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I spot Trevor and Declan first, so I head into the living room to be by them. At least there’s somewhat of a buffer when I run into her.
Trevor sees me first. “Oh, man! You look worse than me!”
“Shut up,” I mumble. “I slept like two minutes.”
Declan laughs along. Both jerks. “Nah, he always looks like that. You just forgot he’s the ugly twin.”
“The man finally gets a girlfriend after being alone for how many years? And now he thinks he’s got jokes,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Where’s Addy anyway?”
He nods toward the hall. “Mom’s showing the girls the dresses she bought for the cruise.”
I hear Thea’s laugh, but I can’t turn around. I can’t look. I’m a coward.
Addy comes rushing into the living room, wrapping her arms around Declan’s neck. “Your dad better watch out. Momma C’s got some hot momma outfits.”
I take a deep breath, balling my hands into fists, and then I turn. There she is. Fuck. Our eyes connect for barely a moment before she looks away, walking past me and chatting with Addy and my mom some more. She won’t even fucking look at me, and I don’t know what to do. How did I allow myself to get in this situation?
???
Thea
He’s staring. I feel his eyes on me, but I can’t muster upthe courage to look. I need to ease myself into this. I almost bailed, but I couldn’t not see the Carvers off for their cruise. Not after everything they’ve done for me.
Now if I could just figure out how to handle their fucking son.
I follow Mrs. Carver into the kitchen. “You need help with anything?”
“Go sit down and relax! I’ll make the boys set the table,” she says. “Oh, I forgot I need a new packet of napkins. I’ll be right back. I have more downstairs.”
She disappears out of the back side of the kitchen, leaving me alone. I panic, trying to turn around to go find Addy, but it’s too late. I’m met face to face with Mack. Fuck.
He grabs my arm and walks me to the backside of the kitchen so that we are out of earshot from everyone else. He leans down, lowering his voice to an angry whisper. “You hung up on me.”
I glare up at him. “Do you really think now is the best time to talk about this?”
I try to walk away, but he pulls me back. “No, I think last night was the right time to talk about this, but you hung up on me and wouldn’t answer your fucking phone.”
“Did you see the running back we drafted was injured in practice? They say he’s probably going to be out for the first five games at least!” Trevor says, walking into the kitchen, oblivious to the conversation we’re having.
Mack takes a step back to a more appropriate distance. His jaw tenses as he looks down at me. “We’re talking about this later,” he grits through his teeth before turning to Trevor and joining the sports conversation with him and Declan.
Once the food is ready, everyone sits down at the dining room table. I fuck myself over by getting there last and being forced to sit across from Mack. Not even five minutes in, andhe’s kicking my feet under the table, forcing my attention back to him even though I’m desperately trying to avoid eye contact.
“Late night last night, Thea?” he asks loud enough for everyone to hear.
Trevor joins in. “I thought she was going to show up in last night’s clothes.”
“Trevor!” I cry. “What the hell?”
“Oh, are you still seeing that pharmacist boy?” Mack’s mom asks.
Mack is visibly annoyed at that line of questioning. “Nah, Thea wouldn’t take him home.”
“Oh no?” I ask, blocking everyone else out and staring back at Mack as intensely as he’s staring at me.
“Tell me I’m wrong and you’re serious about him,” he challenges.
Addy tries coming to my rescue. “Hey, not all relationships have to be serious. Sometimes you just need someone to have fun with until you meet the one. Look at you and me, Mack.”
