Chapter 34 Krista
KRISTA
Squealing, I rolled away from Rob as he started kissing my neck again. I was ticklish as hell, and he was only making it worse by digging his fingers into my side every time he tried to kiss me.
“Stop! I’m gonna kick you if you don’t keep your fingers to yourself!” I cried out, laughing so hard I had tears running down my face.
“I can think of at least four places you really like my fingers.”
“You’re never going to put them any of those places ever again if you don’t stop tickling me.”
The doorbell rang, interrupting what would have been the fourth time we had sex since six o’clock this morning. It was nearly noon, and my body was worn out. Not only that, but I reeked of sex. I desperately needed an intervention.
I rolled off the bed, falling on my hands and knees in an attempt to escape his wandering fingers.
“God, look at that ass,” he groaned as I crawled away.
“Get a good look because that’s all you’re going to see for at least three hours,” I called over my shoulder. Once I was far enough away, I grabbed a shirt off the floor and pulled it over my head, rushing to the front door as the bell kept incessantly ringing.
“I’m coming! Give a girl a break! I’ve had a man between my thighs all—”
I yanked the door open and snapped my lips shut. Mom and Dad were standing on the front porch, both of them looking anywhere but at me.
“Uh…what are you guys doing here?”
They never came to my house, which meant either something was wrong or they were snooping.
Dad cleared his throat. “Don’t suppose you want to put on a few more things.”
“Right,” I said, shutting the door, cursing myself the moment I realized I left them in the cold. “Crap.” I opened the door again. “Uh, you guys can wait inside.”
“Are you sure? We don’t mind waiting on the porch,” Dad said sarcastically.
I wasn’t about to get into it with him right now. I hustled back to my room and slammed the door in panic. Rob sat up, reading my distress.
“What’s going on?”
“My parents are here.”
“Okay,” he said slowly.
“They’re here,” I said as I ran around the room gathering clothing to wear. “Which means that they’re either plotting something devious or they came because they know you’re here.”
“Of course they know I’m here. Everyone in town knows I’m here.” He grabbed his phone and scrolled to the diner’s website. “It’s on the menu.”
“What?”
I snatched the phone out of his outstretched hand, scrolling through the menu. “Honeymoon special. That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Look below it.”
“In honor of our newlywed couple returning to town. Limited time offer.” Rolling my eyes, I tossed the phone on the bed. “Seriously, why don’t they just take out an ad in the paper?”
“I’m sure someone already thought of that.”
“Get dressed.”
“Me?” he said, acting surprised that I would want him to get out of bed and visit with my parents.
“Yes, you. It’s because you’re here that they even stopped by. What am I supposed to tell them? My husband is afraid of them?”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly, but why do I have to meet them when we’re only fake married?”
I stopped pulling on my pants and stared at him. “I’m sorry. Did you just say we’re fake married?”
I wasn’t so sure about that statement after hearing the way the words rolled off her tongue. “That sure sounded like the voice of a woman who’s really married,” he grumbled under his breath.
“Good catch. Now, get your ass out of bed and put on some clothes.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, bending over like he was in a ton of pain. “Ooh, that pulled. I’m not so sure it’s a good idea to get out of bed. I might rip my stitches.”
“After what you just did to me for the past six hours, I think you can handle walking and sitting just fine.”
“You know, you sure act like a real wife.”
“I’m practicing for when I really have to kick you out of bed in the morning.”
“I think I liked it better when we were pretending.”
“You can always go back to Pennsylvania alone,” I snapped. “If this is what marriage is going to be like with you, maybe we should just skip the whole thing.”
“I said I was coming, alright? Geez, you don’t have to nag.”
“Nag? You haven’t even seen me nag.”
“I’m not sure I want to,” he retorted.
I wasn’t about to stand here and argue with my fake husband. Either he would come out and meet his fake in-laws, or he would hide in here like a baby. Which option he chose would determine what happened from here on out.
Throwing open the door, I strode out into the living room and sat across from my parents, pretending everything was perfectly fine. “So, how have things been?”
“I think we should be asking you that. Michael had quite a bit to say about what happened while you were gone,” Dad said, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Well, it was interesting, that’s for sure.”
“And while you were gone, someone else had to fill in for you at work. I guess you think you’ll still get paid for those hours.”
“Ben! We just got here. Can you wait five minutes before scolding her like a child?”
“Well, maybe if she didn’t act like a child, I wouldn’t have to treat her like one.”
I sat there as they carried on with their conversation as if I didn’t exist. As if I couldn’t hear every sharp-tongued word my father said. As if none of it bothered me in the least.
“All I’m saying is that the girl needs to learn some responsibility!”
“If you’d allow her to make a few mistakes without rubbing it in, maybe she’d branch out a little more and make something of herself.”
I just loved when they talked about me like I wasn’t even here.
“She’s got a husband neither of us has ever met. What kind of daughter does that?”
“Well, maybe she didn’t think we’d approve,” Mom said.
“And that’s why she chose to get married? Because we wouldn’t approve?”
“Well, she did meet him in Vegas. You heard what Michael said. He was there for a job.”
“Right, and ended up in the middle of a gang!”
“It was the mafia, actually,” I corrected. Not that they were listening.
“Well, we haven’t heard it from her side yet. Why don’t we listen to what she has to say?”
“That would be something,” I snorted.
“So we can hear more lies?”
I sat back as they argued. It was really nice to have family around all the time. To feel their faith in me was like taking a warm bath on a cold day, not to mention that these drop-in visits made me feel so loved.
A loud whistle sounded behind me when Rob stepped into the room, breaking up the bickering. As he hobbled into the room, I almost felt sorry for bringing him into this mess.
Then again, if I was going to have to sit through this, he should have to suffer, also.
“Sorry, but I was standing there for a good two minutes and nobody noticed me.”
“So, this is the man who almost got you killed,” Dad said, getting to his feet.
“Actually, this is the man who kept me alive and saved my life by putting his body between me and a bullet.”
I glanced back at Rob, then to my parents, giving a shaky smile.
“He’s my husband.” And if that wasn’t enough, I threw one more log on the fire. “Oh, and I’m moving to Pennsylvania.”
“You might have phrased that differently,” Rob said as I fanned my mother, who was passed out on the couch.
“I didn’t know she would collapse just because I gave her the news,” I hissed.
“You could have started with this is my husband, and left it at that.”
“Well, I figured I’d just rip off the band-aid.”
“Get your mother a glass of water,” Dad barked. “Christ, it’s like talking to a toddler.”
“If Mom was awake, she’d tell you to watch your language.”
“Yeah, she can bitch at me on the way home while she tells me how to drive.”
“It’s not that long of a drive.”
“Exactly, but I still have to hear about it.”
Rolling my eyes, I got up to fetch a glass of water, but Rob hobbled behind me, grabbing my arm to stop me.
“Maybe now isn’t a good time to…you know, do this.”
“We already did,” I pointed out, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and filling it with water. “That’s why I have this handy glass of water to revive my mother.”
“Right, but maybe we should tell her you were joking.”
“Are you getting cold feet?” I accused.
“No, I’m just saying…I’m already injured. I don’t think I need another hole in my body while I’m still recovering.”
Shoving past him, I headed for the living room. “Don’t be such a baby.”
Mom was coming around by the time I returned, but she was sweating. She didn’t look like she’d just gotten bad news. Since when did Mom ever pass out, anyway?
“Are you okay?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her shoulder as I held the glass out in front of her.
“Oh, I’m fine. I just got overheated.”
“It’s the middle of winter.”
“Hot flashes,” she murmured.
I was pretty sure she was already past that point in her life. Not that my parents were old, but menopause should have already passed.
“See what you did?” Dad snapped. “You freaked out your mother.”
“Ben, that’s not—”
“You could have killed your mother.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch,” I laughed. “I’m pretty sure words never killed anyone.”
“Then why did she pass out?”
“Ben, I’m fine! Can we please stop arguing?”
Dad clenched his jaw, but took his seat next to my mother and held her hand. It was times like this that I really appreciated my family. Through everything, the one thing we could always count on was each other.
“Krista, why are you moving to Pennsylvania?” Mom asked.
“Well, Rob and I have decided to give this a chance. His work is in Pennsylvania, and—”
“So, he’s taking you away from us?” my father snapped.
“Sir, all due respect, I’m not taking her away from you. We’re married—”
“For five minutes! You didn’t date her. You didn’t ask me for her hand in marriage. You went into a chapel with an Elvis impersonator and exchanged cheap rings. That is not a marriage!” Dad shouted.
“But it is legal,” Rob countered. “And believe it or not, I do respect your daughter, and I care about her a lot.”
“Then date her.”
“That’s what I intend to do, but I can’t do it out here. I need to be where my job is.”