11
Maeve
After dropping my mom off at home and quickly changing into a midi skirt and graphic tee, it was well into the evening when I arrived at Tatum’s house.
“Of course, she’s late to her own get-together,” Chelsea joked from the living room where they were all gathered.
“Ignore her. Here is your glass of wine.” Tatum passed me a glass while she and Gianna drank their mocktails.
“I cannot believe you'll have a baby in a couple of months!” I looked at Gianna as she caressed her swollen belly. “We have to plan your shower in a few weeks.”
“Oh yes!” Chels exclaimed. “Are we doing it in your garden?”
Gianna was married to Julian and Alex’s dad. She was an old soul trapped in a young body. She loved everything gardening and being outside.
“Yeah, if that’s okay with you guys?” We all nodded in agreement. We had gotten together and agreed to mutually throw Gianna and then Tatum’s shower a bit later on.
“Wait, so tell us what the fuck happened in court?” Chels asked.
“Wait.” Tatum interrupted. “Is it okay if I invite Alex, Julian, and Elio to join? If you feel comfortable enough, they may offer us a different perspective we haven't thought of.”
I nodded quickly in agreement. I would take anyone’s opinion if they could help me figure out my fake boyfriend situation so I could get the revenge I wanted on Tyler and put this ridiculous court case behind me.
When the guys came in, Tatum and Chelsea hopped up and went to the other seat. They all gave me a quick hug and grabbed a drink before sitting around the living room with us.
“So, tell us, what happened?” Gianna asked, and Elio placed a gentle hand along her belly. I wish I had that. Even when I was pregnant with the girls, Tyler was never around. He was a first-year lawyer and always working at the office or having his affair with Stephen, so who knows?
“It was a fucking mess.” I recounted everything that happened earlier in the day. I thanked Alex for the beast of a lawyer. I told them how smug and brash Tyler was the entire time, sliding up to the judge.
“Shit, dude. So, what was the result with custody?” Chels asked.
“Well, for the next six months until we reconvene, I’ll keep the same custody schedule,” I told them.
“Maeve, that’s amazing news.” Julian gave me a supportive pat on the back.
“Thank God!”
“Phew.”
“So, is it all done?” Elio asked.
“Well…” I took a deep breath as I tried to approach how I would tell them about the little snafu that happened. “Not particularly.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
“They kept harping about how stable Tyler was. He dropped this big bomb that he had married Stephen—”
“SHUT UP!” Tatum screamed.
“Baby, calm down.” Julian smirked and looked at his wife, who was getting all riled up.
“Yeah, I had no idea until today, either. Anyway, I knew they were upset that I wasn’t stable. I was living with my parents and was late to work. They were pissed that I had asked Stephen to pick up the girls when I ran over at the restaurant. They want me to contribute more financially, but Tyler has them in a school that costs over thirty grand a year, so I cannot do that.”
“We can help out, Maeve.” Tatum looked among our friends. All of them had money in some way, but I didn’t want to take from them. Call me fiercely independent.
“I know. Thank you all for even offering, but I have to do this on my own. Partially because I’m a good mom, and where I live shouldn’t matter.”
“So, what did you tell the judge?” Gianna asked.
“In the midst of this chaos, I was having a small panic attack, thinking I would lose the girls. I may or may not have accidentally blurted out that I had a boyfriend who I was moving in with?”
Dead silence.
After a few beats, Gianna started laughing hysterically from where she sat on the couch.
“I am going to pee myself!” She burst out through giggles. “You did not tell an entire courtroom that you have a boyfriend you are moving in with.”
“No, I definitely did,” I responded, and then everyone else broke out in laughter.
“Why, babe?” Chelsea asked.
“Ugh, I don’t know. It felt very anti-feminism to me, but like they wanted me to be this doting little housewife raising my kids, so I would give it to them. Plus, maybe I was pissed at Tyler for not telling me about Stephen, so I—”
“Oh no.” Tatum’s face dropped at the realization that this was actually true.
“I know ,” I cried aloud and ran my hands through my hair. “I now have to somehow find a boyfriend who is cool with dating me for six months, and then breaking up with me. Yet somehow, I also have to trust them to be around the kids, because the judge recommended that my partner be the one picking them up from school if I was late.”
“Fuck.” Chels grabbed Alex’s hand, and I noticed they gave each other a small glance that looked like, “she is screwed, but we don’t know how to tell her.”
“What am I going to do?” I leaned back on the couch and sank into it while staring at the ceiling like it was somehow going to drop the answers to my questions.
“You could download Tinder?” Elio chimed, and then the room went quiet again as we all stared at him. This was a man in his fifties with his young pregnant wife talking about downloading a dating app. He barely knew how to text most of the time.
“Baby.” Gianna slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “I’m trying to get him more hip, so we talked about how people meet each other nowadays. Just ignore him.” Elio shrugged, and I was glad for the brief comedic reprieve.
“Do you guys know any single dudes who aren’t in the Mafia or some type of gang, club, or crew?” I was not interested in living with someone who was part of the underworld like my friends were, at least who was a stranger initially.
“I don’t know. I’m sure Alex could hook you up with some of the guys who work on his campaign?” Alex started to give Julian a death stare.
“Most people in the family marry for political reasons, and since you’re not already involved…” Julian added.
“I’ll do it.” The low timbre of a new yet familiar voice had us all turning our heads toward the kitchen. There was the Viking. The one person I had completely embarrassed myself in front of earlier this week. He stood leaning over the counter as if he had been listening to our entire conversation.
“Where did you come from?” I asked.
“I’ve been here the whole time, firecracker.” Then he winked at me. He fucking winked like the cocky asshole he was.
“I mean, you do already know him…” Tatum finally said, and I shot a look back at her. The corners of her lips turned into a smile, and she shrugged like she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. She knew.
“No, thanks. I think I’ll look into the guys who help Alex with his campaign,” I responded and then watched as he stalked toward where we all sat.
Alex shot me a look before Julian chimed in.
“Be logical, Maeve. Christian has a flexible job with a good boss.” We all rolled our eyes since Julian was Christian’s boss technically. “He can take off afternoons if you need him to get the girls.”
“I’m happy to move out of the casita. It’s getting a bit too small for me anyway. My boss just gave me a raise and a couple of weeks off.” Christian shot Julian a look that said, “Hey, I’m lying, but cover for me.”
“He sure did,” Julian added somewhat sarcastically.
"I really don’t think this is a good idea, Christian." Everyone stared at me, and I couldn't exactly spill the beans that I hit on Christian when I was drunk, crashed on his lap, and that I would do it all over again if I could. The truth was, I didn't hate him at all. In fact, I still wanted to fuck him, even though I was totally sober now.
“Come on, Maeve. Your options are limited. I don’t even know if any of the guys in the campaign would be willing to come to San Diego to take all of this on. It is a lot to jump into,” Alex interjected.
I shot Alex a look of disdain. Fuck, my options were limited, but why did it have to be Christian?
“What about James? He has the same boss.”
“James?” Julian looked at me as if I had said something strange.
“Yeah?”
“He’s married, babe,” Tatum chimed in.
“Married!?” Who knew? He was never with his wife. We had all known him as long as we had known Christian. Sure, I guess he didn’t socialize as much as Christian, but I suppose I didn’t piece it together.
“It’s a long story,” Julian reassured me as I kept racking my brain because I somehow didn’t know James was already married.
“So that leaves your only option as me, baby.” Christian patted me on the knee, and I realized he had sat next to me on the couch. He smelled like a pine forest. It was the same smell that floated through my mind when I fell asleep in his lap…accidentally, earlier this week.
I grabbed his hand that had lingered too long on my thigh and pulled him to his feet.
“Come here.” A chorus of laughs echoed in the background as I pulled Christian around the corner and into the office. It was much darker due to the deep wood tones, which gave it somewhat of an ominous vibe.
“Oooo, watch out, Christian. You’re in trouble,” Tatum echoed as I stomped down the hallway.
I quite literally shoved him inside the office before slamming the door. He leaned onto the large desk.
“What in the actual fuck are you doing?” I shook my head in disgust as I stood on the opposite side of the room as him.
“What do you mean?” I wanted to wipe the annoying smug look off his face.
“Come on, Christian. Please be reasonable here.” He threw his hands up in the air like he had no idea what I was talking about.
“I’m trying to be, firecracker.”
“Stop calling me that,” I demanded.
He took a small step toward me. “No.” Then he took a step back and leaned against the desk again. “It seems like I’m the only option here to help you and the girls out.”
“I will find someone else on Tinder like Elio suggested.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest while he ran his fingers through his long blond hair.
“You’re telling me that you would much rather go with some stranger who you have to convince to move in with you and pick your children up over me?” No. I wouldn’t.
Fuck. I needed to make this work. I really didn’t have another option.
“There needs to be some rules. I need to pay some rent, so I don’t feel like a freeloader.”
“If you want.” Christian nodded while I watched the smug grin return. I hated that grin. I wanted to wipe it off his face so fast.
“We sleep in separate bedrooms.” This time, he laughed so loud the small office reverberated. “Not funny,” I added.
“Trust me, Maeve. I don’t want to sleep in the same bed as you, either.” I ignored his comment.
“This brings me to my third and final point, then.” He nodded, encouraging me to continue. “No fuck buddies around the girls. You can bring them home when the girls are at Tyler’s house during the week, but you cannot bring them around when they’re at the house.” The grin quickly wiped off his face and was replaced by a look I couldn’t quite explain.
“Maeve.” The way he said my name commanded my entire attention. It was low and rough. His eyes narrowed at me. “I want to do this to help a…friend out. I would never do anything to hurt you. Plus, if we are to keep up this facade that we’re dating, then I suggest that neither of us see anyone for six months.”
“Psh, can you even last that long without having sex?” I asked. He was a playboy. I knew he was. I also knew he didn’t have girlfriends, just fuck-friends.
“I think I’ll survive if you flash me a tit every so often,” he joked. I couldn’t help but smile and roll my eyes at his sarcasm.
“Fine, then I guess we’re doing this,” I finally conceded, knowing that I was totally and utterly fucked regardless, so I may as well be fucked with Christian.
“Thank god you came to your senses.” I rolled my eyes yet again at Christian.
“I’ll take you tomorrow to go house shopping.” I nodded in agreement and shoved my hands in my pocket. Christian pulled up from the wooden table he was leaning on and walked past me. He paused briefly in the doorframe.
“And firecracker?”
“Yeah?”
“No more falling asleep in my lap. It isn’t a good look for you.” He winked at me, and I grabbed a pen from the desk, throwing it in his direction.
“Jerk,” I mumbled under my breath.
I guess I was doing this. Somehow, the person I both despised and craved his touch the most, was about to become my live-in partner. I had to convince myself that it would only last six months. Once the judge witnessed my compliance with their recommendations and the custody schedule was firmly established for the girls, we could return to our usual routine. Christian could resume his obnoxious behavior toward me, and I could revert to being a single mother residing in my parents' guesthouse at the rear of the property. As for now, I would have to figure out how to afford rent for an apartment that was likely beyond my means.
"Take deep breaths," I muttered, forcing a fake smile onto my face to endure the remainder of the evening. I could allow myself to break down when I reached home. For now, I just had to make it through this dinner with my friends before I erupted.