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“Mom is so excited to meet her.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head, knowing how overdramatic Heather can be. “She acts like I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
“Correction, you’ve never had a girlfriend you’ve brought home.” He quips.
“Well, that’s still true. She isn’t my girlfriend.”
Brandon laughs loudly and I need to smack his arm to shut him up. “Still?! Hasn’t she basically been living with you?”
I half shrug. “It’s not for lack of trying. I’ve dropped hints a few times.”
He turns to look at me then back at the road. “Has the infamous Holden Rivers lost his touch? Come on, man. Since when are you shy?”
Glancing in the back to check if she’s still asleep, I see her eyes snap shut and it looks like she stops breathing entirely. She’s awake. I drop my head and smile shyly. “I just don’t want to fuck this up.”
“Aw. Little Holden has a heart.” He teases as we pull up to the house. “I’ll get the bags out of the trunk while you wake up your girlfriend.”
“Not my girlfriend.” I correct, for no reason other than knowing she can hear us right now.
He waves me off dismissively. “Mhm.”
After I wake her up and she takes in the view of the beach, we make our way inside. It only takes a second before Heather is almost running down the hallway to greet us. She comes to me first, being as I am her son and all, then we both turn to Kayleigh. Okay, breathe H. You’re only introducing her to the second most important woman in your life.
“Kayleigh, this is my mom, for all intents and purposes. Mom, this is Kayleigh, my…” The word girlfriend is on the tip of my tongue, but thankfully, I swallow it down at the last second. “Kayleigh.” Brandon fails to contain his laugh at my slip up. I send him a subtle glare, silently telling him to shut the fuck up.
AROUND FIVE, DAN GETS home and finds us in the living room. He introduces himself to Kay and I roll my eyes when he gives me a look. It isn’t until Heather pulls her away to get the photo albums that he smirks at me.
“Well, look at you finally getting serious about someone.” Dan says, making Brandon sputter on his drink. I watch my best friend with amusement. “What? What’d I say?”
“We’re not dating.” I clarify.
He snickers and takes a sip of his beer. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m serious. We’re just friends.”
“Holden, son, you brought her home to meet your family. You of all people did that.”
I whine quietly at everyone making a big deal about this. “You guys met Bianca.”
“The girl who showed up at the house and introduced herself without your consent? I’d hardly count that.”
“Yeah, H.” Brandon pipes up. “You can’t use anything with your stalker to prove a point.”
Just as I’m about to retort, the two women come back into the room. Kayleigh comes around the couch and plants herself directly at my side. I wrap my arm around her and pull her close – not realizing what I’m doing until it’s too late. She doesn’t mind though. Instead, she smiles up at me and I need to resist the urge to kiss her. When my eyes meet Dan’s again, he just looks at me knowingly. Okay, touché.
MY EYES OPEN INSTINCTIVELY before the sun comes up. It’s something I’m so accustomed to that I don’t even need to set an alarm anymore – especially not when we went to bed so early. Being in this room, my body just knows. I carefully slip out of the bed and throw on a pair of sweatpants and a heavy sweatshirt, grabbing one for Kayleigh as well. Once I’m done, I crouch down next to her and start to rub her arm.
“Kay.” I whisper, but it’s not loud enough. “Babe, wake up. Come on.” A str
and of her hair falls in front of her face and I gently push it back. She’s painfully stunning.
“I’m awake.” She murmurs, her voice laced with sleep. Sitting up, she rubs her eyes and looks out the window. Her eyebrows furrow when she notices how early it is.
“Get up. I want to show you something.”
The look she gives me tells me she might kill me, so I give her a bright smile to ease the tension. It works. I hand her the hoodie and once she puts it on, I offer my hand for her to take. We quietly make our way out of the house and across the street. Once we step on the boardwalk, the sun is just starting to rise. I stand behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.
“It’s really pretty.” She breathes. I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or just saying it out loud.
