaxon advises.
“I came to visit you, and catch up with Paige. I’m not going to sit here when I have something to say.” Jaxon’s blonde, slightly older sister certainly has a mind of her own.
“You came here to escape the wedding madness at the Fletcher residence.” He smirks. “Tell it like it is, sis.”
“There is no madness. It’s all going according to plan.”
Jaxon snickers. “You wish,” he mutters.
Sofia glares daggers into his back as Jaxon goes hunting for food.
“Ignore my brother.” She turns her attention back to me. “As for Paige, I think it’s too soon after what happened at the beach house for you to be taking her to dinner with them.” She shudders. “I’m sorry if you don’t see it that way, but they’re a reminder of what happened the last time she saw them. Your relationship was moving along until you brought them into it.” She stands, shoving her chair under the table. “I’m sorry if that isn’t what you want to hear.”
I follow Sofia with my eyes and watch as she takes over from Jaxon, adding milk into the bowl. Sofia has a habit of taking over, which Jaxon knows as he throws me a lazy smile, his sister now making the pancakes he’s been craving all week.
My brow throbs as pain decides to hover behind my temples. I remind myself to keep my temper in check as I hover outside my bedroom door, listening to Paige moving around in there.
