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My brother glanced around. He scoffed, “Oh, please. Don’t tell me that I’ve been here for six hours and already figured it out, and the rest of you haven’t known.”
I felt Carter’s gaze but I couldn't meet it. I didn’t know what to say. My mouth wouldn’t move. He cleared his throat. “No, nobody knew. We decided it wasn’t anyone’s business but ours. So, thanks for that.” I felt his hand land on my knee beneath the table and squeeze it. I realized I was shaking.
With anger or embarrassment, I wasn’t sure.
After another beat of terribly, horrendously, painfully long silence, my sister snorted.
Both Carter and I snapped our heads up at her.
“What? It’s not like you guys were very good at hiding it.”
I glanced at Carter. He shrugged.
“You came home wearing his shoes, Penelope,” Maddie added.
My dad stifled a laugh.
“It was a little obvious, you know, when Dan called me to tell me about Penelope’s acceptance to UCLA, and then Dom called me not thirty minutes later and told me Carter wanted to move forward with the rental property.” I looked at Tom, he was smiling. “I looked up how far the property is from the UCLA campus. Thirteen minutes.”
I hadn’t even thought about that.
Carter gave me a wide-eyed expression that told me Tom had known the whole time.
My forehead fell into the palm of my hand as chaos erupted.
“You guys are moving in together?” My father’s eyes bugged.
“It’s that serious?” My mother gasped.
“No,” I said too quickly. Carter’s gaze landed on me, his face twisted. “I– I mean,” I was stuttering. I hated being put on the spot. I hated this attention. This embarrassment. I hated my brother most of all, I think.
Carter sighed, his hand squeezing my knee again before coming up to the table and grabbing mine. I watched seven pairs of eyes fall to the place our hands were held. “We’re not moving in together yet.” I heard the emphasis in the wordyet. Carter continued, “But it’s serious.”
Seven mouths were gaping open at us.
“Well, I really opened a can of worms, didn’t I?” Easton said as his fingers drummed against the table awkwardly.
“We all thought you were just hooking up,” Maddie said. Her confirmation that my family had been talking about memy sex lifebehind my back. My family knows I don’t like to talk about myself. They know that I’ve always been that way, but even more so after what happened with James. Especially with my personal life. I was a private person by nature, and even being adopted into a family that was open about everything, it wasn’t something I ever completely adjusted to.
I’d always thought there was at least some level of unspoken respect about that. I thought it was why they weren’t questioning things when it became clear I was seeing someone. They knew me. They knew I would only share information I wanted shared. Now, they’re airing my dirty laundry at the dinner table without regard to how that would make me feel.
My stomach twisted as my chair screeched across the cement beneath me and I stood. I was well aware of the eyes on me, but I couldn’t handle this dinner for another second.
“Oh come on, Penelope. Why are you leaving?” Easton asked.
“Because you’re all fucking crazy.”
I turned to leave, in absolute need of escape from this humiliation when I felt my arm being gently pulled. A force on my hip spun me around until I was facing Carter. One of his arms wrapped around my waist, holding me in place, while his hand grasped mine.
I was seeing red. He was chuckling.Chuckling.
“Why are youlaughing? It’s not funny.”
He shook his head. “It’s not funny. But I’m going to keep laughing at you until you come back down to earth.”
I softened immediately. His hazel eyes bore into mine, looking golden beneath evening light. I felt myself begin to settle as he smiled at me. That golden thread tugging at my heartstrings as I floated back to earth, back to him.
His hand ran up my arm until it reached my face and he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. His eyes were studying my lips, but in a flash, they met my own again. His arm cupped the back of my neck as he pulled me in, letting his lips brush my temple. “It’s okay, Pep. They all knew you and I were inevitable. They always knew this was meant to happen,” he whispered quietly enough that only I heard.
