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“I’ll go get it. Come on, Wren. I’ll show you my jewelry.” Wren went willingly, loving when Gran showed her things and told her the stories behind them.
“What have we done?” I asked him, feeling like that entire conversation had gotten away from us.
“The important thing is that they believe us.”
But Wren and Gran wanted us together so badly that they were easy to convince. Would a judge believe it? Would Lola?
Harrison patted my hand. “You worry too much. As far as everyone’s concerned, we’re inevitable.”
“Right,” I said, wondering how he could say that without thinking about the possibility of us. Did he ever wonder if there was something there? Or was he so comfortable in our friendship that he couldn’t imagine me not being here?
Gran returned with a jewelry box. “I’m sure you want to surprise her with a proposal.”
“I want it to be perfect,” Harrison said, pocketing the box without opening it. I’m sure that fed into Gran’s assumption that there would still be some surprises—my proposal, apparently.
I couldn’t believe it was so easy for him to go along with this, lying to his grandmother and his daughter.
We helped Gran get dinner together and on the table. When we sat down to eat, Gran asked, “When is the big day?”
“Let me ask her first, Gran,” Harrison said reasonably.
“You’re a modern couple. You came here with your girl to get the ring. Surely, you’ve discussed a date.”
I glanced at Harrison and then said, “We’d like to get married soon.” I knew that was necessary for the custody case, but we hadn’t discussed actually going through with it. I felt dizzy.
I hadn’t eaten much since breakfast. I didn’t know how I was going to survive this.
“Can I help plan the wedding?” Wren asked.
“Of course,” Harrison said.
We were just getting deeper and deeper into this lie. There was no end in sight. My heart constricted.
Five
HARRISON
The entire time we were at Gran’s, I could sense Everly’s discomfort. She didn’t like lying to those she loved, and I got it. I just needed to keep us focused on the end result. More time with Wren.
It would be worth it, and no one would get hurt. How could we when we were friends and both knew the score?
I stood in front of my dresser, stalling, because I wasn’t used to Everly sitting on the bed in my bedroom. Did I get undressed in the bathroom now?
“I can’t believe you asked for your grandmother’s ring.”
“It’s what I would do if I was really getting engaged. Over the years, Gran’s mentioned me taking it.” I took the chance that Everly wouldn’t mind that I took off my shirt in front of her. We were friends. So, I pulled it off with one hand, rolled it into a ball, and tossed it into the laundry basket. If we were going to be living together, we needed to get used to being in each other’s space.
“Yeah, but we’re not—” Her eyes widened as she took in my bare chest.
“Real?” I asked as I refrained from flexing, pleased she was admiring the muscles I worked so hard to achieve. At her nod, I continued. “We need to make it as realistic as possible. Gran will pass the word on to her friends’ network, essentially doing the work for us.”
Everly seemingly ripped her gaze from my chest and bit her lip. “I don’t know.”
“You’re having second thoughts?” I asked, sitting next to her with my elbows resting on my spread thighs.
She let out a shaky breath. “I’m having lots of thoughts.”
I wondered if she meant living with me or something else. I couldn’t do this without her. “You don’t think you can do this?”
