Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
I didn’t think things could get worse, but then I saw Mom and Dad glaring at me, and my heart nearly stopped.
I had a grip on Levi’s hand and it tightened the second I saw them.
And he noticed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“This is a lot of attention. Everyone’s looking at me.”
I could tell he didn’t get it, and I didn’t blame him. Half of it didn’t make sense to me . I was prepared to force myself to deal with it, but then Levi tugged me away.
“Sorry, everyone. Need a second with my wife.”
There was a sound of a wolf whistle, and I heard Nancy yell, “Isra, no !”
It almost made me laugh as I was pulled into the house.
While I was alone, I was able to catch my breath.
“T-thanks,” I said.
“I can go back out there and distract them.”
“No.” I shook my head. “We need to be united.”
“But you’re stressed.”
“I’ve been stressed for weeks. Just give me a second.”
“Amy, this was supposed to help your stress.”
“Yeah, but everyone looking at me ...” I took a shaky breath. “I think my parents and Calvin were right.”
His gaze shot to me. “What could they possibly have been right about?”
“They always told me I wasn’t able to handle the attention Calvin got, and this is just proving to me that I can’t. I had maybe twenty people’s eyes on me and I had to hide out.” I rubbed my forehead, frustrated with myself.
“Is it the twenty people, or is it your parents in the audience?”
Fuck. He was right. “I think it’s the second one. And ... everything else.”
“This is not a normal event. It’s fine that you’re a little out of it.”
“They looked mad.”
“Probably because you look prettier than Calvin ever could.”
“The term they’d use is handsome.”
“Don’t worry about them.” Levi’s voice was gentle, but my head fell into my hands, and I wasn’t sure what to do. But then his hands came to my shoulders. “Be yourself. We’ll kick them out the second they do anything.”
“I am myself.”
“Not the version I know.” His hold on me loosened and he moved to grab my hand again.
I happily let him.
Everyone turned to look at us as we reemerged into the backyard, even my parents. Levi’s hand squeezed mine, reminding me that I was okay.
Logically, I knew that we had to play the part, and this was a part of it, but I would take any source of comfort and deal with the consequences later.
Isra made it to us first.
“That was beautiful! The best planned wedding since my own.”
“Does this mean you’ve forgiven me for not letting you meet her until now?” Levi asked.
Isra’s smile fell. “No.”
Levi let out a long sigh. “Amy, meet Isra. She’s my?—”
“Stepmom. I know. She already introduced herself.”
“When?”
“I found her while she was getting dressed. Nancy joined me. Now you can’t hide her anymore.”
“Isra,” he said, exasperated.
“For the record,” Nancy said, having finally made her way to us, “I tried to stop her. Not very hard, but I did.”
“They were nice,” I replied. “And you did warn me about them.”
“My reputation precedes me.” Isra smiled, but then she looked at me. “Though I can see why you wanted to lock her down so quickly.”
“Right?” Levi put a hand on my shoulder. “Just look at her. The dress alone is incredible.”
I had to resist the urge to sputter awkwardly at the compliments. What did people do when they got so many?
“Thanks,” I finally was able to say. “It’s vintage, like most of my things.”
“And this house ,” Isra started. “Finally, Levi can move out of that ugly apartment.”
Levi’s hand tightened on my shoulder. We hadn’t talked about this. Why hadn’t we talked about it?
The answer was obvious. We wouldn’t be moving in together. Not for a fake marriage.
“Um, yeah. We’re still figuring out who will move.” All I needed to do was delay until Levi and I could get our shit together and communicate properly.
“It should be him, obviously. You own this home, right?”
“Yes.”
“This is a family home. You don’t raise kids in apartments, Levi. You know that.”
“I do,” he said. He sounded much calmer than I felt. “We’ll figure it out.”
She narrowed her eyes; I knew that wasn’t a good answer. But before I could try and give her a better one, I caught sight of my parents again, still staring at me.
“Um, I should go talk to my mom and dad,” I said. “Give me one second.”
“Are you sure?” Nancy asked. “It’s very fun here.”
“They came all this way,” I replied. “It’s only polite to.”
“Then I’m coming with you,” Levi said, his hand sliding into mine. “We should do everything together, right?”
“He’s a pro already.” Isra leaned into Levi and added under her breath, “Try not to lose it this time.”
“Like you wouldn’t.”
I looked between the two of them with a raised brow. What the hell were they talking about?
“Come on,” Levi urged, tugging me away. “Let’s get this over with.”
“H-hey,” I said when I walked up to them. “So glad you guys could make it.”
Mom glared at Levi before turning to me. “Yes, sure.”
“It could have been a better day,” Dad muttered.
“My wife didn’t want her brother here,” Levi said firmly. “So he had to leave.”
“Wait, what?” I asked. “What do you mean he had to leave?”
“Calvin wanted to celebrate you, and this man kicked him out.” Mom said it like it was the worst thing to ever happen to her.
“I’m her husband,” Levi reminded. “And he was going to start a problem. So I prevented that.”
“But I didn’t invite Calvin,” I said. “Why would you bring him?”
I’d been clear when I told them about the wedding. My text said Calvin and I weren’t on good terms, but I still wanted them to join me.
And they just invited him anyway?
“Because he’s your brother,” Mom said.
“And I said no.”
Levi’s hand tightened on mine. “It’s our wedding day. We can do what we want.”
“I can’t believe you’re being so petty.” Dad shook his head.
“He sent you a gift.” She handed me a blue paper bag. I sifted through and only found a book inside.
How To Get Divorced.
“Is he serious?” Levi muttered.
“It’s more than you deserve, considering you didn’t invite him,” Dad said.
“He fired me.”
“He thought long and hard over that,” Dad replied. “And he had my blessing.”
“He bought the house across the street.”
“Only because you wouldn’t let him have the one he wanted. If you would give in, this wouldn’t be so hard on you.”
My anger and confidence faltered. I felt the same regret I usually did when I tried to put my foot down. I didn’t know how, but my parents always could prove to me that everything that happened was because of me and never because of him.
“Like I said”—Levi’s voice was low, showcasing a dangerous tone I’d never heard before— “it’s our wedding day. And I’m gonna ask that you have your attention on my wife and not her brother. Otherwise, I’ll ask you to leave as well.”
Mom’s jaw dropped. Dad frowned.
I never talked to them that way, and I could see Mom look at me as if asking if I was going to let my husband talk to them like this.
I knew I shouldn’t, yet I was angry.
Just like Levi said, this was my wedding day . Yet they weren’t trying to get to know the man who had his hand in mine, who I’d just joined my life to. They only cared about why Calvin wasn’t here.
“It’s my day,” I said quietly.
Mom shook her head. “Until you treat us like family, we’ll be elsewhere.”
Was I treated like family when I was fired? When Calvin tried to demolish a house just because I got this one?
I watched them go without saying anything, fists clenched.
“Have they always been like that?”
“Usually when I give in, it’s easier.”
“You shouldn’t have. I wasn’t kidding when I said it was your day.”
“For revenge, at least. I guess I can’t be too mad when we’re also doing this all for Calvin.”
Levi turned, his rage now directed at me. “I’m not doing this for?—”
“Amy!” Emma called. I turned to see her running over to us. I barely got to see her ever since she moved out of town. The last time I visited was when she wrecked her car and nearly broke her leg. Most of our talks had been on the phone or over text. I couldn’t help but grin when I finally got to hug her in person.
“You made it,” I said. “Thank you for coming on short notice.”
“And miss your big day? You look so fucking amazing,” she said. “Like Gram’s old picture. Is that her dress?”
“No, Calvin sold that. I found this all on my own.”
Emma’s face fell when I mentioned Calvin. “You know he tried to show up, right?”
“I do. Mom and Dad tried to defend him, and Levi just told them to leave.” I jerked my thumb toward the man behind me.
Emma finally turned to him. “I like you already. I’m Emma. You probably only remember Amy and Calvin, though.”
“No, I remember you. Amy talks about you all the time.”
“That’s surprising. I was sure I’d annoyed her into never talking about me. Even to her fiancé.”
“I like to reiterate how much of a pain in my ass you are,” I added.
“Welcome to our wedding,” he said. “There’s only one rule, and it’s that you don’t mention Calvin.”
“I already do that,” she said. “And I have way more important things to do now, such as know everything about how you two reconnected.”
“We may not have time for all of that today,” I cut in. “We still have people to talk to and things to clean up.”
And Levi and I needed to come up with a better story.
“Fine. But I’ll have questions later.”
“As you should,” Levi said.
“And if you break her heart, I have no problem driving four hours to kick your ass.”
“I’d welcome it.”
Emma nodded slowly. “All right, you’re not so bad. And you make my sister smile bigger than I’ve ever seen, so welcome to our fucked-up family.”
I gazed across the crowd of people and landed on Riley and her family. They were casually hanging out, but I saw her perk up when my eyes met hers.
“Sorry to cut this short,” I said. “But I think a few people are waiting.”
“It’s nice to finally see people waiting for you to talk to them,” Emma said smugly. “But go ahead. Have fun. I’ll find out all the details later.”
And I knew she would. She’d either call me when I least expected it or drive the four hours to corner me.
Levi followed me over to where Riley was holding hands with a little girl with brown hair. Next to her was a taller man with black hair, who watched a baby barely old enough to toddle around the yard.
“Hi,” I said. “Thank you for coming.”
“I’m so glad we could be here. This is Oliver, my husband.”
“Nice to meet you,” Oliver said.
“And this is Zoe.” She pointed to the little girl. “And Xavier.”
Zoe waved, but Xavier was far too entertained by a dandelion to notice us.
“You didn’t tell me your kids were adorable ,” I said, looking at the two of them.
“I think they are, but sometimes others disagree.”
“Where are they? I’ll talk some sense into them.”
Riley laughed, but then her eyes slid to Levi.
“Oh! Right. I need to introduce you to my husband.” I tugged him to my side. “Levi, this is Riley. I go to her coffee shop all the time.”
“This wedding was beautiful ,” Riley said. “I can’t believe how nice your backyard is.”
“Lily helped transform it.”
“But still. And you got to have your wedding here!”
“She gets what she wants,” Levi said. “And I don’t think there was a venue my stepmom could compliment more.”
“She’s a big believer in homeownership, huh?” I asked.
“Always has been.”
“You guys look good together,” Riley said. “All things considered.”
Levi’s smile fell as she winked, and I was sure he was going to ask, but then both Oliver and Riley noticed Xavier running to the road, and they darted after him.
We walked toward Sally, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet, but paused halfway there.
“What did she mean when she said all things considered?”
“I may have mentioned some specifics about our arrangement.”
“She knows?”
“She, Sebastian, and Lily do. They’re the two people I had the hardest time lying to, and Riley is good at keeping secrets.”
“Secrets? Do you have more?”
Not that Riley knows.
“I’m talking other people’s secrets that I also can’t tell you that don’t involve you.”
Levi’s brows knitted. “I’m not sure that makes sense.”
“Lily has a thing she tells no one, okay? And Riley knows and keeps it a secret, and no one else does.”
“Does Emma know?”
“About the secrets? Why would she?”
“About us .”
“Oh. She knows money was a factor, but no. She would immediately go to Mom and Dad’s house and kick their asses for putting me in this situation.”
“Maybe she should.”
“If they found out I married for revenge, I’ll never live it down. You know how Calvin can be. I didn’t want to risk it with her.”
“I understand, but if anyone else knows, you have to tell me. Communication is key to any marriage.”
“Even fake ones?”
“Especially fake ones,” he said.
“All right, I can do that. You’re completely caught up on who knows.”
“Good,” he said. “Now, let’s go talk to Sally. I’m pretty sure the entire office signed a card and tried to hide it from me.”
“It doesn’t seem like they did a good job.”
“They never do.”
It took far longer to talk to everyone than I thought it would. Sally did have a very sweet card loaded with gift cards to local restaurants. She was so happy for us and showed us all the photos she took while I was walking down the aisle. After that, we caught up with Lily and Sebastian, where we all talked about how to take down everything.
I expected it to be just the four of us after people filtered out of the house, but Isra and Nancy insisted on staying to help put the leftover food up while we cleaned up all the decorations outside.
“I should probably go make sure they aren’t going through your house,” Levi said after a few minutes. “I love them, but I don’t trust them alone together.”
“We can finish up out here,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.”
He nodded and started to walk away, but then turned. “Before I go, I need to ask the two of you, how did we do?”
“Do?” Lily asked.
“With faking a wedding.”
“You know that we know?” Lily asked.
“I had to get it out of her, but yes. I do. I knew some people did. She told me she needed her friend’s seal of approval.”
“And we’re the experts on fake marriage,” Lily said.
“Wait, what?” Levi looked between them.
“Wow, we’re really going there?” I asked Lily.
“Oh, did Levi not know?”
“Why would I tell the CEO of the company I work for that our parents sold us off together?” Sebastian asked. “It didn’t come up!”
“Now I need to know,” Levi said.
“It was dramatic,” I told him. “When I met them, they basically hated each other.”
“To be fair, I thought he was cheating.”
“I wasn’t!” Sebastian said. “It was a misunderstanding that went on far too long.”
“You’re lucky Sally isn’t still here,” Levi replied. “She’d love to hear this.”
“I’d rather the office not know how much of an idiot I was in the past,” Sebastian said with a sigh. “But if you want, I can give you the whole story sometime. As long as you keep it between us.”
“I can keep secrets, and I definitely want the whole story,” Levi replied. “But speaking of things I have to do, I should really check up on Isra. Who knows what she and Mom are doing.”
“Have fun with that,” I said, waving him off.
Lily waited until Levi was inside before turning to me.
“That went well,” she said. “You sold it so well. Even Riley thought so. You’re a good actor.”
“Y-yeah,” I said. “That was definitely all acting.”
Lily looked up. “What does that mean?”
I checked behind me, making sure Levi and his family were inside. “I don’t know. He was really nice today, and I found myself leaning on him a lot. Plus, he did a really good proposal, and?—”
“I thought we said that there was no romance happening,” Sebastian added as he moved the arch Levi and I had gotten married under.
“There shouldn’t be, but he’s kinda romantic?” I groaned after I said it. “Which he was the first time too. This is how he gets me every time, by being nice until he pulls the rug out from under me.”
He exchanged a look with Lily before walking to the shed to drop off what was in his arms.
“What?” I asked.
“What if he is actually like this?” Lily’s voice was gentle, yet her words hit hard.
“No, I’m not falling for it again. You weren’t there when he confirmed he kissed me to piss off Calvin, and he’s made it clear that all of this is to make my brother mad.”
“You don’t have to fall for him to admit that he’s nice.”
“That’s the thing. If I do admit it, then I could forget that this isn’t real. None of it is. It’s for revenge, and he always has to be the best at that.”
“But does it feel like revenge?”
“None of it does. That’s the problem. When we practiced our kiss?—”
“Hang on, you practiced that?” Lily’s eyebrows rose.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“It was good.”
“But practicing is gonna lead to more confusion.”
I rubbed my forehead. “I know, and I accept that I’m shooting myself in the foot here. Even if I say it’s practice, I know he’s doing it to make this perfect. But it feels nice, therefore, I’m getting confused.”
“At least you’re admitting it,” she said as she threw things away.
“Will you still be there when I get my heart broken?”
“Of course I will.”
“It would almost be easier if he was a bad actor, but he’s definitely not.”
“After he goes home tonight, you’ll have some time to cool down. I think you’ll need it.”
“Amy!” Isra called out from the deck. I turned to see her waving. “Can you please come talk some sense into my stepson?”
“That’s my cue.”
“We’ll finish up here and head home,” Lily said, giving me a smile. “You’ve got this.”
I gave her a quick hug before darting inside.
“Isra,” Levi said, head in his hands, “don’t bring Amy into this.”
“She’s your wife!” Isra exclaimed. “It’s important that she’s involved.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“He’s telling me he’s going home . On your wedding night !”
“I said I was packing up my stuff to come back a different day. We’re tired, Isra.”
“So?” she asked. “This is your first night together! It should be in the same house!”
“Mom, back me up here.”
“Sorry, kiddo,” Nancy said with a shrug. “I agree with her. I thought it was a given that you were staying here. Not packing up the second the wedding is over.”
“I ... I told you, I need to pack.”
“I’m sorry, pack for what?” I asked.
“Moving in, obviously,” Isra said with a laugh.
I made a noise between a gasp and a scoff. “I ... That’s moving a little fast, don’t you think?”
“A little fast? We didn’t even meet you until your wedding day! You’re slowing down now ?”
“No, Isra, I’m moving in.” Levi rubbed his forehead. “It’s just not tonight.”
“With the way you were talking, you were here already!”
Levi looked at me with wide eyes, and it hit me that we were not going to get out of this without lying our asses off. He and I could talk about what the hell we were going to do later.
“He has some stuff here, but moving is a lot of work. We figured we’d get it all done in one go and he could go through his stuff.”
Isra and Nancy glanced at each other, obviously considering what I said.
I glanced at Levi and wondered if I had gotten through to them.
“We’ll pack up for you,” Isra said. “Problem solved.”
“But—”
“You two get rest and we’ll take care of it!” Nancy clapped her hands together. “Think of it as a late wedding present.”
“You guys don’t need to—” Levi tried to say, but Isra cut him off.
“No! No excuses. Spend time with your wife! Not packing up! We’re going there tonight.”
“Tonight? But?—”
“Actually, right now. No leaving! Enjoy your time together!”
Isra grabbed Nancy and marched out the door, leaving us alone.
“What just happened?” I asked numbly.
“My mom and stepmom happened,” Levi said, scrubbing a hand over his face.
“What the hell are we gonna do? We can’t move in together.”
“We can’t not . Why would we rush into getting married otherwise?”
“No, no .” I crossed my arms over my chest. “This isn’t happening. This house isn’t even your style.”
“I thought we established that I love your house.”
“Yes, but not enough to live here. Why aren’t you freaking out more?”
“I am , but I’ve been arguing with them about this for a while, and I knew this would come up eventually.”
I closed my eyes, trying to think of a way out of this, but one of my damn fake eyelashes stabbed my eyeball, and that was the last straw.
“God, I have to get out of this fucking makeup, and then I can deal with this disaster.”
I walked to the hallway bathroom and grabbed my face wash to scrub everything off.
“I could get a place nearby,” Levi offered as I worked on it.
“And when Isra and Nancy show up, you just come over? They’re packing up your stuff. They’ll know if it’s not here. And— shit , I forgot a towel.”
I heard footsteps and then cloth touched my face. “I’ve got it,” he said, gently wiping off the water. Once it was out of my eyes, I was left gazing at him with a terrifying realization.
If he moved in, I would fall for him.
“Be honest with me, will your mom and Isra know if you don’t live here?”
“They’ll figure it out eventually. They notice way too much.”
I tried to put myself in their shoes, and I knew that if I saw two people rush to get married and then live separately, I would question it.
There was no way to sell this without him being in my house.
“Just stay in the guest room,” I muttered. “I have space in there.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, but this is the best option. But don’t be surprised when you get bored of watching me sit around and read all day.”
“Reading, huh?” His lips curled into a smile. “We have the same hobby.”
“You read?”
“Every day.”
I put a hand on my hip. “What do you read? Don’t tell me it’s business nonfiction books.”
“Good guess, but no.”
“Self-help.”
“Wrong again.”
“Thriller?”
“No.”
“Mystery?”
“Do you want to keep making wild guesses, or would you just like me to tell you?”
“Please tell me. I’m on the edge of my proverbial seat.”
“I read romance.”
That was not the answer I expected. “You read ... romance. Like the genre?”
“Yes.”
“You—” I cut myself off, thinking of V. He always told me that most people were shocked when he told them his favorite genre purely because he wasn’t a woman. I didn’t want to fall into that. “Wow, okay. Didn’t expect that.”
“Most people don’t.”
“I mean, it’s cool. You read whatever makes you happy. But out of curiosity, what makes you like it?”
“The happy ending. It’s a reminder that no matter what happens, we all get there in the end.”
I blinked as I remembered something similar V once said.
After losing someone in my family, I needed an escape where I knew things would be okay.
“It’s my reason too,” I said softly. “Real life sucks in that we don’t always know how it’ll end. What’s your current read?”
“I have a few.”
“Maybe we could start a book club.”
He laughed. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”
“No, seriously. I know another guy who likes books too. You two could meet up and talk about your experiences being guys who read romance.”
“You talk to another guy, huh?”
I realized how it sounded, and that feeling of guilt hit me again. I knew I wasn’t going to talk to V any differently while I was married to Levi, but the regret I felt for not doing it was hard to stomach.
And it made me feel worse.
“Not like that . Just about books.”
“I figured it was something like that. I’m not worried.”
“Good,” I said, pushing past the heavy feeling in my chest. “He’s just a friend anyway.”
A friend I had a deep connection with. A friend I wished I’d asked more questions of.
I didn’t even know if he would want to hear them. After all, he’d talked to me for nine years and never brought anything up. Maybe things would never change.
Clearing my throat, I stepped away from Levi, putting some healthy distance between the two of us. I remembered that I needed to put sheets on the guest bed.
“All right, if you’re staying, we have work to do,” I said. “But the first thing on the list is getting me out of this dress.”
“And you want me to do that?”
My words caught up to me. “ N-no! I’ll get myself out of the dress and then we’ll get the guest room together. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Stop saying things to put it there.”
“Keep going, and you don’t get a blanket. You’ll be sleeping in the cold tonight.”