by Ramona Gray
“She wasn’t home yet.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank God. I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“Well, for letting your sister see me and for falling.”
“You’re always apologizing for falling. Why?” He scowled at me.
I shrugged. “People find it annoying. I’m a grown woman and being clumsy isn’t cute or endearing. It’s stupid and I hate that I’m so clumsy.”
“I don’t mind, so stop saying sorry to me.”
I blinked at him. “Uh, okay. I am sorry about your sister though.”
He just shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. Are you hungry?”
“I usually don’t eat breakfast this early. Besides, I know you need to get to work and we still need to fix my car so I can go home and face my sister’s wrath.”
I grinned at him but another frown flickered across his face. “Get dressed and we’ll grab a coffee before we go to the auto parts store.”
“Okay. Thanks, Asher.”
“You’re welcome.”
* * *
Dinner at the pasta place on main street at seven. Do you want to meet me there?
I hit send on my text to Asher and stared out my car window. The parking lot to Barb’s Deli was getting full and I could see the black town car my sister was being driven around in.
I sighed and rubbed at my forehead. My sister had ignored my text this morning. I knew she thought it would upset me, but secretly I was just relieved. I had taken a hot shower, had some breakfast and texted briefly with Claire before trying my father’s cell. He didn’t answer either and I was just about to drive to the hotel when my mother had called. I was to meet them at Barb’s Deli at noon for lunch and to apologize for my rude behaviour.
I hadn’t argued. I’d been in this family long enough to know what battles I could win and this wasn’t one of them. I didn’t care. Last night with Asher was amazing. Hell, if he asked me to skip family dinner again tonight to have kinky hot sex with him, I would, and I wouldn’t think twice about it. Spending time with Asher was infinitely more fun than spending time with my family.
Yeah, but time with Asher ends on Sunday, and then what? If you piss your sister off, if you push her buttons too hard, you know what she’ll do. She’ll convince mom and dad to never speak to you again, and then you’ll be alone. You won’t have Asher or your family. Is that what you want?
I shuddered. It wasn’t. As awful as my sister could be, and as much as my parents catered to her every whim, they were still my family and I loved them. I didn’t want to lose them.
No, you don’t want to be alone. Big difference.
I rubbed at my forehead again. I was starting to get the beginning of a tension headache, but I couldn’t put this off any longer. I could listen to my family lecture me over lunch, it wouldn’t be the first time, and at least I would have my pretend boyfriend to rub in my sister’s face at dinner.
Knowing Lydia was jealous of my relationship with Asher, even if it was fake, cheered me up a little. My cell phone buzzed and I read Asher’s text eagerly, a little surprised he had texted me while he was working. Of course, it was almost noon, he was probably on his lunch break.
I’ll pick you up for dinner. Where are you now?
Barb’s Diner. About to have lunch with the family. I’ll buy you lunch if you come rescue me from the lecture I’m about to sit through. Haha. Just kidding. Enjoy the rest of your day. I’ll see you tonight.
I hit send and then immediately regretted it. God, I sounded like such a dork. Haha? Just kidding? What was I - a stupid teenager?
I sighed and tucked my phone into my purse before climbing out of my car and walking toward the diner. I would apologize and then let my sister rant at me for the rest of lunch. Nothing to it.
* * *
Asher
“Hey, you don’t have to work today?” Isabelle gave me a look of surprise when I walked into the kitchen.
“Took the afternoon off.” I grabbed some orange juice from the fridge and drank it as Isabelle flipped her grilled cheese sandwich.
“Want a sandwich?”
“Nah.”
I sat down at the table. Isabelle shut the stove off, slid her sandwich onto the plate and cut it in half before squeezing some ketchup in the middle of it. She sat down at the table and dipped her sandwich into the ketchup before taking a big bite.
“Gross.” I took another drink of orange juice.
“Says the guy who puts mustard and relish on his grilled cheese.” Isabelle made a face and ate another bite.
“You going to the shelter this afternoon?”
She nodded. “They have a part time job posting, I was thinking of applying for it. I’m there so much, I might as well get paid for it, right?”
“Sure.”
She sighed and made little circles in her pool of ketchup with the end of her sandwich. “I’ll be out of your hair soon, Ash.”
“You can stay here as long as you need.”
“Thanks. I talked to dad this morning.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. He’s going on a date tonight.”
I stopped with my orange juice halfway to my mouth. “What?”
“He’s going on a date with a lady he met at church. Her name is Martha.”
I shook my head in disgust. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
Isabelle frowned at me. “What? Dad deserves to find happiness, Ash.”
“He’s not gonna find it in some woman’s pants.”
“Don’t be crude. He’s lonely and I think it would be good for him to be in a relationship.”
“After what she put him through, you’d think he’d have learned his lesson.”
Isabelle set her sandwich down. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means he should be smart enough to know that a relationship is a bad idea. What if this Martha is like her, huh? Then what? He’ll be miserable for another thirty fucking years? He’ll have another woman constantly nagging him, pouncing on him if he’s even a minute late, reading his emails, going through his texts, looking for the evidence that he cheated or -”
“You need therapy so bad, big brother.”
I scowled at her. “I don’t.”
“Buddy, I love you to death, you know I do, but I have never met anyone who needs therapy more than you do. What mom did to dad was awful, but not all women are like that. When are you going to realize that? You won’t even let yourself get close to a woman or have a relationship, because you think she’ll be just like mom. It’s ridiculous and stupid. Love is a risk, Ash, but it’s worth it. For God’s sake, grow a pair and let yourself fall in love just once.”
I just shrugged and stared at my orange juice. “I haven’t met a woman worth taking the risk.”
“You’re telling me Loopy Luna isn’t worth the risk?”
“Don’t call her that,” I snapped.
Isabelle gave me her smug little sister grin. “You like her.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Shut up.”
“You shut up.”
“I don’t like Luna!”
“Then why did you let her spend the night? You never let women spend the night at your house.”
“How would you know? You’ve been living in Florida since graduation.”
“I have my spies.” Isabelle gave me another smug grin. “So, if you don’t like Luna, why’d you let her stay all night?”
“Because it was late and her car had a flat tire.”
“Is that why?”
“Yes. Don’t give me that look.”
“What look?”
“You know what look.”
She rolled her eyes and took a big bite of her sandwich. She chewed noisily as my cell phone buzzed. It was a text from Luna about dinner tonight and I didn’t even real
ize I had a stupid smile on my face until Isabelle reached across the table and poked me.
“You like her.”
“I don’t,” I said. “I’m just doing her a favour and pretending to be her boyfriend until Sunday.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s a long story.” I texted Luna back and ignored my sister’s pleading look.
“Ash! You have to tell me!”
I sighed. “Luna told her sister that we’ve been dating for eight months. Her sister is in town -”
“Key to the city, I heard.” My sister shoved the last of her sandwich into her mouth.
“Anyway, Luna asked me if I would pretend to be her boyfriend to save face with her sister. They’re really competitive and she didn’t want to have to tell her sister the truth.”
“Also, Lydia Davis has had a crush on you for years and I bet it’s driving her crazy that her little sister is dating you.”
I stared at Isabelle. “How’d you know that?”
She shrugged. “Everyone in this town knows that you’re the one thing Lydia Davis never could get.”
“Yeah, well, that’s all this is. Me doing a favour for Luna.”
“But why are you doing the favour for her?”
There was no way in hell I was telling my sister because I got to fuck Luna in exchange for helping her. Instead, I just shrugged. “Because I’m a nice guy.”
Isabelle burst into laughter. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m not a bad guy.” There was obvious hurt in my voice.
Her laughter died out and she reached across and took my hand. “I know you’re not, Ash. You’re amazing and the best brother ever. But, you don’t come across as particularly nice.”
“Luna deserves to have someone be nice to her. Her family is awful.”
My cell phone buzzed and I read Luna’s text before standing. “I gotta go.”
“Where are you going?”
“None of your business, Izzy.”
“Call me that again and I’ll put a snake in your bed.”
I paled and Isabelle grinned at me. “Does your new girlfriend know you’re afraid of snakes?”
“She’s not my girlfriend, and no she doesn’t. If you tell her, I’ll superglue your hand to your face while you’re sleeping.”
Isabelle laughed and flipped me the bird. “See you later, Romeo. I won’t be home until late tonight. I’m going out with Lily Carson. Hey, did you know she’s living with Jack Williams now?
“Yeah, I heard. See ya later.”
“Bye, loser.”
Chapter Nine
Luna
“We’re not angry, Luna. We’re disappointed.”
I smiled at my mother before pointing at Lydia. “Pretty sure she’s angry.”
Lydia gave me a cold look. “You’ve always been so selfish, Luna. Always thinking of yourself, never giving a second thought to me or to Mommy or Daddy.”
“I’m selfish? Are you kidding me?” I closed my menu with a snap. “I am not the selfish one in this family, Lydia. I’ll say I’m sorry for missing dinner last night, I’ll let you tell me how rude I was, but I won’t let you sit there and say I’m the selfish one.”
Lydia folded her arms across her chest. She was wearing sunglasses that covered most of her face and she had her hair pulled back in a high ponytail. “You’re just proving my point. You don’t even care that Mommy and Daddy were in town. You haven’t seen them in over a year and -”
“I haven’t seen them in over a year because you made them sell our childhood home and move to California to be with you.”
“No, they moved to California because they were tired of being ignored by you. Tired of you only calling them or coming to see them when you needed something.” Lydia glared at the waitress when she stopped at our table. “We need a few more minutes!”
The waitress gave her a startled look before hurrying away. Lydia grimaced. “God, the people in this hick town…”
She leaned forward and let her sunglasses slip down her nose. “You never call or text or -”
“I call and text mom all the time! Tell her, Mom.”
“She does,” my mother acknowledged. “But your father would appreciate a text every once in a while.”
“He never texts me back.” I stared pointedly at my father who cleared his throat.
“I have a busy schedule, Luna. You know that.”
I sighed. “I know.”
“You use Mommy and Daddy for your own selfish wants and needs, Luna.”
“You’re describing yourself. You know that, right?” I snapped. “You’re the selfish one. You get everything you want, and you always have.”
“Daddy!” Lydia stared at our father. “Are you going to let her talk to me like that?”
“Luna, be nice to your sister. You know this is a stressful time for her. Besides, it was very rude of you to just skip dinner last night.”
“And rude to make Asher come help you when you were perfectly capable of taking care of the problem yourself,” Lydia chimed in. “Are you so insecure that you won’t even allow your boyfriend to be alone with me?”
“She didn’t ask me for help.”
Asher’s low voice sent my pulse into overdrive.
“Asher, hello. What are you doing here?” Lydia’s voice had gone from shrill to sexy in less time than it took me to blink.
Ash pulled out the empty chair beside me. “Luna invited me for lunch.” He sat down before cupping the back of my neck and pressing a kiss against my mouth. “Sorry, I’m late again.”
“That’s okay.” I wondered if the grin on my face was as goofy looking as it felt when Asher rested one big hand on my thigh.
He studied Lydia for a moment. “Luna didn’t ask me for help. She asked her father for help, but that’s a mistake she won’t make again. Isn’t that right, Sunshine?”
He squeezed my thigh and I nodded. “Yes.”
“Luna is a grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself,” my father said.
“Yeah, she is. But she needed your help last night and you were too busy drinking and stuffing your face to care,” Asher said.
My mouth dropped open, as did my mother’s and my sister’s. My father’s face was bright red and I’d never seen him speechless before. Asher picked up my menu and grinned at me as he opened it.
“Let’s order some food. I’m starving.”
* * *
“Thank you for having lunch with us.” I stood next to Asher as he unlocked his truck. Lydia and my parents were standing just outside of the diner. Lydia was signing autographs and taking selfies with some of the people from the diner and my parents were watching with obvious pride.
“Thanks for buying my lunch,” Asher said with a grin.
I laughed. “You’re welcome. Sorry, it was so awkward. Lydia and my parents are still mad.”
“Your family is awful to you.”
I frowned at him and folded my arms across my torso. “They’re not.”
“They are,” he insisted. “Your parents act like what you want or say doesn’t even matter.”
Technically, he wasn’t wrong. But, boy, did it hurt to hear it put so bluntly. Who wanted to admit that their parents didn’t love them as much as they loved their sibling?
“They just know that I can take care of myself and that Lydia needs extra -”
“You were stranded on the side of the road last night and your father couldn’t have cared less. If I hadn’t shown up, what would you have done?” Asher glared at me and I bristled. He was acting like I was as helpless as my sister pretended to be.
“I would have been just fine. I didn’t need or ask you to rescue me last night, Asher.”
“You need someone to look after you. Your parents don’t give a shit about you.”
“Stop saying that.” I didn’t want to – couldn’t – admit that he was right. “They love me and care about me.”
“Not from what I’ve seen.”
“You don’t know them that well. It’s not fair to make assumptions based on having one lunch with them. They’re good people, Asher.”
He snorted derisively, and my temper got the best of me. “You know what, I think lunch today fulfilled your boyfriend obligations. Don’t worry about having dinner with us tonight. I’ll tell them something came up and you can’t make it.”
“First you don’t even invite me to dinner last night and now you’re kicking me out of this one?” He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me an oddly hurt look. “For someone who practically fucking begged me to be their boyfriend in front of their family, you sure don’t want me around them very much.”
“I didn’t invite you last night because it wasn’t in the original deal we made,” I said in a low and furious voice. “I thought you’d be happy that you wouldn’t have to pretend to be my boyfriend for more than a Friday night dinner and Saturday. Why are you so angry about this?”
“I’m not,” he snarled.
“Bullshit.”
He glared at me and I rubbed my temples. “Listen, I’m just trying to be nice, okay? You’re doing me a favour by pretending to be my man, and I’m doing my best to make it as painless as possible for you. You don’t want to be around my family, that’s more than obvious, and I’m giving you a way out. You don’t need to go to dinner tonight. My family believes we’re dating so as long as you show up for the parade and the ceremony tomorrow, that’s all I need.”
He was still giving me a look that was anger and hurt all mixed in together. “So I won’t see you at all tonight?”
Shit. Now I knew why he was so angry. He was holding up his end of our deal and thought I wasn’t.
“I’ll text you once I’m finished tonight, and you can come over for sex.”
More anger flashed across his face and I said hurriedly, “Or I’ll come by your house if you prefer. It doesn’t matter to me. I won’t stay the night this time. We can have sex as many times as you want, and then I’ll go back to my own place.”
“Maybe I don’t want to have sex with you tonight.”
