21. APRIL
APRIL
Josh was incredible. He introduced himself with ease to everyone.
May seemed shocked into silence when I introduced him as my boyfriend.
I knew I’d have to do a lot more than just say it to win her over.
But the way he was constantly touching me or staring at me from across the room, damn near had me almost believing that we were a real couple.
It was for show, I’d reminded myself more than once to keep from launching into his arms and planting one on him.
He was so relaxed and carefree, even with my Papi around he didn’t flinch.
He respected boundaries, called him sir, which I one hundred percent knew earned my Papi’s respect.
He was a man of honor. I had only introduced one other guy to him when I was younger, and let’s just say, it hadn’t gone great.
We broke up shortly after and I can’t for sure say I know why, but despite my heartbreak, I swear I saw my Papi do a little dance.
“Josh seems great,” my mom said, reaching for a large tray of fruit from the fridge.
It took me a minute to register the compliment. I reached for the tray. “Let me help.”
“How did you meet again?”
I cleared my throat nervously. “We work together.”
Her eyebrows furrowed together and a crease formed. “I thought you said at a function or something.”
My heart started to thump faster. Crap. What had I told them already?
How did Wes and I meet? I racked my brain for any details, but they were all jumbled together.
I didn’t have much choice as my mother waited expectantly, as if she had caught me in a lie.
“Nope. You must be confusing him with someone else.
Her shaped brow arched. “Was there more than one person you were dating? I specifically remember an event…” Her voice trailed off when Josh snuck in behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist. Sending a flutter of shivers down me.
“No.” I paused, trying to figure out how to word this without going off the path of the story we had said.
“We met at work, but it was the night of the fair that I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.
She was kind of interested in someone else at the time.
” I whipped around to see his amused grin.
“But patience turned out better for me and I finally got to make my move.” He leaned in and kissed the top of my head, my heart sputtered in my chest. He sounded so fucking believable.
My mother brightened with an I-knew-you-said-event grin. She stared between us for a moment as if she had more to say, but my aunt came and scooped her away.
Thank you, I mouthed to Josh once they left. He simply winked and my insides flipped.
“Josh, you coming?” I heard the whiny voice of my twelve-year-old cousin, yelling from the yard.
“Duty calls.” He grinned.
“Careful. They look sweet, but they will take you out.” Josh chuckled. “Watch out for Aunt Lily, whatever concoction of scented goods she layers has a tendency to stick to you.”
He moved his eyebrows around like he was trying to remember my aunt. “Silver hair, overdressed.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “Avoid the old one and take out the kids. Got it.” He winked as he took off out the back door.
I felt incredibly uneasy about leaving him with the kids to play, but I was under outdated house rules of boys have fun and girls do all the work. My mother put me on my least favorite duty, setup.
All eyes were glued to Josh the entire day. No matter who asked questions, they were still shocked that he was there with me as a date. It was insulting. Sure, I hadn’t brought guys home despite saying I would and it falling through.
“Wow, you bagged Josh Davidson?” May smiled sweetly, popping herself aside the counter. There was a menacing undertone to her question, as if she was about to launch an attack.
Not wanting to get into it, I simply shrugged and nodded. “I did.”
“How long now?”
“How long for what?”
“Dating?” She flashed a fake grin at me.
“I dunno, a few months now.”
“Huh.” She kissed her teeth, “Didn’t I just see him out with that model from the billboard in Dundas square?”
Fuck.
She had us. I’d completely forgotten that photo was taken a few weeks ago. Panic clawed at my throat as I tried to find an excuse or something as to why he would be out with some leggy model if we were supposed to have been a thing.
The sound of the patio door sliding open startled me.
It was Josh. He stared right at my sister, as if challenging her.
“I can answer that. And it’s a lot more innocent than what you think happened.
I was out with some of the guys and she came up to us with her friends.
She asked for a pic, which she obviously leaked out for whatever reason she thought might help, but I went home alone and immediately called April to tell her. ”
That was impressive. He was so convincing, even I believed him.
May’s face morphed into disappointment while my cousin simply smiled at him.
He came and stood next to me, grabbed some items to put out, until my mother whooshed everyone out of the kitchen.
She pawed at Josh. “You don’t need to do that. ”
“I don’t mind. I want to help.”
She glanced between us but eventually let us be. I nudged him with my shoulder. “That was quick thinking. I should probably be concerned about how well you lie.”
He frowned. “I didn’t.”
“What?”
“I was telling the truth. Mostly.”
My eyebrow arched. “Mostly?”
“Everything I said was true. And I did call you. You had that neck injury, so I was checking in on you. I should have told you about her, but I hadn’t given it a second thought until now.
” He paused, his arm brushed against mine, sending a wave of goosebumps up it.
He leaned into me, his cologne hitting me right in the chest. Shit, he smelled fantastic.
He glanced around to see if anyone was around before he lowered his voice and said, “When I said we were doing this, I meant it. That means I’m not with anyone but you. ”
My face flushed with his admission. “Josh, you don’t—”
He rubbed his finger over my lip, silencing me. “I do. This has to work for both of us. And as you saw, one little pic and it was already enough for your sister to bring up.”
He was right. And we both had something to lose. I nodded in agreement and with that, he started grabbing dishes next to me like we were back in his kitchen. There was an odd comfort there and for the first time since we arrived, I thought maybe we could pull it off.
As if he read my mind, he turned and winked at me. “We got this.”
He moved around me, his hand grazing my waist, dropping off the trays of cut veggies before he was called away by my uncle and cousins. I flashed him a smile.
“We do.”
An hour later, the game was done and the BBQ was being served.
The kids were ushered to a small table at the back and the grown-ups were divided by favorites.
I was usually allocated to the back with my cousins, so I was surprised to see my mom had us next to her, wedged in between May and my Papi.
I had a sneaky feeling this was only because I had brought a date.
As if Josh could sense the tension in the room, he gave my knee a quick squeeze to reassure me. It was oddly comforting.
My mother stood up and gave a quick speech, thanking everyone for coming out, and my grandfather looked more annoyed than pleased.
He sat tight-lipped, muttering under his breath, something about not needing a fuss.
My mother did her usual trick and played it off, but I could see she wasn’t too pleased either.
Sometimes, I wondered what it would be like if people listened to what other people wanted, instead of forcing them into stuff, but then that wouldn’t be the Summers’s way.
My childhood flashed in front of me. I was stuffed into things like ballet and piano, when all I wanted to do was play ball.
My mother thought that wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t like May.
Her ultimate, perfect daughter. She loved ballet, piano, shopping, and liked her nails painted.
They often did little mommy-and-me dates.
I was always invited, but never quite fit in with them, so eventually I was just left out.
It didn’t bother me. I preferred hanging out with my Papi, anyways.
“It was nice that you could join us today.” My uncle nodded towards Josh.
“Of course. It’s a big day.” He smiled and looked right at Papi, who was busy watching his plate of food as if something was going to jump off it.
He wasn’t a center-of-attention guy, but since my mom was a force to be reckoned with and she insisted on marking this occasion, everyone did their part.
“Your season seems to have picked up,” Papi added in a gruff voice.
Josh swallowed down a bit of his grilled chicken. He turned to look at me with a slight flush in his cheeks and then said, “It has. I found a lucky charm, I guess.”
I swear I heard my aunt swoon from across the table. May rolled her eyes. My mother nudged her and I had to bite my lip from laughing. It was about time.
“You kids have any plans for the break?”
“No. Just spend time together and get away from the circus, you know?” Josh said quickly.
It rolled off his tongue, as if he’d already thought about it and it was sweeter than I expected it to feel.
For the first time, I had understood why I was so desperate not to come alone.
Wes never would have been this way with my family.