3. Emily
3
EMILY
Not even five minutes have passed when my phone starts ringing. The image of my mom’s face popping up on the screen makes my chest tighten with anxiety about the conversation we’re about to have. I can already feel the million interrogative questions coming my way.
“Hi, Mom,” I say, pressing the phone to my ear. I give Rock a quick glance. He’s giving me a look that says, You need anything, I’m here . I’m so grateful to have a friend like him.
“Emily, honey,” my mom says on the phone. “What’s this text about? What do you mean, you’re dating Rock?”
The guilt of the lie nestles into my chest. This is exactly why I hate lying—it feels so awful. I remind myself that it truly was my last resort. “It’s not a big deal. I just wanted you to know so you can stop sending those texts to me about other guys.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“Um…not long.”
“You know how your father and I feel about him.”
Yeah, they’ve made that blatantly clear. It’s been that way for years and years, since the night of our senior prom. Don’t even get me started on how much they tried to talk me out of opening a business with Rock.
I get up out of my seat and walk into the living room. I can’t have Rock looking at me right now. “Well, it’s my life, so…”
“So you’ll do what you want,” my mom says, her voice laced with disapproval. She exhales a quick sigh, then says in a slightly more upbeat voice, “Well, will he be joining us next Sunday, then?”
Oh, god. The thought of bringing Rock to one of my parents’ weekly dinners makes me break out in a sweat. It’s one thing to tell my parents the two of us are dating. It would be a whole other can of worms to have to fake it in front of them.
“He can’t,” I say quickly. “He’s busy.”
“I see.”
“Sorry, Mom, but I have to go. I’ll talk to you later?”
She sniffs in a breath. “That’s fine. We’ll speak later.”
“Love you. Bye.”
I hang up, a half-relieved, half-uneasy feeling washing over me. I’m relieved that the lie might have actually worked, but uneasy about being stuck in the lie now. I’m also bummed my mom reacted the way she did. I can’t say I’m shocked, though. It’s no secret that she and my dad aren’t the biggest fans of Rock. Even three years into us running a business together, they still drop hints about how there’s always a job waiting for me at my dad’s firm. I don’t understand why they can’t let it go. I don’t want to spend my life in a corporate job. It’s just not me. They might think that running a bar is below me, but I don’t see it that way at all. I take pride in our bar.
I gather myself up and walk back into the kitchen. Rock is washing our breakfast dishes, shaking the water off before setting them in the drainboard.
“So what am I too busy for?” he asks. “They want to meet up to tell me I’m not good enough for their daughter?”
I cringe. “My mom asked if you’d come to dinner on Sunday. Don’t worry. I won’t subject you to that.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m sorry about my parents.”
“I already knew they didn’t like me. It’s nothing new.”
“It’s ridiculous, though. They made up their mind about you from one stupid thing that happened years ago…” I shake my head, frustrated. “It’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah. As you always say. You really should get that tattooed on your forehead, you know?”
Rock gives a humorless laugh. He wipes his hands on a towel. I follow him into his bedroom.
“For the record, I think you’re a good catch,” I say. “If my daughter told me she was dating you, I’d be happy for her.”
Rock gives me a funny look. “Kinda weird thing to say, but thanks.”
“You know what I mean.”
He pulls some clothes out of a drawer. When he steps toward me, I don’t move. I know he’s really bothered by how my mom reacted, and I hate that he feels that way. Damn it. Maybe I should have ignored my mom’s call and talked to her in private, out of range of Rock’s ears.
“I need to shower,” he says impatiently, waiting for me to move. His chest is a wall that could easily force me out of the way, but he’s not the kind of guy who would ever do that.
I can’t think of anything to say to him that will help. Maybe all I can do right now is wait for his irritation to lessen. I sigh and move aside. “Ok. I’m meeting up with the girls for a while. I’ll see you later at the bar?”
“Yup,” he says tersely as he swings the bathroom door closed behind him.
“I’m so sorry about your apartment, Em,” Jenn says as she unsheathes a plastic straw and slips it into her soda. Paige nods in agreement as she wipes her mouth with a napkin. The three of us are at Nom Nom, our go-to place for lunch.
“Thanks,” I say, smiling at my friends. “It’ll be okay, though. It’ll just take a little time.”
“Is Rock’s place a gross bachelor pad?” Jenn asks.
I laugh. “Actually, no. Compared to me, he’s really tidy.”
“Really?” says Paige. “That’s surprising.”
I give Paige a curious look. “Wait, what? You never went over to his place?”
A few years ago, Paige and Rock dated for a few months. It was a little awkward, seeing two of my friends date, but the more awkward thing was when they broke up because I felt like I had to take sides. I ended up telling both of them that I couldn’t be in the middle of it, and thankfully they both understood and didn’t rant to me about the other…mostly. Paige did say a few bad things about Rock. Thankfully, though, they’re now completely civil to each other.
“Nope,” says Paige, popping the p . “Not once. He was weird like that. Never invited me up.”
“Guys are so strange sometimes,” says Jenn.
I hold my plate out in the middle of the table. “Here, you guys. Take some of my fries.”
“So I guess Rock isn’t dating anyone, huh?” Jenn asks as she helps herself to my fries.
“Not to my knowledge,” I say. “Why?”
“I just mean, it’d be kind of weird if he was dating someone and another girl moved into his apartment, wouldn’t it?”
“We’re friends,” I say, not seeing the problem.
“I know that. But I feel like a lot of girls would be jealous of another girl living in their man’s apartment. And what if he wants to bring someone home? He can’t, because you’re there.”
I don’t want to think about Rock and any girls. Picturing your best friend hooking up with someone is just…no. Super uncomfortable. My stomach feels weird even at the vague thought of it. “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue, but if he needs privacy, all he has to do is ask.”
Jenn shrugs and picks up her sandwich. “I’m just saying.”
“You guys, it’s really not a big deal, me sleeping at his place for a few days.”
“As long as that’s all your doing,” says Jenn, raising an eyebrow at me.
My jaw almost falls open. “Have I ever given you any reason to believe I’ve wanted more from him?”
Jenn and Paige exchange a quick glance.
“You two are very close,” Paige says.
“He’s practically my brother!” I protest.
“But he’s not,” Jenn says.
“Just be careful, Em,” Paige says, giving me a knowing look.
I don’t know what ideas my friends have gotten into their heads, but they’re nuts. Originally I was planning on telling them about the whole fake relationship thing, but there’s no way I’m telling them now. It’ll only put more insane ideas in their heads.
“Anyway,” I say, motivated to change the subject. “Enough of my drama. What’s going on in your lives? Is your car still in the shop, Jenn?”
“Yes,” she groans. “They keep finding more and more problems with it.”
Paige pops a fry into her mouth. “Didn’t you say the mechanic was super hot?”
“Devastatingly so.”
“Now that would be a hot hookup. Grease everywhere, a man who’s good with his hands…”
The three of us exchange looks before we bust out laughing.