21
Maeve
I went to the grocery store alone for the first time in over six years. There wasn’t a crying baby on my hip or a picky toddler. No, it was just me in my silence. I had debated fighting Christian on coming home first and getting the girls before I went, but the thought of going quickly alone was far too enticing after my incredibly long shift at the diner.
When I parked my car in the driveway and brought some of the bags inside, I was surprised to hear laughter coming from the backyard. I walked out the back door to see an empty plate with some half-eaten fruit on it. Kelsie was dunking Christian in the pool as Kinsley squeaked from the side.
“Get ’em, sissy,” Kins kept shouting.
My heart felt like it would explode out of my chest. Was this my real life? Here I was, having a slight panic attack as I ran through the store because Christian had never been around kids. He said everything was okay, but I expected to walk into pure chaos. Tyler was never involved with the kids. In fact, if I asked him if I could run to the store, he would ask if I was dropping the girls off with my parents first.
“Hey, Mama,” Christian shouted from the pool. I knew we were trying to be friends here, but I have never wanted a man so much in my life than I did right now.
I smiled and walked through the gate to the pool’s edge.
“What are you guys up to?” I asked, watching Christian. My eyes glued on his.
“I fed the girls a snack, and then we hung out in the pool. I put sunscreen on them, too.”
I narrowed my eyes at him in complete disbelief.
“Is that okay?”
“Oh yeah. I guess I am just…surprised at how natural all of that was to you,” I confessed honestly.
“Shit, me too.” Quickly, he covered his mouth with his hand in feigned shock.
“You owe us a dollar for the swear jar,” Kelsie exclaimed before splashing him with water.
“Come on. I’ll get you girls dinner.”
The girls ran to grab their towels, and the hunk of a man who was just swimming in the pool with my two girls slowly walked out of the pool with water dripping from him. I felt like a cartoon watching him because my jaw must have dropped to the ground.
He moved swiftly toward me, and I held out a towel toward him. He leaned into my ear with the corners of his mouth turned up slightly into a smirk.
“Better close it because I’ll put something in it that is very much not in our friendship boundaries.” That snapped me out of my trance, and I swatted him away.
“I’ll barbecue,” he said mid laugh.
“No, I can serve them pizza.” He narrowed his eyes at me while walking over to turn the grill on.
“No.” This time, I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Let me contribute in some way, please.”
“Only because you said please.” This prompted an intense eye roll from me. “Make a side?”
“You got it, chef.”
That was how we spent the rest of the evening. Watching as the girls jumped in and out of the pool with their floaties on and sitting outside eating burgers that my very sexy roommate cooked.
“Say goodbye to Daddy,” I told the two girls when I finally tucked them into their beds as they were FaceTiming with their dad. I hadn’t spoken to him outside the courtroom, but we always let the girls call each other at bedtime, so I didn’t want to do anything to upset him.
“Wait, don’t hang up, Maeve,” Tyler said on the other line, and I shut Kelsie’s door for fear of what he would say in front of her.
I walked into the hallway and leaned against one of the walls.
“What, Tyler?” I asked pointedly, doing my best to control my emotions. He was trying to get a rise out of me. I had to keep reminding myself of this.
“Where are you guys?”
“I moved in with my boyfriend. I submitted the paperwork to the lawyer, who should have notified you of my new address as per our court order.”
“I need to meet him,” Tyler demanded.
“That is not in the order.” I could feel myself start to get worked up.
Breathe, Maeve .
“I should meet the man who's shacking up and playing family with my kids.”
I looked over at Christian, who had stopped on the stairs and was staring at me. I could feel the water start to form in my eyes. I looked between Tyler, who was berating me, and back at Christian. The world started to get quiet.
“Maybe you are just a fucking little slut who is making this shit up. You have always been a fucking good liar, Maeve,” Tyler spewed on the other line. We were still on FaceTime, and the last thing I needed was to let him see that his words were getting to me.
I looked over once again at Christian. He mouthed something at me.
“Get. Off.”
I shook my head.
“Lying little bitch. I bet it is some mail-order husband. You would never find anyone as good as I was to you. No one wants to live with you because you're unorganized and a mess.”
Christian now gripped the handrail to the stairs so tightly that his knuckles were turning red.
“Hey, Tyler. Thanks for the conversation.” I straightened and spoke in the most confident voice I could summon while staring straight at Christian. If I didn’t look down at the screen, then I knew I had the strength to hang up from Tyler’s beratement.
“Now,” Christian whispered, and I quickly only briefly looked down at the phone.
“I gotta go. Bye.” I hung up just as he raised his voice. Christian stayed where he was and kept white-knuckling the staircase. He stared at me with a face that was so impasse.
“Do not answer it when he calls you again.” I shook my head.
“He isn’t going to—”
Sure enough, my phone rang, and I looked down to see Tyler’s number pop up. I hesitated with my finger over the button.
“The girls are in bed. You owe him nothing. Listening to what he has to say to you isn’t healthy.” I slowly looked down and then back up again and nodded in agreement. Christian walked up the remainder of the steps where he reached his hand out in my direction.
“Just like you saying that I am an addiction isn't healthy,” I retorted.
“Got me there. I didn't mean it like that. It was just a saying…”
“Yeah, but maybe subconsciously you did. I cannot be a replacement for you, Christian.” He nodded while looking defeated and down.
“No, I get what you’re saying,” He rubbed his elbow anxiously. “If he calls and it’s a true emergency, I’ll answer it. You don’t need to hear it,” he reiterated, changing the subject.
“Okay.” I handed him my phone at the same time the doorbell rang.
“Are you expecting anyone?” Christian shook his head, went to drop off my phone in his room, and walked downstairs with me.
“I gotta admit having the girls in bed at seven o’clock leaves a lot of room for nighttime activities.” He tried to joke and lighten the very thick atmosphere.
“Yeah, perfect time for you to leave for your fuck buddies,” I muttered when we reached the bottom of the steps, and I reached out to grab the handle of the front door. He pulled my hand away, holding on to my wrist. His bright blue eyes locked with mine.
“I promised you I would never do that shit with the girls around. That fucking hurts, Maeve.” His voice cracked at the very end of the sentence, and I knew that hit was a low blow. I used my free hand to stroke his bicep, which was hard and bulging. But I wasn’t thinking of that right now. I was just doing it for comfort.
“I’m sorry,” I finally whispered. He offered me a quick nod before letting go of my hand and opening the door.
“Congratulations.” My parents came in with a “Congrats Grad” balloon, and Christian and I passed a questioning look between us.
“What?” I looked back up at the balloon. I was so very confused.
My dad pushed us aside and walked in with my mother in tow.
“We couldn’t find a normal congratulations balloon at the store, so this one will have to do.” My father shoved the balloon at Christian, who grabbed it.
“Why do you have this?” My mom walked to the back of the house where the kitchen was and opened the fridge door, grabbing herself a soda.
“It's for Christian. He survived his first real day of being your fake live-in boyfriend.” I gave them a pointed look.
"Come on, Maeve. We love you, we raised you, and we know better than anyone how challenging it can be to live with you. Let's just say you have a unique sense of organization," my mom remarked, just as the soda can hissed open.
"Mom," I exclaimed while Christian burst into laughter.
"Thanks, Pat and Sarah," he managed to say through his laughter, tears streaming down his face. "I have to admit, nothing seems extraordinarily out of place... yet."
I looked at all three of them and threw my hands up in surrender. "Whatever," I mumbled, taking a seat on one of the high stools by the countertop. My mom pushed me up.
“What the fuck has gotten into you, Mom?” I looked back at her.
“Language, darling,” my dad piped as he turned on a baseball game.
“What’s going on?” I begged. Christian was still in the corner laughing.
"We're here to babysit. You two are going out to celebrate surviving the day," my dad said. Getting up from his seat, he pulled out a few twenties from his wallet and handed them to me.
This time, Christian stepped away from the corner and gently pushed my father's hand away. "I can handle it," he said, looking back and forth between us. "After all, I'm her fake boyfriend, right?" He gave me a playful wink, and I instinctively wiped away a tear that had rolled down my cheek from laughing.
Without thinking, he reached up and grabbed my wrist, and for a fleeting moment, time stood still. It was just the two of us in that nanosecond, our touch creating an electric current that sent shivers down my spine.
"Let's go," he commanded, snapping me out of my trance. I glanced between my parents, coming back to reality.
"Thank you. We won't be long; we'll just get some ice cream." My parents practically pushed us out the door, and Christian expressed his gratitude.
He opened the car door for me and quickly got in on the other side. "You know you're lucky, right?" He kept his gaze fixed ahead, hands firmly gripping the steering wheel. The engine was running, but we were still parked in the driveway.
“I know,” I responded and placed a hand on his thigh. His own fingers had a white-knuckle grip on the wheel, but he looked down at my gesture, then put the car in reverse and sped down the driveway and onto the main road. I didn’t bother moving my hand off him.