“You do not want to know. It’s all cray cray up here,” I say pointing to my head.
He chuckles, the sound of it dancing over my nerve endings leaving me breathless. So stupid, over the pretty boy who has no interest in me. Sure, he kissed me last night, but we had danced, and it was a wedding. That shit happened all the time at weddings, right? I’m asking because I have no freaking idea.
“Always nice to know that the woman who has sharp knives and stellar cutting skills is cray cray,” he murmurs.
I study him again, those amazing blue eyes, darker than most others, with a rim of gold around them. There is no doubt about it, he’s gorgeous. I bet he has never had to worry about getting women to do anything. He was probably born this cute and from the time he came into this world, women were coddling him.
Still, he isn’t a douchebag. It would be easy for someone as pretty as he is to be one. Or maybe he had been one years ago, but he grew out of it. A lot of people would assume that he was one because he slept around, but he never showed disrespect. He always says he is up front about his thoughts on sex. They all seem to be friendly with him afterwards. Like, one of his former lovers invited him to her wedding. It’s weird.
It’s then I realize that the table has gotten quiet. I look away from Fritz and find his entire family staring at us. There are varying expressions, from amused to interested to horrified. That last one is Avery, and I think it’s that she’s disgusted that something might be going on between us because, and I quote from a discussion earlier, I’m “too hot for Fritz.”
After a moment, everyone starts to talk again.
“Don’t worry,” he murmurs. “They’re just nosey.”
I want to tell him there is nothing to worry about, but my heart is racing, and my palms are sweaty. And then it hits me.
I have a big old crush on my roommate.
Great.
Chapter Nineteen
Fritz
A couple hours later, I’m standing in the parking lot of Grannie Pam’s rest home with my family. It was a good visit, but I spend the majority of my time avoiding Avery. She spent all her time trying to corner me. Once we’re out of the facility, though, I can’t avoid her.
“She’s too pretty for you.”
“Really?”
Avery smiles. “Yeah. And she seems to have it all going on.”
I roll my eyes. If Avery knew everything that she was going though, she would probably think Savannah was…more of a badass. She definitely has a little hero worship going on with Savannah, and I have to agree. Her world has fallen apart and there is no one in her close circle of friends who know about it but me. If I wasn’t living with her, I probably wouldn’t know either. No, if I hadn’t pushed the issue that night, I definitely wouldn’t know.
Avery gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t screw it up.”
“What?”
She gives me a look, then slips into my parents’ SUV. Liv gives me a hug and whispers, “She needs you.”
I pull back and look at her. “Who?”
Another sisterly look. “Just know the strongest women will always need a soft place to fall.”
“Oh, really? What about you?”
“Working on it.” She moves away before I can question her about it.
My father is already in the SUV waiting impatiently for the women in his life to get it going. He is still outnumbered, after losing me to the Army. Gerry is the only sister that doesn’t live near them. Even with the addition of a son-in-law and three grandsons, he’s still in the minority because he claims that his sisters have brainwashed the others.
My mother pulls me in for a hug and I draw in the scent of lilacs. It is a scent I will always associate with her. It’s comfort to me, home. She’s a little teary-eyed when she pulls back.
“Come back for a visit.” This is something she says all the time to me. She texts it at least once a month.
“I will.”
“Bring Savannah.”
“Mom.”
She blinks innocently at me. “What? I like her. You know Mike has that cousin who just got divorced.”
Mike is my brother-in-law. “And you want to fix her up with him?” No fucking way.
She shrugs. “Seems like she would be happy with him.”
“Have you ever met him? Wait, are you talking about that asshole Reggie?”
“Don’t use that kind of language.”
“Sorry but that’s the way Cora talks about him. Didn’t he get divorced because he was cheating on his wife?”
“He was too young to get married.”
“He was thirty.”
She chuckles. “He is an asshole.”
“Jesus, Marie, could we get going?”
My father is ready to lose it, and my mother knows it from the twitch of her lips. Still, one thing about Marie O’Bryan is that she doesn’t take crap from anyone, especially my father.
“I swear to God I will kill you in your sleep, Danny.”
“Relationship goals!” Avery yells from the back of the vehicle.
“Don’t be a stranger.”
I have to keep myself from rolling my eyes. We text almost every day.
“Of course.”
I watch as she climbs in and then they drive away. I’ll miss them, but I am ready to go check on Savannah. Sure, it has only been about ninety minutes since I last saw her, but I can’t help thinking about her.
My phone buzzes and, of course, it is one of my asshole friends.
Harry: Hey, family gone?
Me: Yeah. We spent some more time today with Grannie Pam, and they just left.
Harry: What’s going on with Savannah?’
Me: What are you talking about?
It could be anything. The fact that she got fired by her mother. That her mother isn’t really her mother. Or the fact that I want to kiss her every second I am in her presence. Hell, more than kiss her. So. Much. More.
I sigh. Jesus, I need to keep it together and remember that she is a virgin. I still don’t understand why, it doesn’t really matter though.
Harry: EJ hasn’t heard from her today.
Me: And?
Harry: What’s she doing?
Oh, Jesus. He’s become such a busybody since settling down with EJ.
Me: She had brunch with my family.
A few seconds tick by and I get into my truck. I should be exhausted. We had no sleep last night. Well, not much at all. My sisters and I sat up talking most of the night. Lots of giggling about the past, we sent horrible texts to Cora, who was pissed she wasn’t there with us. We ended up being forced to FaceTime with her. Mike, her husband, wasn’t that happy about it either. We would have done the same with Gerry, but she’s about to finish up her semester at NYU Med School, and she has warned all of us she would do horrible things to us if we woke her up. The insinuation is that she could make our deaths look like accidents. She’s always been like that, but she’s gotten worse since she started med school. More than likely, she wasn’t even sleeping. She was probably studying.
Still, it’s refreshing when I spend time with my family. Wait, no. It’s refreshing if I haven’t seen them in a while. I love them but being part of a big family can be tiring, especially with a family filled with so many women. I love my sisters and mother, but there is always drama at our house.
My phone buzzes. I glance down.
Harry: You guys up for anything tonight?
Normally, I’d jump at the suggestion. But this is the first time I will have Savannah to myself, and I want this time. I want to see what we are like when we’re alone—away from the prying eyes of our friends. It is going to be bad enough when they find out we are dating. Hell, I don’t even know if she will date me. It is going to be awkward since we are roommates, but I think we can handle it.
Me: Naw, I’m beat. You know what my sisters are like. We were up all night long.
Harry: Okay. Gran is cooking some fried chicken.
&nbs
p; Oh, God. Gran came out here not too long ago and made a batch of that for us all. It is…amazing. Still, I want to see Savannah and I want her to myself.
Me: I am ready to pass out or I would take you up on the offer.
Harry: No problem. See you tomorrow.
I start up my pickup, then decide to head off any texts EJ might send Savannah.
Me: Heads up, Harry just texted me about fried chicken.
Savannah: Yeah, I got a text from EJ. Turned her down. Told her I was too tired.
I don’t have to look in the mirror to know that I have a smile curving my lips.
Me: GMTA, I said the same thing. On my way home.
Savannah: See ya then.
I set my phone down and throw my truck into drive. The sooner I get home, the sooner I get to spend time with Savannah.
Chapter Twenty
Savannah
I make it back home and find McLovin sitting on the bottom step of the stairs. He gives me a dirty look when I step inside. His evil green stare doesn’t bode well for me.
“Don’t judge. I was out with your family.”
He continues giving me a nasty look, so I go into the kitchen and set a couple of bags on the counter. I dropped by HEB to pick up a few things. Since I will no longer be eating at the restaurant, I figure I should have some other food here.
As I start to put the food away, I think back to Fritz’s texts and the time I spent with his family. It’s kind of sweet seeing the way he interacts with his sisters. I knew he was close with them. Not anything he said in particular, but he knows what’s going on in their lives. He cares, and it was easy to feel jealousy. Not in a romantic way, but the fact that my “brothers” never acted the way Fritz does makes me think that maybe they all knew the real story about me. Harry is protective of Allison too. Or, maybe my brothers just suck balls.
My thoughts move onto his parents, God, they were hilarious. Their love is easy to see—so much like Mr. and Mrs. B. I just love that they were all normal. Not the insane telenovela my own family has morphed into—or always was.
Then there was the buzz I felt the moment I sat next to Fritz. I’d had nothing to drink, but I felt as if I drank all morning long. It was as if I’d had ten mimosas with my breakfast rather than the one. I hadn’t wanted to leave, but I knew he needed some more time with them alone. They would have been happy to have me along to go see Grannie Pam, but I was taxed out. So many people over the past couple of days. Plus, it was a lot of people for me to take this morning, especially after last night. Although, they were really sweet.
My thoughts go back to my own family. Apparently, my parents, my uncle Tito, and who God knows who else knew the whole story. I knew he had been married, but Tito rarely talked about his wife. When he did, he was incredibly sad, so I tried not to bring her up.
The last time I saw Tito, he had come to visit me in San Francisco. No one but Austin had visited me, so it was a big deal. I took him to all my favorite places to eat. Some had been four-star kind of dining, but there had also been diners, food trucks, and dives. We had so much fun, laughing over memories, talking about my plans for the future. He had pressed that he wanted me to stay in San Francisco, which was nothing new. He had done everything in his power to make sure I was far away from my family. Now I know why.
There was a moment during that trip, when I had cooked dinner for the two of us, that he mentioned his wife, who I know now was my mother. It had been the middle of the night, and I had come home and cooked pasta a cacio e pepe. We sat on my little balcony, sharing a bottle of wine and talking about family.
He had looked at me, his eyes shrouded in secrets, and said, “Marilyn would be so proud of you.”
Just like that. I’d been a little buzzed, so I didn’t think much of it at the time. But, when he died less than two months later, I’d thought about that comment a lot and what it might have meant.
Anger and sadness twist inside my chest. Fuck, this was a mess, and I still didn’t know how to tell my friends. I’m now looking at every moment through the lens of what I know to be the truth. All those moments Tito spent teaching me how to cook now take on a completely different feel. There was still love between us, but why did he not tell me the truth? I understand why he didn’t do it when I was growing up, but once I was an adult, far away from the rest of the family, he could have told me.
I push those thoughts away and think about Marilyn. I have no memory of her. I was two when she died. At least, that is what I have been told for years—which I know was a lie. There had been no gravesite, as Tito had her cremated as per her wishes—or again, what I have been told. I have a vague memory of her in pictures, but Tito put those away years ago. He wouldn’t have thrown them away.
I hurry back to my home office. There were tons of photo albums on the shelves. I never really looked at them. I always said I would look them over, or I thought it, or something. Jesus, I definitely have had no life outside of work.
I look them over and find one that I can’t believe I missed.
Our Wedding.
I hesitate, then slide it off the shelf. I sit down on the couch. McLovin—who has apparently forgiven me—joins me, curling up beside me. I sit cross-legged and hold the book in my hands. Once I open it, I will never be able to unsee it. I roll my eyes even as I feel the tell-tale signs of the prickling against them. I’m trying my best not to cry. If my “mother” was telling me the truth, I am about to see my biological mother for the first time.
I start flipping through the pages, when my gaze lands on Marilyn. She’s laughing in the picture, made up in her simple wedding dress. The look on her face is filled with happiness. It is easy to see. It practically radiates off the page.
“Hey,” Fritz says, startling me. I glance at him and realize I was so focused on this one pic that I didn’t hear him come in.
“What do you have there?” he asks, stepping into my office. McLovin hisses at him, but he shoos the cat away and takes his spot beside me on the couch.
“It’s Marilyn. My biological mother, if my mother is to be believed.”
He looks at her picture, leaning closer to it. “Well, yeah.”
“What do you mean?” I ask as I try not to sniff at him. He sure does smell good. Like sandalwood cologne and sex. That second might be because he is starting to represent every sexual thought I seem to be having. I just want to crawl onto his lap and ride him.
“Look at her. She looks just like you.”
I blink, push away those insane thoughts, and look down at the picture again. He’s right. I didn’t see it at first because I had focused on her happiness.
“You have the same nose, shape of mouth…wow, you look a lot alike, but she has light hair and eyes.”
My vision blurs, and I blink the tears away as best I can.
“Tito made sure there were no pictures of her around. I thought it was because it was too painful for him. More like he didn’t want the comparisons to be made. I want to know who knows.”
“What do you mean?”
I look at him. “Do my brothers know? Austin was almost eight when I came to live with them. Did he know?”
Is that why my brothers are always kind of shitty towards me? Well, except Austin. We have our issues, but I could always count on him to help me at the restaurant. And he genuinely cares about me. My other “brothers”…I always thought it had something to do with me. As if I had done something wrong. Do they all resent me since I am just their cousin?
“I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“Can you remember anything from when you were seven?”
“This is something big. Another human comes to live with you.”
He nods. “My grandfather died when I was nine. He and I were really close. I sort of remember it, but I know a lot of it is because of my family. They talk about it. And, I saw pictures from the wake. So, I’m not sure which are my memories of the actual event.”
I nod and look down at the pictu
res.
“When did they get married?” he asks.
I remember the date on the invitation in the front of the book.
“Six months before I was born.”
“It shows.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Look at her. She’s so happy she glows. Both my sisters were like that when they were pregnant.”
I nod. “Which means Tito had to marry her.” Great.
“Let me see.” He grabs the book from me and flips through it. “Nope. I mean, it might have been a catalyst, but look at this picture.”
It isn’t a posed picture; it’s shows my parents talking while they sit at the table. There is such love in Tito’s eyes, and Marilyn is still smiling. Yeah, she was pregnant with me, but they wanted to be together. In that faded picture, I see more love and happiness than I have seen in my entire life between my “parents.”
“Does this mean you’re ready to talk about it?”
I glance up at him. “No.”
“Okay, good. Let’s go for a ride.”
It takes me a second to catch on. “What?”
“Let’s go for a ride. On my bike. It’s a gorgeous day, and it’s been forever since I’ve been able to take a ride.”
I hesitate because I want to wallow, but apparently Fritz thinks he’s in charge.
He rises off the couch, sets the wedding book on my desk, then grabs my hand, yanking me up. “Let’s go. Get some closed-toe shoes on. I have an extra helmet.”
Then he walks out of my office without a backward glance.
“Who made you boss?”
“No one. I made myself boss,” he says back to me.
Butthead. But I’m smiling when I follow him out of my office. Getting out of the house and getting some fresh air might be good for me. Just something to do that has no reason other than enjoyment. Instantly, I feel lighter…happier. With that thought on my mind, and a smile on my face, I hurry upstairs to grab a pair of shoes.
Chapter Twenty-One
Scrumptious: A Friends to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Camos and Cupcakes Book 3) Page 17
