Chapter 28 WESTLEY
Maevyn keeps her devious little feet to PG activities after the backseat got a workout. She rests them across my thighs as we continue our drive back home. I enjoy the weight of them on me, just as much as I enjoy running my fingers up and down her smooth skin.
We’re almost home when my phone starts ringing through the Bluetooth, showing an incoming call from my mum.
I push the button on the steering wheel, accepting the call. “Hey, Mum.”
“Hi, sweetie. Are you home yet?”
“We’re about twenty minutes from pulling in.” There’s a pause, and I glance at the dashboard display to make sure we’re still connected. “Mum?”
“Tell him ab—” My dad’s voice joins through the speakers, but Mum is quick to cut him off.
“Shh! Who’s we? Did you go with Phil and Rachel?”
I look over at Maevyn. She’s staring at the display screen, still as a statue, as though my mother might detect her presence if she moved.
“Have you got a girl that you haven’t told your mother about?” Mum’s voice is loud and lively, in a way I usually love, but more so when it’s directed with mischief at my dad. “Westley Kade, are you hiding a woman? Hello, sweetheart!”
I raise my eyebrows to Maevyn, asking how she wants to handle this.
“H-hello.” I give her ankle a gentle squeeze, easing the nerves I can hear in that one word.
“Oh, she sounds nice. You’ll bring her for dinner next week, yes?”
“Ah, Mum—”
“Next week, I said.”
Jesus, how do I tell my mother we’re not actually dating? I’m not sure what we are now that so many lines have been crossed, but we need to figure it out, preferably before my mum gets any ideas. “Maevyn works on Friday and Saturday nights, and she has a daughter in school. It might be tricky to—”
“You’ll bring them both. Sunday for breakfast. Does that fix your invisible problem?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Bring my Callie girl while you’re at it, yeah?”
“Of course. Was there something you were calling me for?”
“Oh, I’m driving your father to the hospital,” she says casually.
“What?”
“Smashed his hand with a hammer trying to build those shelves in his shed.”
“As you can tell, she’s real choked up about it,” Dad says, and Maevyn muffles a laugh behind her hand.
I blow out a breath. “I told you I’d help with that next weekend.”
“Perfect, you come with your girls and help him while I make breakfast. See how that all worked out?”
I sigh. “Are you alright, Dad?”
“He’ll be fine,” Mum insists.
“I’ll speak for myself, woman. I think I broke some bones!”
“What’d you say to me?” I hear Mum mutter, and Dad is markedly quiet.
This is the kind of relationship I grew up with.
That filled me with so much comfort—my mum, so big and loud in everything she does, my dad quietly poking her with every chance he got.
Bickering is their love language, and it ends the same every time, with Dad wrapping her up in his arms, loving her softly, and the biggest smile on Mum’s face.
I think that’s why they’ve always worked so well; there’s no part of them that they changed for the other person.
They love and cherish every single piece.
“Do you need me to meet you at the hospital?”
“No, sweetie. I was calling because I think in our rush to leave, I left the gate open. Probably the back door, too, after your father gave me a heart attack with his screaming.”
“Do you hear how much she loves me, son?”
“I hear it.” I chuckle. “Okay, I’ll just drop Maevyn home, then I’ll head over to yours and make sure everything’s locked up.”
“Such a good boy. So responsible, and tidy, you cook well—I made sure of that. So respectful and handsome.”
“Mum, are you trying to talk me up?”
“If you’re treating her right, she’d already know these things.”
“He is!” Maevyn calls with a grin.
“Good. I’ll talk to you later, loves.”
“Yep. I’ll call you in a bit.”
I hang up the call, clearing my throat. “So, those were my parents.”
“They sound nice.” She smiles, and I love the way I can hear the sincerity in her words.
“They are.” I nod. “Guess you’ll see for yourself soon enough. If you want to. My mum probably won’t stop until she meets you now.”
I glance over at Maevyn. She’s got her head turned to me, wearing a smile that looks calm and peaceful, and I wish I knew what put it there.
When we make it home, we see Callie and Aurora sitting on the deck chairs on my tiny front porch.
I never use them; it’s something my mum insisted on having there, saying it made the place look more welcoming.
The sight of my sister and Maevyn’s daughter’s big smiles is definitely a homecoming I could get used to.
Aurora pulls my sister into a hug when they stand, then the second I have the car turned off she’s bounding over to her mum.
“I missed you,” Maevyn says, pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter’s head, squeezing her tight before looking up at my sister. “Thanks so much for watching Aurora.”
Callie steps off the porch to join us. “Thank you for sharing her with me.” She smiles. “We had a great time.”
“Did you guys have fun?” Aurora looks up at Maevyn, arms still locked around her middle.
Maevyn takes a breath and sneaks a glance over at me. “We did.”
She’s right about that. It was the most fun I’ve had in a while, but the same could be said about most days since Maevyn and Aurora came into my life.
Fun. Excitement. Anticipation. Something that roots itself in my chest and feels like a version of home.
I feel the weight of attention on me and turn to find my sister staring at me, a speculating gleam in her eye.
“I gotta take off again,” I say, clearing my throat and avoiding her gaze. “Dad hurt his hand. Mum’s driving him to the hospital, but she thinks she left the house wide open, so I’m gonna do a check. I’ll take Patch with me.”
“Oh no! Is he okay?”
I open the back door of the ute, pulling out Maevyn’s bag. “Mum says he’s fine, Dad says his hand is broken.”
Maevyn walks over to me, extending her hand to take her bag, but I just lift an eyebrow at her. She smiles knowingly and shoves her hand in her pocket. With her arm slung over Aurora’s shoulder, they walk over to their place, and I follow behind.
I drop her bag inside the front door, then hover in the threshold until Aurora is out of earshot, disappearing around the corner into the kitchen.
“Thanks for coming with me this weekend,” I murmur.
“Thanks for making me come.” She smirks. “To the wedding, that is.”
I want to kiss her so badly, but I’m not sure if that’s where we’re at.
It’s something we definitely need to talk about, though.
I want more of what we had this weekend.
Not just the way she let me touch her, but I want to keep opening up to her, have her open up to me.
I want to get to know her more. I want her company.
I really like spending time with her daughter as well, and I don’t want to lose that now that the need to fake it is over.
“Meet you on the balcony later?”
She nods. “I should be able to do that. Message me?”
“I will.” I start to lean in.
“Can I have a snack, Mum?” We jump apart like two kids caught in the middle of doing something we shouldn’t when Aurora pops her head around the corner.
“Sure, babe.”
“Do you want to watch a movie while you unpack?”
Maevyn smiles. “Sounds good to me.”
Aurora gives me a wave, then disappears again. Dammit, now I want to stay. I want to spend an afternoon watching movies with them, chilling out, and making food together. It’s a lot harder than I expected to step away right now.
“Guess I’ll see you later.”
Maevyn nods, and I try to lean in again, but Aurora calls out once more. “Shall I make us a bowl of popcorn?”
Maevyn bites her lip to rein in her laughter, while I drop my head with a shake. “Good idea,” Maevyn shouts back.
“Okay, I’m just gonna take my cue to leave.”
“Hey! I forgot to mention, Aurora said you got a photo of me from the wedding?”
I did. She looked absolutely breathtaking, a look of pure joy on her face as she danced under the glow of the lights. I’ve already made it her contact photo on my phone.
“Yeah.”
“You won’t post it anywhere… right?” I’m not really one to document my life on social media, but I don’t necessarily avoid it either. Those photos were just for me, though.
“No.” I shake my head. “They were for my personal collection. Do you want me to send the ones I took?”
She looks shy as she gives me a small nod, and I can’t help it.
I quickly rush in, dropping a kiss to her cheek, before I walk back to my truck with a content smile.
When I reverse up the drive, Maevyn’s still leaning in the doorway, watching me.
And now I’m counting down the minutes until I come back home.