Chapter 23
twenty-three
. . .
Cutler
If you looked up the term “shit show” in the dictionary, I was fairly certain it would refer you to this exact moment in time.
My parents were here.
Gracie’s parents were here.
Gracie was here.
And we’d now tossed in the Langfords, who no one seemed prepared for, most of all me.
They were definitely on a mission to marry their daughter off, and I appeared to be the front-runner for that position at the moment.
A man they didn’t know jack shit about, other than the fact that I was friends with the Reynolds family.
“I don’t know how committed you are to construction, but I’ll be looking for someone to take over my company someday,” Grant Langford said, and my father spewed beer from his mouth, causing us all to startle.
Yeah, welcome to my life, Pops.
You brought them here.
“I’m so sorry. It must have gone down the wrong pipe.” Pops used his napkin to dab his face as my mother gaped at me.
I’d been grilled throughout the entire dinner.
I’d been asked about my profession, which he’d shown no interest in.
I’d been asked how long I’d owned my home.
If I had a 401k.
Did I use a financial planner.
What my ten-year plan was.
I was surprised he hadn’t asked me the last time that I’d had sex, but I had a feeling this night was far from over.
“I’m very committed to building homes and expanding the company.” I cleared my throat, glancing over at Gracie, who’d tried multiple times to interject and change the subject—though she’d had no luck.
“Ohhhhh. I like a man who wants to get his hands dirty,” Britani said, scooting closer to me for the third time, which meant the arm of her chair was touching mine where we sat outside.
She covered my hand with hers, which caught me completely off-guard.
I barely knew this woman. And this was all going down in front of Gracie, and no one knew how incredibly awkward this was for both of us.
I glanced over at her and noted the way her hand gripped the arm of her chair, knuckles white. She took another long sip of her wine, and I knew she was just trying to get through this night.
We both were.
I pulled my hand away and settled it on my lap. “You didn’t mention it, what do you do for a living, Britani?”
We’d heard about her father’s business. He owned several car lots, and he’d let it be known that he was very successful.
Extremely successful. Presley appeared horrified, and she kept shooting me looks of apology.
I did my best to keep my smile easy, because there was nothing we could do at this point.
The crazy train had left the station, and we were on it right now.
“I’m my mother’s personal assistant.” She blinked up at me with what I assumed were fake eyelashes because they were so thick it was difficult to see her eyes.
She was pretty, no doubt about it. Long blonde hair, curves for days, and a nice smile.
I could appreciate a beautiful woman and still have zero romantic interest in her.
Case in point.
“Oh, I didn’t know that you worked for your mom,” Presley interjected. “What do you do, Jana?”
“I’m a homemaker.” She smiled. “I keep the big guy well fed and well dressed. It’s a full-time job.”
Apparently so, if it required an assistant.
“Enough about work. When was your last relationship?” Britani asked me, her hand finding my knee now, and I was trying hard not to show my irritation. But this was probably the hardest sell I’d ever experienced from a woman. And her father was equally relentless.
Not exactly how I wanted to spend my evening.
“I haven’t had a long-term relationship ever, if I’m being honest. I date quite a bit, and I’m content with the way things are going,” I said, taking a long pull from my beer. My gaze found my father’s. We’d always been able to communicate without words.
You’re going to owe me big for this.
“I actually love that,” Britani said, wiggling her eyebrows at me. “That means the right woman hasn’t come along yet.”
She couldn’t have been more wrong. The right woman came along so long ago that I couldn’t remember a day when she hadn’t been in my life.
The timing had just never been right.
I pushed to my feet, forcing a smile so I wouldn’t appear rude. “I need to use the restroom. Excuse me.”
Gracie’s eyes flickered to mine, and I saw the concern there.
This had been a complete disaster.
I walked inside, stepping into the guest bathroom before splashing some water on my face.
How the fuck was I going to get out of this?
And she was moving here.
There was a knock on the bathroom door, and before I could reach for the handle, it opened.
It was not who I was hoping it would be.
Britani Langford rushed inside, pushing the door closed behind her before lunging herself at me.
I was so caught off-guard, I fell back against the wall, knocking the picture down as it shattered on the floor.
What the actual fuck was happening?
“I want you, Gunther,” she said, tilting her head up to look at me.
Who the fuck is Gunther?
I wrapped my hands around her wrists before pushing her back as gently as I possibly could. “What the fuck is going on?”
Her eyes were wild, and I hadn’t noticed her top being unbuttoned when she first walked in, but it definitely was now. I let her hands go and stepped back, bending down to pick up the broken glass.
“Were you not giving me signals out there?” she asked, completely unfazed by how insane this was.
“I don’t know what signals you were picking up on, but I don’t recall sending a single one,” I said through gritted teeth. I needed to be crystal clear with this woman before things got even more awkward.
“Seriously? Are you the first man in history not to want this?” she asked, using her hands to motion down her body.
“Apparently so. Gunther isn’t interested in more than a friendship,” I said, not hiding my sarcasm. “Come on, Britani. You don’t even know my name, which is Cutler, by the way. But why do you feel the need to come on so strong? We don’t even know one another.”
“I thought that was your thing? You haven’t had a serious relationship, right?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m guessing you like to fuck, and I wanted to show you how good it could be with me.”
With our parents sitting outside? Is she serious?
“I date. We have conversations. We go out a few times. It’s not like I’m banging people in bathrooms while having dinner with my parents.”
She narrowed her gaze, which was difficult to make out because of the lashes weighing down her eyelids. “‘Gunther’ was my nickname for you, by the way. You don’t look like a Cutler. You look like a Gunther.”
I tossed the broken glass in the trash and leaned the photo of my favorite tree in the backyard against the wall for now.
“Listen, let’s just go back out there and call this done, all right?”
“You’re rejecting me? Look at me!” she gasped. “You really don’t want this?”
She wasn’t lacking in self-confidence at the moment, but I would put money on the fact that it was probably to mask a deep-rooted insecurity, because this was just too much.
“I do not. I’d like to be friends.” I started to walk past her, in hopes she’d let me get to the door without any more theatrics.
I needed to get out of here.
But before that could happen, she shocked the shit out of me again by stomping her foot down hard before breaking out into hysterical tears.
No warning. No sniffling. No eye blinking.
Just a complete meltdown.
We’re talking about this girl going from zero to one hundred in a matter of three seconds.
She wailed and cried, and I was fairly certain she’d left a mark on my wood floors with her heel.
If my parents and Gracie’s parents weren’t the ones who’d set this up, I would’ve assumed the guys were punking me, and one of them was going to jump through the window laughing any minute now.
No such luck.
“Why? Tell me why!” she sobbed. “Why would you not want me?”
“Hey. Hey,” I said, placing my hands on her shoulders. “What is happening here? We don’t even know one another.”
“My therapist says that rejection is a trigger for me.” She gulped in a few breaths. “And I am fucking triggered, Gunther!” she shouted so loud that I wanted to cover my ears with my hands.
I needed to get the fuck out of here.
I needed to come up with something that would appease her.
“Listen. It’s not you. I wasn’t honest with you earlier, and my family doesn’t know this, because I’m not ready to share it with them.
But I’m actually seeing someone. That’s why I can’t do this.
” It was partially true. I was seeing someone.
The woman sitting outside, probably wondering what the fuck was going on in here.
But Britani was most definitely not my type, regardless, and I was desperate to get out of here unscathed and without making this dinner party any more uncomfortable than it already was.
Her tears stopped instantly. This woman could be a trained actress with the way she could turn on and off her emotions. “Oh. So you feel guilty because you’ve already committed to someone else? But I thought you didn’t do relationships?”
“I don’t normally. But I met someone, and I’ve been with her for a while now.
I’m just not ready to tell my parents, because I’m not sure where it’s going.
I don’t want to complicate things.” I was fucking spitballing now, although in all honesty, I didn’t know where things were going with me and Gracie.
Her plan had a shit ton of holes in it, but I wasn’t ready to press the matter just yet.
She wiped her cheeks, and I reached for some tissues and handed them to her.
I startled and jumped back when she looked up at me before realizing it wasn’t a spider on her face, but one of her fake lashes, currently stuck to her cheek.
I motioned for her to look in the mirror, and she quickly reattached what I thought was a tarantula to her eyelid and then smiled at me.
“I’m sure it’s difficult for you to stay faithful, and I’m probably the worst temptation imaginable,” she said. She pulled the door open, stepped out, and then glanced over her shoulder to speak to me. “So do you have any single friends you could introduce me to, Gunther?”
“I’ll have to get back to you on that,” I said, trying to keep my tone even. “I’d like to keep my personal life private at the moment, if you don’t mind. Do you think you could keep the conversation we just had between us? I think we can say that we’ve both agreed to be just friends.”
She ignored me as we made our way to the backyard.
Everyone was staring at us, and it was awkward as hell, and I had no idea what she was going to do.
This girl was completely unpredictable.
“Everything okay?” Gracie asked, and I didn’t miss the concern in her eyes. It wasn’t jealousy or anger; it was pure concern.
For me.
My girl knew me well.
“Um…not really. We’ve been duped, Daddy,” Britani said, and now she appeared hostile toward me.
“Duped?” Grant said, his eyes finding mine. Everyone sitting around the fire was now staring at me.
“Gunther has a girlfriend.” She threw her hands in the air dramatically.
Thanks for the discretion. Gunther will not be telling you any more secrets.
“Who the fuck is Gunther?” my father asked as he looked around in confusion.
“Apparently, I don’t look like a Cutler. I look like a Gunther.” I shrugged.
Gracie’s head fell back in laughter, and our parents covered their mouths with their hands to try to keep themselves from doing the same.
“So how exactly did you dupe my daughter?” Grant pushed to his feet, his face bright red as he stepped toward me.
“I’m as in the dark as you are. Britani walked into the restroom uninvited and she demanded an answer about us starting a relationship and she forced me to tell the truth.”
“Which is?” Jana asked, and now she was glaring at me.
Was I missing something?
Was this a prearranged marriage that I hadn’t been informed of?
“I’m seeing someone. I have been for the last few months.” I didn’t look over at Gracie to see her reaction, because I didn’t want anyone to catch on to who I was talking about.
My mom’s eyes widened. “Oh. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I didn’t know where it was going. It’s still new. And I guess I hadn’t realized you’d promised me to a woman I’d never met.”
Now it was my father’s and Cage’s turn to fall forward, burying their faces in their hands and laughing so loud I could swear Pops snorted.
“I don’t believe we promised anything. I think there’s been a huge misunderstanding,” Presley said, her eyes filled with apology when she looked at me. “I said that I’d introduce you to Cutler. There were no promises made.”
“Did you think we were coming here because we actually like cheeseburgers and corn on the cob? I don’t do anything without an objective. You’ve wasted our time, Presley,” Britani hissed, and there was a whole lot of venom in her tone.
“I’m only going to tell you once not to speak to my mother like that,” Gracie said, pushing to her feet, which had everyone doing the same the minute she stepped forward. “I think you owe both her and Cutler an apology.”
“That will not be happening.” Britani glared at Gracie.
“Well, needless to say, I think it’s a good thing you like construction, because if you can’t be honest about your relationship, then you are in no position to run my company,” Grant said, spewing his anger at me.
Really, dude? That’s the best you’ve got?
“I think it’s time we call it a night,” Jana said.
“I think that’s a very good idea.” Presley crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d offer to walk you out, but I just don’t want to.”
My mom laughed, which was apparently contagious because we were all laughing now as the Langfords stormed away.
My gaze found Gracie’s, and she smiled. And just like that, everything was better.