AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Scowling, she takes a sip of her drink and fidgets with her dress, then clenches her fists before drumming her nails on the sides of her cup.
“What? I’m just saying you have a tendency to get a bit needy right after the first date.”
She gasps, heat rising to her cheeks. “That’s not true.”
“I mean, you sleep with a guy once and you start taking care of his dry cleaning the following day.” I shrug.
She huffs. “What’s wrong with helping people?”
I love my sister, but we don’t live on the same planet. “I’m helping people, but I don’t let them make me into their doormat.” I raise my eyebrows. “But you know what, have a one-night stand. It’s a good challenge for you. Not to get attached. Enjoy it.”
Even though it’s on her bucket list, she looks hesitant. If my brain wasn’t occupied by the fake dating situation, I’d take her out to score a potential hook-up.
We sip our drinks and discuss Christmas plans. This will be my first Christmas at home since Kyle died. Yeah, it’s definitely the holiday throwing me into this mood.
Dad will need another round of treatment in a few weeks. He and Bianca might move back home for a few days, but then they will be back again, so we agreed to have a small, low-key lunch at my place.
Work gives me something to focus on while I walk home. The situations I deal with make me angry, but the solutions, however tiny, make life slightly better, more purposeful.
But as I approach my building, the dread returns and I start to question every decision I’ve made in the last twenty-four hours.
As soon as I enter my apartment, I can smell myboyfriend. As usual, larger than life, he sucks away all the air and his musky scent penetrates the walls. Today, a tantalizing aroma of food mingles too.
Dominic and Bianca are in the kitchen, cooking together. They haven’t heard me yet, so I stay by the front door, trying to control my breathing and tame the pulsing echo in my ears.
Dad says something and they all laugh. Bianca berates Dominic for doing something wrong, and he takes it with a delightful dose of self-deprecation.
They are having a family moment. Without me. In my own house. The little domestic scene raises my hackles. How dare he?
“Hello, everyone.” My greeting sounds like an accusation as I walk in and lean against the edge of the partition wall, glaring at Dominic.
“Darling, Dom and Bianca are making lasagna for dinner.” Dad chuckles like it’s some inside joke.
“I can see that.” I force a smile.Don’t be a bitch, London.This is priceless boyfriend behavior. If boyfriends monopolized your family and invaded your space.
“Did you have a good day, Chils?” Dominic saunters over. He raises his arms, like in surrender, to prevent him from soiling my clothes with flour. So fucking considerate. He kisses my cheek and strokes it with his finger.
“I had a wonderful day.”Until now, asshole.“I still have a few emails to catch up on.” I walk over and kiss my dad.
“You have a good forty-five minutes before dinner, Lo,” Bianca informs me, not even trying to pull me into the cooking fun. She gave up on that a decade ago as a result of my lack of interest.
I don’t have emails or anything to do right now, or the head space to attempt something productive. But I’d still rather just stew in my room.
Fewer interactions with my neighbor, fewer reasons for my dad or Bianca—and let’s face it, that woman has a sixth sense—to suspect the charade.
That’s what I tell myself, anyway. It sounds better than admitting I feared I would dampen the mood with my attitude. Not that I’m apologizing for it. It’s who I am.
Somehow, over the course of the past several hours, I became the grump in our fake relationship. Because fucking Dominic is all sunshine. Whatever. I catch my reflection in the mirror. My cheek is smeared with flour. Asshole.
I wipe it away and collapse onto my bed. Hiding, I spend the next half an hour staring at the ceiling.
After a knock on my door, Dominic sticks his head in. “Are you okay?”
“What are you doing?” I hoist my legs over the edge and push up to a sitting position.
He doesn’t wait for an invitation and enters, closing the door behind him. He casually walks around the bed and plops onto it on the other side of me, his hands laced under his head, resting on my pillows.
“I repeat. What are you doing?” I enunciate every word with care.
