by Lara Swann
That typical, arrogant comment startles me out of my momentary confusion, and I give him my best outraged response. “I’d end up on the couch? Some boyfriend you are.”
“Fake boyfriend. I think that means I don’t have to bother with that chivalrous shit.” He corrects, laughing easily and picking up his bag from where he dumped it on the floor earlier. He starts rifling through it as we consider getting ready for bed. “I’m already doing you a favor, after all - I’m not going that far with it.”
“And you’re going to keep rubbing that in my face, right?” I say, half-amused, half-resigned. I love Josh, despite his deliberately infuriating attitude. And sometimes even because of it. He’s funny as hell.
“You bet. Gotta be some advantage to this gig.” He finally finds what he’s looking for, then holds it up with a grin. “I even brought PJs, so don’t worry - your oh-so-prudish eyes won’t be blinded by the irresistible appeal of—”
“Okay, okay.” I interrupt and hold up a hand before he can finish that sentence.
The last thing I want to think about is Josh naked right now - or whatever he thinks might be irresistibly appealing. Though, as I narrow my gaze at the draw-string pants he’s holding, I realize he’s going to end up at least half naked.
“Aw, c’mon Cassie.” He says with a laugh. “We’ve shared a bed before, it’s no big deal.”
“Only by accident, when we’ve been too drunk to even notice.” I object.
And not when you’re pretending to be my boyfriend.
I don’t know why that makes a difference. But it does.
I know I’m acting strange though - there’s no reason for me to be quite this reluctant about it. He’s right, it should be no big deal between us.
I finally shake my head with a sigh. “Okay, fine. But no stealing all the covers.”
He grins at me, doing his best to look innocent - which achieves the precise opposite, then crosses his fingers and hides them behind his back. “Would I ever?”
It makes me laugh, at least, and I share a smile with him. I’m being stupid.
I’m just tired, and I think the champagne is giving me a headache. Josh is here, giving me more support than I’d ever have a right to ask for, and I’m getting snappish about things that don’t really matter.
Impulsively, I walk up and wrap my arms around him. He blinks, surprised, but then returns the hug with one of his own, his body enveloping mine as I inhale deeply, relaxing into his scent.
“Thanks, Josh.” I finally say. “I’m sorry - I’m really glad you’re here.”
I can feel him smile above me, and he pushes my hair back off my forehead.
“Me too, Cassie.” His voice is deeper than I’m expecting, serious, but then he lightens it up and adds in his ever-irreverent style. “We’ll have fun.”
Chapter Five
Cassie
“Auntie Caaassssss!” Lucas propels himself down the hallway towards me as I emerge from the room, his sister not too far behind.
I crouch down with a grin and open my arms to embrace them both, ruffling his hair as he dives into me and almost knocks me over.
“You’re alive!” I say with over-exaggerated shock, “I thought you two might have been eaten by monsters on the way here, since I didn’t see you last night.”
Ellie giggles, covering her mouth with her hands while her brother scowls at me and responds. “Noo, silly. Mommy didn’t let us stay up.”
“That’s because your Mommy is a very sensible woman.” I say with a smile, giving them both a kiss on the forehead that they promptly wipe off with disgusted expressions.
“Monsters aren’t real, Caasss.” Ellie informs me seriously.
“Really?” I gasp, then give her a long, considering look. “Are you sure?”
“They are!” Lucas jumps in, turning to his sister and raising his arms above his head. “And they’re gonna….getcha!”
He roars and launches himself at her.
“Gettooffffff!” Ellie shrieks as I try and pull him off.
“C’mon, Lucas, be nice to your sister.” I separate them, and try not to laugh as I give him a serious look. “That means you can’t attack her.”
“Whyyy not?” He folds his arms and whines at me.
This time I do laugh and shake my head at them both, taking them up in another hug that this time they try and resist.
“I’ve missed you two.” I stand up and then gasp again, looking down at them. “And you’re so much taller now - you’re almost as big as me!”
Lucas giggles at that and then nods, pulling his small body up proudly. “I’m going to be taller than aannyy of you, Daddy says.”
“Are not.” Ellie shakes her head.
I glance up at Josh, who is standing there with a small smile on his face, watching our little comedy act.
“Lucas…Ellie…say hello to Josh. My…boyfriend.” I feel a small pang of guilt at lying to these two, in a way that I didn’t with the rest of my family, but push it aside as they look over at him, seeming to notice him for the first time.
“Hello!” Lucas announces loudly, looking up at him with open curiosity.
His sister is hiding behind my legs, peeking out at Josh as he crouches down to say hello to Lucas. I run a hand through her shoulder length blond hair to rub her back, murmuring a gentle encouragement. “He’s nice, Ellie.”
She glances up at me, unsure, but gives a quick glance out at him to wave and say “hi”.
Josh doesn’t move from where Lucas appears to be trying to arm wrestle him, but gives her a warm smile and cocks his head. “Hello little one. You want to stay there with Auntie Cass, hmm? She’s nice.”
My heart flutters a little at the simple words and I feel Ellie relax a little next to me as she nods and moves closer to me, wrapping her arm around my leg. Lucas seems to have forgotten I’m here, entirely distracted by the exciting new person in his life.
“C’mon you two. Shall we go and find your Mommy and Daddy? Do you know where they are?” I take Ellie’s hand when she nods, and hold out my other for Lucas.
“Okay!” He shouts, grabbing Josh’s hand and trying to pull him forward. Josh laughs and shoots me a look, making me smile back as I try not to laugh myself while we walk down the hallway together, with the two kids at our feet.
I’m in a much better mood this morning, and not just because I always enjoy seeing Ellie and Lucas - I woke up actually feeling good about this whole weird trip.
Some of that strange awkwardness I’d felt with Josh the evening before had disappeared and we were back to the light, easy friendship we’d always had. Maybe that had all just been champagne-induced imagination anyway - or maybe I should have expected it to feel different when we were around my family, pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Of course that would affect our usual interactions.
But it’s a relief to see that after a little time alone, we’re been back to our usual selves - Josh’s morning brainstorming of “so how can I piss everyone off today” creating an amusing - and more than a little outrageous - exchange that meant we ended up finally emerging a little late for breakfast.
And I’m surprised at how nice it is just to be back in one of my old childhood haunts, especially since having having Josh here seems to mute the impact my family usually has on me. Everything seemed to go well with our little act yesterday, and there’s no reason not to be optimistic about how this will all work out.
“You know,” Josh murmurs at me, nodding to the kids. “Considering how adamant you are about not wanting kids, you’re pretty good with them.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” I raise an eyebrow myself, watching as he pretends to be pulled along by a seven-year-old boy, then frown as I correct him. “And I never said I didn’t want them at all, just not—”
“What are you saaaying, Auntie Cass?” Ellie pulls at my hand and I glance down to see her looking up at us both with an almost indignant expression. I smile automatically - she’s never
liked being left out of a conversation.
I squeeze her hand and look back at Josh, thinking fast to avoid sharing that particular topic with them.
“Wee…were thinking that you and Lucas appeared out of nowhere after we left the room. Were you hiding, Ellie, waiting for us to come out?” I grin at her, getting a shy smile back as she shakes her head emphatically.
“Nooo…” She insists, at the same time her brother shouts “Yes!” and jumps up, pulling on Josh’s hand as he does.
They look at each other, and Ellie glares at her brother, who doesn’t seem the slightest bit fussed as he continues loudly. “You were late, Auntie Cass! So Mommy said we could go and find you—”
“Mommy said to be quiet, Lucas.” Ellie complains. “Because Auntie Cass might be busy—”
“She said to hide!” Lucas exclaims, crouching down and raising his arm in front of his head while he looks around shiftily from side to side. “And then—”
“No, she said wait.” Ellie argues, giving me such a world-weary, long-suffering look that I almost don’t believe she’s the younger sibling and I have to stifle a giggle as we push open the door to the dining room.
“No, no, no, we were hiding.” Lucas objects loudly, clearly enamored with the image I’d given him. “Because Mommy said you might be busy and making noise and if we were closer we might hear and disturb you!”
Lucas folds his arms across his chest as he finishes that announcement triumphantly, and the whole room goes quiet and turns to look at us.
Neil smirks as he passes us on the way to get what looks like his second plate from the breakfast array laid out to the side. “Well I’m not sure Maria needed to be quite so worried about the new lovebirds - we didn’t hear a thing last night, and we’re right next door. Almost as if they hadn’t been trying to break the party up early for some private lovin’.”
I stare at him, and it finally hits me what on earth Maria had been trying to keep her kids away from - and what Neil is talking about.
To my horror, I feel my ears burning and I’m sure I’m turning red, which isn’t helped in the slightest by the way everyone seems to be staring.
I scowl at him. “Do not tell me that’s what you and Beth were thinking about last night.”
“My, Cassie, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you all shy about these things.” Mark laughs as he comes over, then claps Josh on the back with a grin of his own. “You must be doing something right, mate.”
I stare at him, then snap. “We are so not talking about this.”
Anne jumps in at the same time with a frown. “Mark! Not in front of the kids.”
I glance down to see Ellie and Lucas both looking around in confusion, and Maria comes in to distract them as I promptly step through everyone. I grab a plate of my own with rather more force than necessary, loading it up without seeing a single item I’m adding.
I stomp my way back to a seat at the table - as isolated as I can manage in this chaos - and don’t look at anyone as I begin eating what should be a very nice breakfast, if some part of me wasn’t squirming with a bizarre embarrassment.
I can feel Josh looking at me with a little bemusement - he hasn’t ever seen me react this way to a few little dirty comments either, and he looks like he’s having a field day with it.
I don’t even know what it is - I’ve exchanged plenty of lewd comments with Josh about fucking before. We’ve even joked around and teased about how ridiculous it would be for us to be fucking, since so many other people seem to have thought about it. And none of that has ever left me flustered like this before - around either Josh or Mark. But somehow, with the two of them together, and the idea that I have to work in the pretense that Josh and I might actually be fucking for real…I can barely deal.
Josh and I so should have discussed how we’re going to respond to the expectation that we’re actually having sex. Though that’s admittedly the last thing I want to talk about with him right now.
Instead, I resort to narrowing my focus purely to the food in front of me, with just an occasional glare at Josh or Mark when I feel them smirking in my direction. They’re both obviously finding this whole thing hilarious. Josh doesn’t try to say anything as he sits down opposite me, but I can feel his amusement even from here, and I know I’m never going to live this down.
It takes most of the meal before my awkward-embarrassed response settles enough that I feel somewhat back to normal again, and ready to deal with the inevitable taunting. I can’t hide in my food all day, after all, and it’s far better when I’m able to enjoy Josh’s presence here. Avoiding him is the last thing I want.
So I finally look up and give him an ironic smile, shaking my head in self-mockery.
“It’s okay.” He whispers dramatically at me. “I think the gossip has died away…for now.”
“Thank god.” I mutter as I open my ears enough to hear everyone else caught up in their own conversations, with only a few strange looks in our direction. “That was the last thing I wanted to be greeted with this morning.”
“Mm, such a delicate soul, my Cassie…” Josh teases, though the my catches at my attention. “I didn’t think what we got up to last night was crazy enough for that kind of reaction, but…then again, you did seem to be having a good time. Was it all too much with your family around? We could try something tamer next time if you want.”
I got to crash out and sleep after an exhausting day. Fuck yes it was a good time. And he knows it, bastard.
I just roll my eyes at him, not responding to his deliberate provocation.
He chuckles. “I thought you were more adventurous than that, Cassie - never pictured you as the blushing-bride type.”
“Me neither.” I say wryly, amused myself at that image. “Guess no one’s ever talked like that about me around my family.”
He grins back at me. “Well I can assure you, babe, it was worth coming just to see that - maybe you won’t owe me a favor by the end of this trip after all.”
“A favor?” Beth, next to us, cuts in with a frown. “You didn’t want to come?”
I freeze as I suddenly remember that there’s no such thing as a private conversation when you’re surrounded by my family, but Josh just laughs easily, as though she isn’t close to catching onto our secret, gesturing at the table that now seems to be looking at us again.
“Well, c’mon, what do you think?” He asks, with a smile that doesn’t soften his words in the slightest. “I mean, who really wants to meet their partner’s family? It just never works out…all that pressure and stress, and tedious anecdotes…it gets better, I’m sure, but that first meeting? Hah, Cassie almost had to drag me into the car.”
He grins like he’s making some kind of joke, but he’s met with complete, dead silence. And I sit there trying really hard to stifle my laughter and not meet his eyes, because if I do…I know I won’t be able to help myself.
Nice excuse, dude. Piss them off indeed.
“Well, I loved meeting this family.” Anne finally breaks the silence, reaching over to squeeze Mark’s hand and responding stiffly. “Maybe if you gave it a chance you’d be surprised. I’ve never felt so welcomed and supported by my own family as I have by Adelaide and Henry.”
“That’s probably because they never quite got over you marrying Mark before you were even twenty.” Beth says with an air of smug superiority, and Anne’s expression turns colder.
“We waited until we were older to have children.” She says defensively.
Beth snorts. “Not to drop out of college though.”
“Hey, don’t talk to Anne like that!” Mark interrupts, glaring at our younger sister, and I look over at Josh as civil war threatens to break out within my family.
“I’m about done here.” I gesture at my plate and raise an eyebrow. “You?”
“Yep, I was thinking the same thing.” Josh agrees quickly.
We both stand, and it’s not until we get to the doorway into the dining room that anyone notices
us leaving.
“Cassie—wait!” Mom interrupts, making quelling gestures at Mark and Beth. “Calm down, you two. Beth didn’t mean that how it sounded - and we’re thrilled to have you with us, Anne dear, I’m so glad you feel the same way…Cassie!”
I turn back from where I was about to escape and raise an eyebrow.
“Where are you off to?” Her harried expression turns to all smiles as she sees she finally has my attention.
“Josh and I were going to explore a little.” I say, having prepped this excuse before we even came down to breakfast. “I wanted to show him some of my favorite haunts.”
Josh slips his hand through mine in a silent endorsement, and I’m a little surprised that the gesture feels natural instead of surprising.
“Ohh.” Mom says, her brow furrowing. “But, sweetie, we really wanted your help clearing up here - and with lunch. You two have lots of time together, don’t you think you could spend a few hours apart and show Josh the place some other time? I’m sure he’ll be fine relaxing by the pool.”
I blink at her for a moment. She wants help with lunch when it’s not even mid-morning.
But then, Mom has never been great at disguising her blatant ‘I want a chance to grill you on whatever subject I’m concerned about now’ requests.
I glance over at Josh, who’s looking at me for a cue, and shrug. Surprisingly, I’m not even feeling pissed about it - or about Mom’s automatic assumption that, of course, it makes sense for us to catch up over cleaning and cooking while Josh is lying by the pool.
Even embarrassment and breakfast drama hasn’t shaken my good mood, or the fact that with Josh here, I feel far less liable to explode at any minute.
“Sure, Mom, I’ll help.” I relent.
They were always going to corner me and ask endless questions about Josh, it might as well be while I’m feeling able to deal with it.
“Will you be alright for a few hours?” I ask Josh, internally wincing at the idea of being in the kitchen for that long on a beautiful day like this.
“Sure I will, baby.” He says, slipping his arm around me and kissing me on the forehead, which just about disguises the way I tense and glare at him.
