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My hand closes around the rectangle thing and when I look down, I see it’s a cell phone. It pings in my hand and the vibration nearly causes me to drop it before I press the button to view the message.
I know you won’t want to use it. But just to put my mind at ease. E x
My lips spread into the widest grin: so wide that I’m sure my cheeks will break at any stage now. I spin around and walk into the house. For once I feel like I belong, like this is my home and I’m a normal adult who just got dropped off by her… boyfriend?
Having a Sunday night off had become a novelty lately. Since Roy went to stay with his sick sister, I’ve worked every Sunday night, but now that he’s back I get the next couple of Sundays off.
The sun is shining, the warmth seeping into my skin and turning it a light brown as I sit and nurse the bottle of water that I’m holding.
Both Seb and West tried to get me to drink a beer, but I politely declined. It’s not that I won’t drink, it’s more that I don’t want to drink.
Alcohol has never interested me, even when my peers at school were all gathering under the bleachers to have a sip of the latest bottle of vodka or whiskey that someone snuck into school. I saw the way it made them lose control: it made them become either a worse, a sad, or an angrier version of themselves. I didn’t want to be that way; I wanted to be the version of me that I was.
“Burgers are up,” West shouts, waving the tongs he’s holding in the air.
I chuckle, my eyes scanning the apron that he’s wearing: it’s a mixture of pink and purple with frills all around the edges, but he doesn’t care one iota.
I lift up out of my chair, smoothing down my summer dress and pushing my feet into my flip-flops.
“I’ll have one,” I say, coming to stand next to him.
He turns, flashing me a smile that I’m sure gets all of the girls to instantly combust, but it has no effect on me whatsoever. “Sauce?” He raises a brow, holding a bottle of ketchup in his hands.
“I don’t care what he says!” Seb thunders, causing my gaze to turn toward him where he’s pacing across the bottom of the backyard. “Get me the goddamn information!”
I widen my eyes and turn my head slowly back around to West who is still standing, clutching the bottle in his hands and waiting for my answer.
“Yeah.” I nod my head, holding my hand out for the burger as my eyes wander back over to Seb who is now kicking the plum tree.
“Motherfucking bastard!”
“Sebastian!” Livvy shouts. “Watch my plum tree… and your language.”
His head whips around, his eyes widening as if he’s only just realized where he is. “Sorry, Gran.”
She gives him a look that says, “You will be,” before turning back around to Mal and telling him all about the new club she’s joined.
Shaking my head, I turn back to West, still awaiting my burger. “You have to pay the toll,” he says, pointing to his cheek.
Rolling my eyes, I lift up onto my tiptoes and press my lips against the scruff that lines his jaw. Pulling the plate from his hand, I huff and then take a step toward Livvy, Mal, and Cal.
“You’re glowing,” Cal offers, picking up his glass and taking a long swallow. “I wonder what could have you looking like that?” He smirks knowingly.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I answer, sitting down and placing my plate on the glass table they’re all sitting around.
“Hmmm.” His gaze meets mine. “I’d say that our son has the same glow.”
I choke on the bite of burger that I took, coughing and splutterin
g before scanning each of their faces that are watching me intently. Mal and Cal haven’t mentioned the fact that we’re dating, or boyfriend and girlfriend—is that what we are now? I knew it was coming at some stage, after all, the traditional meet your parents after you’ve dated is a moot point because I knew them before I realized they were his dad and pop.
“I… I…” I have no idea what to say.
“Cal, don’t play her up, look at how embarrassed she is!” Mal shuffles closer, placing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me to him before whispering, “We’re happy that you’re both happy.”
I nod, not able to form any words before hearing my cell ping. My hand reaches down into the pocket of my dress and I pull it out, seeing Evan’s name pop up onto the screen.
Everything falls away when I see his name: the birds singing, the trees swaying gently to the slight breeze that fans over us all. All the people surrounding me disappear as I unlock the cell and bring up the app to read his message.
