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I groan and move to escape, but my mom grabs my elbow. “No, you don’t,” she tells me. “I’ve barely seen you recently. You’re staying for dinner.”
Emilia chuckles, but my mom levels her with a stare. “You’re staying too, young lady.”
Emilia’s expression falls and I burst out laughing. My amusement is short-lived because the front door opens and Kate and Gabby walk in.
Gabby’s eyes light up when she sees me, and I cringe subconsciously while Emilia tenses.
“Oh hi, Carter!” she says. She practically skips towards me and throws herself against me before I can step away. She hugs me tightly while my arms lie against my sides. It’s awkward as hell.
I glance at Emilia. She’s gritting her teeth as she looks away. I sigh helplessly. I didn’t even do anything. I grab Gabby’s shoulders and forcefully remove her when she’s still hugging me ten seconds later. The girl has no shame at all.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she tells me. She hooks her arm around mine and tries to drag me towards the dining room. I glance at Kate, but she sends me a pleading stare that I struggle to resist. What the hell am I supposed to do here? Emilia looks more and more annoyed with every second that goes by, while Kate looks happier with every second that I let Gabby cling to me.
“Uh, yeah. It’s good to see you too, Layla. Or is it Chloe? I can’t remember.”
Gabby freezes, and she looks up at me in disbelief while Kate throws me a look that would’ve killed me outright if it could. Gabby’s expression falls and it’s almost like watching a mask crack. For a second her inner harpy emerges, but she reins it in quickly.
“It’s Gabby, actually. I’m your sister’s best friend,” she tells me. I pull my arm out of her grip and place my palm on Emilia’s lower back.
“No, you’re not. Emilia is my sister’s best friend.” I glance at Emilia, my eyes running over her body on purpose before I glance back at Gabby. “And you, Abby, are not Emilia.”
She glares at Emilia, who I can tell is biting back a smile, and then looks up at me. “It’s Gabby,” she says. I shrug and walk past them. I’m tempted to pull Emilia along with me, but I know she wouldn’t like it if I did that.
“He’s such a dick,” I hear Gabby say, and I smile victoriously. Mission accomplished. “But that just makes him hotter,” she adds. Wait, what? What is wrong with this girl? How the hell does her brain work?
My mother laughs at my expression and shakes her head. She winks at me and I sigh inwardly. I just know this dinner is going to be hellish. At least Emilia will be there and I won’t have to suffer alone.
Chapter 25
Emilia
Carter sets the table while Helen and I finish up dinner. I try my best not to think of how Gabby must be clinging onto Carter by now. Just seeing her hug him annoyed me. I can’t stand her.
“Try this,” I say to Helen as I hold up a spoon for her.
She takes a bite of the chicken Kiev and grins. “Turned out great, didn’t it?”
I nod and smile. I love it when we try new recipes or when Helen teaches me to make a new dish. It’s our way of bonding, and lately we haven’t done enough of it. Kate has been pushing me away and I haven’t been coming over every single day like I used to. She’s been making me feel like I’m intruding, and I’m worried I might actually have been. I never meant to, but I guess I got a bit too comfortable here. I overstepped.
Helen takes a bite of the cauliflower mash and sighs in delight. “This is amazing, Milly. I love this. We should definitely make mash more often.”
Carter walks into the kitchen with a stormy expression and looks at us. “Just shoot me now,” he says.
Helen and I both burst out laughing. Carter shakes his head and walks towards me. “Minx, I’m not joking. If she looks at me with those wide bug-like creepy eyes one more time, I might actually cry. I’m terrified.”
His arms slip around my waist, and he pulls me closer. I look up at him and giggle as I shake my head. Helen clears her throat and Carter steps away from me, startled. It’s like neither one of us realizes when we touch anymore.
“You two… I’ve ignored this for as long as I could, but I have to ask. Are you dating?”
My heart stops, and Carter looks as shocked as I do. My cheeks turn bright crimson and I shake my head. “I — no… we aren’t.”
Carter crosses his arms and stares at his mother thoughtfully. “What if we were?”
Helen sighs and leans back against the kitchen counter. “I love both of you kids, but you’re just that. You’re kids. I know I’m not your mother, Emilia, but we had an agreement that there would be no dating until you turn sixteen, which is still a couple of weeks from now.”
I nod and look down at my feet, wishing the floor would open up and swallow me whole. I’m so embarrassed.
“So it’s fine as soon as she turns sixteen?”
