Emily steps closer to me and leans in. “Your family really is scary.”
“It’s not always like this,” I lie.
Her eyes narrow. “Yeah, if you say so.”
Suddenly, Max turns to Gabby. “Look, I’m flattered and all, but I’m married.”
“What?” Gabby stumbles out, gaping at him.
“You keep staring but I’m sorry, I have a wife who loves and adores me. She needs me. I made vows,” he declares.
“I wasn’t—”
He holds his hand up. “Please don’t make this difficult, she’s right there,” he whispers, pointing to Lake, who looks bored.
“But I—”
“This is getting kind of embarrassing. I’m flattered, truly, and as hard as it will be, you need to move—”
“You have crap in your teeth!” Gabby blurts out. “And I’m gay. So, so, so gay.”
“Well, you aren’t getting my wife,” he yells, pulling Lake into his arms.
I slap my forehead, groaning. “Please, what are you all doing here?”
“We came for an intervention,” Hayden points out. “It’s too soon for you to be dating.”
“I’m not dating.”
She turns to her dad, then back to me. “You aren’t?”
“No,” I tell her, chuckling. “I’m doing a favour for a friend, as a friend.”
Hayden slowly turns to her dad. “You worried me fucking sick by telling me she was going out with a beast who would snap her like a twig. You said that if I didn’t do anything she’d run away with him.”
“And you believed him?” Landon mutters.
“It’s Charlotte,” she snaps. “She’s been through a lot and I didn’t want to see her take her cat and run off into the sunset.”
“Although Drew is seriously hot,” Hope adds. “I like him.”
“Don’t like him,” Max yells. “I know guys like him. They see a vulnerable girl and take advantage.”
Landon pinches the bridge of his nose. “Now is not the time to bring up Jaxon.”
“I see,” Max mutters, before turning to Dad. “And you’re okay with this?”
Dad glances up from his plate of pasta. I hadn’t even realised he’d gone to the fridge. “She said it’s not a date and I believe her. But to be sure, I’m going to make sure this Drew guy knows it too.”
“Don’t,” I blurt out. “His mum wasn’t very nice. He doesn’t need more parents being mean to him.” Landon chuckles and I narrow my gaze. “He helped me.”
He sobers. “Yeah.”
Mum tilts her head, her smile sad. “Sweetie, we are just worried. You’re too nice for your own good.”
“He isn’t Scott,” I choke out, tears pooling in my eyes. “Please, don’t make me let him down. Not when he’s done a lot already.”
“Why don’t you ask him to come for dinner tonight and we can get to know him,” Mum suggests. “That way, everyone can feel secure enough about this little arrangement.”
Dad nods in agreement. “I’m okay with that.”
Max finishes off my last packet of Jammie Dodgers and nods. “I fancy spag bol tonight.”
“Not you,” Mum scolds.
“But—”
“No.”
I turn to Landon. “Will you ask him?”
His gaze softens and the tension leaks from the corner of his eyes. “You message him. He’ll be okay with this.”
“And you won’t hit him again?”
His lips twitch. “We work in a gym.”
I nod, my shoulders slumping with relief at that. Then they tense again when it occurs to me. “That wasn’t an answer.”
He scruffs my hair. “It’s the only one you’re getting. I’ve got to head back to work but I’ll catch you later.”
“Me too,” Hayden mutters. “If he didn’t need me so much, Clay would have fired me by now.”
“He loves you,” I remind her.
“Of course he does, but when you have a dad that calls you out of work, scaring you half to death, it’s gonna get tiresome.”
She leaves with Landon, and moments later, Hope follows after giving me a hug goodbye.
“We so need to spend more time together,” Gabby whispers.
“I cannot wait to tell the others,” Emily murmurs.
When they leave, I slump against the counter. I still haven’t told them about the room at the gym.
Mum stands, grabbing her bag off the side. “Let’s go shopping.”
“Ohh, I need a new rug,” Lake announces.
Dad rubs the back of his neck. “I really need to get back to work.”
When everyone turns to Max, he rears back. “What? I’m going to get something to eat. I’m starving.”
Both brothers rush out and I can’t help but shake my head.
I still never got an answer as to how they all knew.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DREW
When Charlotte messaged to ask me to meet her parents, I wasn’t all that surprised. What surprised me was that I said yes. I never met any of my exes’ parents.
Landon said it wasn’t under debate and that I needed to go if I wanted Charlotte to come with me to the wedding. Although I told her she doesn’t need to come, I want her to be there. Having to sit the entire evening without a date would be torture. Just the thought has me shuddering. Mum was determined to set me up with Eloise and I have no doubt she still has something planned.
I sit back in the driver’s seat, once more questioning what the fuck I’m doing. And why the fuck I got dressed up. Or as dressed up as I can get. I’m wearing a black button-down shirt and dark jeans, paired with black boots.
I tie my hair back into a low bun, needing it out of my face. I’m still waiting for Charlotte. I offered to pick her up since her car is still getting repaired. It has been ten minutes since she said she was coming and there’s no sign of her.
I glance down at my phone. Do I go to the door? She said to park on the main road, but maybe she’s waiting for me to meet her at the door.
Fuck it.
Shutting off the engine, I grab my phone from the dashboard and reach for the door handle. Movement from the road catches my attention and my eyes widen when I spot Charlotte racing toward the car like her arse is on fire. I go to get out but she’s already moving around the car to the passenger side, pulling open the door.
“I’m so sorry.”
I lean over, picking a leaf out of her hair. “Um, did you fall into a bush?”
Red kisses her cheeks, like the petal of a rose. It’s cute against the freckles sprinkled across her nose.
She catches her breath before answering. “Kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“My cat was meowing at another cat in the garden so I thought, hey, they want to be friends. So I went out to get the cat to introduce her to Katnip, but then Katnip attacked her. Full on attacked this cat. And I dropped the cat in the midst of the chaos.” She stops for a minute to take a breath. “Then I went to check if the cat was okay, but it kind of got scared. I tried to crawl into the bush to get it, and then it ran.” She bites her lip. “And I got stuck.”