Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
paula
I can’t freaking sleep. Especially not knowing Tristan is sleeping on the cold ass floor. A part of me wants to wake him up and tell him to get in the bed. But I know he won’t. He made that abundantly clear before I tried, unsuccessfully, to fall asleep.
He really is sweet to take the floor and not make me uncomfortable.
But I’m perfectly capable of sleeping with someone without sleeping with them.
Though, it’d be really nice to cuddle with anybody.
The house is freezing, and this blanket isn’t doing its job.
If Mom would leave the damn heater alone, I would be nice and toasty.
He rolls over, and I swear I see his eyes slam shut when he sees me. Is he having a hard time falling asleep, too?
“Tristan,” I whisper.
He doesn’t budge. Maybe I imagined it.
“Tristan, are you awake?” My voice is slightly louder this time.
Nothing. I know I saw his eyes open.
“Tristan. Are you sleeping?” My voice is louder still.
Hopefully I won’t wake anyone else up. My mom has a really good ear, especially on family vacations, since we used to try to sneak out to go night swimming.
“I’m trying to.” He finally responds. His voice is deep and gravelly, completely unlike the way he normally talks. It’s probably not a good sign the sound sends a shiver through my body. And now I feel bad I probably woke him up for no reason.
He turns toward me. “What do you need?”
Even now, he’s a sweetheart. If the tables were turned, I can’t say I’d be so gracious.
Crap. I just wanted to see if he was awake.
“Are you, um, cold?”
“A little bit, but I’ll be fine.”
First order of business when we all wake up is to go out and buy bigger blankets. The ones supplied by the house are comfortable, but they are meant for the summer months. I’m sure they don’t have a ton of people who rent beach houses in the winter. Well, except for my parents.
“You can get up here with me if you’d like.”
A groan sounds in his throat. “I really can’t, Paula.”
Is there something so grotesque about me that he doesn’t want to be in the same space as me? But he let me cuddle with him on the sofa, so I don’t think it’s that. And the kiss we shared in the parking lot was pretty up close and personal.
“You know I don’t bite, right?” So, what if my words are dripping in sarcasm.
“I know.” He sighs. “But in order for me to play my role in this facade, I need to set some boundaries for myself.”
Oh. That thought never crossed my mind. Maybe it should have. “I understand.”
“Thank you. If things were different….” His words hang in the air as he rolls back over. I know how that sentence ends and a small part of me wishes I would have asked him to be here with me for real.
“Hi, Big Sis.” Piper’s voice scares the shit out of me and I fall off the bed.
It takes me a few moments to remember Tristan was lying on the floor beneath me. I scramble backwards and realize he isn’t there. How long has he been up?
“Don’t worry about your boyfriend. He’s in the kitchen with Mom and Dad, having coffee.”
Oh, thank God. He didn’t run for the hills. Not that he could since we came in my car. There are ways he could get back home if he wanted to. “Why are you in my bed? And being creepy?”
Her grin is unsettling, and dread forms in the pit of my stomach. “I have a better question. Why is your boyfriend sleeping on the floor? Unless, of course, he’s not really your boyfriend.”
Damn her, and how perceptive she is. But I can totally play this off. There are plenty of reasons. “Don’t be ridiculous. We are definitely dating.”
“That would be a good band name.” She cocks her head to the side. “But that doesn’t answer the question.”
“Why is my word not enough?”
“Because, Paula, this is weird behavior, even for you.” She sits up and crisscrosses her legs in front of her.
“You’ve never really been one to flaunt your personal life in front of anyone.
And just because you don’t talk to the big bad brother and parents, doesn’t mean you don’t talk to the rest of us.
Me and Parker know something is up. You’ve never once mentioned Tristan to either of us. ”
“Maybe if y’all would text me back, I would have told y’all.” She has to realize it’s a two-way street, whether she wants to or not.
“I feel like if you had a boyfriend, and wanted us more awesome siblings to know, you would have sent the first text. Don’t put the blame on us because you’re trying to hide something.”
I can’t let her keep thinking this thing is fake. While I don’t think she would intentionally spill the beans, it would slip out. It always does.
“Look, he slept on the floor because he didn’t want to be disrespectful to Mom and Dad. He’s old-fashioned like that.”
There. A totally plausible reason he would be sleeping on the floor. I only hope she buys it.
She eyes me wearily, but seems to accept that answer. “I’ll be watching the two of you. Parker, too.”
I grab Tristan’s pillow and throw it at her, missing her completely. “You sound like a villain.”
Smirking, she grabs the pillow and chunks back at me. It hits me in the face despite turning away. She’s like a freaking magician.
“I never claimed to be anything but one.” She climbs off the bed and heads toward the door. “Mom is cooking soon. If you want to get to your boy toy before our brother’s do, I’d get in there now.”
‘Ugh, fine. I’m coming.”
As soon as she closes the door behind her. I get off the floor. My legs have goosebumps and I don’t understand how Tristan slept comfortably down here. Hopefully I can talk some sense into him tonight.
I grab his blankets off the floor and toss them on the bed before folding them.
I don’t want Mom coming in here and finding the mess on the floor.
That’s not something she would get too mad about.
But I don’t want to answer any questions she might have.
Piper and her are a lot alike in that respect.
They won’t let anything go if they don’t like the answer.
I grab an oversized sweatshirt I threw on the dresser last night and slip it over my head.
It completely covers my shorts. Maybe I should put on some leggings instead.
Nope. I’m not going to do it. Mom and Dad are used to seeing me like this after bed.
If I’m going to prove that me and Tristan are a thing to my youngest siblings, they have to see I’m comfortable being in front of him in every capacity.
Okay, I can totally do this. I may not have any theatre experience, but I’ve always been a fake it until you make it type of girl. It’s how I landed the job at Whoopsie Daisy. I didn’t know anything about flowers until my first day there. Now, I’m learning how to make arrangements.
Cracking open the bedroom door, I listen for any noise outside of the voices drifting from the kitchen. It seems like my other siblings are still asleep. Thank God for small mercies.
My steps are soft as I slip out of the room and gently close the door behind me. As much as I’d like my presence known, I want to know what Tristan and my parents are talking about. Nosiness seems to be a trait all of us Summers’ kids seem to have.
“Have you tried our wine?” Dad asks. He’s loud by nature and it’s a shock nobody else has woken up from his booming voice. “I have some here. You should try it.”
“Paul.” Mom admonishes him. “It’s way too early for wine. The poor boy hasn’t even eaten yet.”
“A little wine before breakfast is fine.” A bottle slides across the table before sliding back. Mom probably gave him one of her famous looks. “Maybe after dinner instead.”
“I actually tried some at Out of the Ashes one night. I think Paula told me it was a sangria. It was really good.”
Dad chuckles. “It’s probably one of our most popular bottles.”
“I can see why.” Tristan replies.
Well, it appears he’s won over the parents. That’s a miracle. I figured they’d dislike him on sight because I didn’t tell anyone about him.
Okay, time to stop eavesdropping. I can definitely use some coffee after tossing and turning last night from being cold.
I make my steps louder so they won’t realize I was listening in. When I come around the corner, Tristan chokes as soon as he sees me. He’ll have to get better about acting natural to me being in my jammies. Otherwise, they’ll never buy we’ve been together for a bit.
“Is everything okay, Tristan?” Mom asks as she pulls a carton of eggs out of the fridge.
“Yes, ma’am. Went down the wrong pipe is all.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Abigail, please.” She catches sight of me. “Good morning, sweetheart. There’s coffee in the pot.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I move around her to get to the coffee pot. There are a row of mugs already lined up on the counter. Six of them which means Piper hasn’t made her appearance in here yet. I wonder why she’s waiting.
After I pour a cup, I add some sugar, and ask Mom for the creamer. Now that I’ve got my coffee the way I like it, I lift the cup and let the warmth take away the cold in my hands.
Tristan’s eyes are still on me as I make my way to the table. I place a quick kiss on top of his head before sitting on the bench beside him. “Morning.”
“Morning.” He bumps into me. “I hope I didn’t wake you when I got out of bed.”
Ah, so he is making it seem like we were in the same bed.
“Nope. My sister did the honors.” His eyes widen for a split second before he regains control. “She decided to scare the hell out of me.”
“Language while at the table, Paula,” Mom says without a glance backward.
“Fine.” I grumble. “How long have you been up?”
“About thirty minutes.” Tristan shrugs. “Your parents were already in here when I came in. Honestly, I think it’s the smell of coffee that pulled me out of my slumber.”
“Speaking of sleep.” I change the subject. “Are there extra blankets? The room was freezing last night.”
“Your brothers took whatever extra blankets were available.” Mom is scrambling eggs while flipping bacon. I, on the other hand, can barely boil water while talking. “Sorry about turning the heat down. Menopause has me all over the place.”
Okay, that may have been too much information in front of a guest, but I am choosing my battles wisely this morning.
“Well, I guess I’m going to the store after breakfast.” Mom turns around as if I’ve somehow wounded her.
“Nothing against you, Mom.” I hold my hands up in surrender.
“I don’t want you to make yourself uncomfortable on account of me.
I’ll buy a comforter that matches my room so I’ll get more than a couple of uses from it. ”
“That’s smart, kiddo.” Dad adds. As if he won’t be doing everything in his power to get me to work for the winery later.
“While you’re out, can you get some things. It was a mistake asking your brothers to do any sort of shopping. I know you’ll get what I need.”
“Sure thing.” I guess being an eldest daughter never fades. I’m always there to help in any way I can, and it’s one of the reasons they think they can push me into a position.