19. Nineteen #2
“My girlfriend lives here,” I said before realizing what I was going to say.
“Oh.” Disappointment rocketed over the guy’s face. “Bummer.” With that, he turned on his heel and left.
I watched him go, torn between amusement and annoyance.
I closed the door finally and shifted to return to the bedroom.
We were eating this meal in bed. I found Wylie watching me from the hallway.
She was in her T-shirt and a pair of small panties that had my eyes crossing, they were so cute on her.
“Your girlfriend?” she asked in a chirpy voice that was about an octave too high.
I was amused despite myself. “Do you have a problem with me calling you that?” I hoped she didn’t because I liked the way it sounded.
“No, but … we still haven’t talked about what we’re going to do.”
“I know.” I looked inside the bag and was relieved to find plasticware inside. “Let’s talk about it over breakfast.”
She gave me a cute look over her shoulder before she scampered toward the bed. I had to stop myself from chasing her.
Once we were settled with our backs against the mountain of pillows, her snugly tucked in at my side, I dug into my omelet and considered the problem at hand.
“I would like some time for just us,” I started. “We’re in a unique situation.”
“You mean because your mom hates my mom?”
“I don’t think your mom likes my mom any more than my mom likes your mom.”
“True.” She drowned her pancakes in so much syrup that I got a toothache just looking at them.
A memory nudged at the back of my brain, a breakfast 20 years or so before, when Wylie had gotten whipped cream and sprinkles on her nose from a hot chocolate she’d insisted on starting the day with.
My mother had argued it was too much sugar.
Aggie had merely shrugged and said, “you only live once.”
“I want us to be out and open about this,” I said. “As much as possible, I mean. I don’t think we should tell our mothers until …” Until what? Until I’d proposed and there was a ring on her finger? Until she was pregnant with our first child?
And, no, I didn’t think I was getting ahead of myself, wondering about things like that. Being with Wylie felt right. There was no guarantee it would work, but I’d never felt this comfortable with anybody before. I wanted this to work, and that thought was both humbling and frightening.
“Where did you just go?” she asked when my eyes landed on her.
“I was just thinking about our mothers,” I admitted.
She nodded in understanding. “They’re not going to be happy. If we make it far enough to tell them, I mean.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure I care.” It wasn’t as hard to admit as I thought it would be.
“I think, for once, maybe they’re going to have to do what we want.
We spent years doing what they wanted, following their schedules.
Maybe we should just get them together, lay down the law, and tell them to deal with it. ”
Wylie let loose a little giggle. It dissipated when my expression didn’t budge. “You can’t be serious.”
“I think I am.”
“But … they’ll freak out.”
“They’re adults,” I reminded her. “We’re not saying that they have to spend all of their free time together. I just want them to understand that their feelings on the subject aren’t going to come into play.”
“They’re not?” She took a huge bite of pancakes and watched me with curious eyes.
“They’re not,” I confirmed. “This is our relationship, Wylie. We get to make the decisions. They don’t get a say. Not this time.”
“I think I can get my mother on board with that,” she mused. “I’ll just remind her that I lived my life on her schedule for years. Your mother is the one I’m worried about.”
What she wasn’t saying was that her mother had “won” the prize. The prize being Mick. That meant Aggie was going to be more open to this situation than my mother was going to be, and for good reason.
“My mother will have to suck it up,” I said finally. “She’s not going to have another option. For now, though, I don’t want to tell them. I want us to have a chance to spend time together and make sure this is the real deal before we drop the bomb.”
“I agree.” She speared one of my sausage links without asking. “Whatever you think, I think. I’m all in.”
I’m all in. When she said it, her eyes sparkled. “I’m all in, too.” I took a bite of my omelet, chewed, and then swallowed. “Now we need to talk about our friends.” That was a stickier situation.
“Maybe we can make it a few weeks before having to tell them,” she suggested. “That way, we won’t get invited out on double dates.”
“I’m more worried about them watching us like zoo animals on display at the reader events,” I admitted.
“Yeah. We’ll just be chill at the reader events and not act like a couple. No touching or anything.”
I hated that idea. I nodded all the same. “I guess. Just for a little bit. The longer we don’t tell them, the bigger thing they’ll make it into when it’s time.”
“Good point.” She smiled around another bite of pancakes, and I leaned in to kiss her before she swallowed. I didn’t care if her mouth was full.
That was, of course, when the door to her bedroom opened without a knock of warning.
I turned quickly, prepared to do battle in case the delivery driver had returned.
It wasn’t him staring at us from the opening, however.
No, it was Lucy and Hayley. Or, I was assuming it was Lucy.
I still hadn’t seen her since she moved in with Wylie.
She looked enough like Wylie that I was convinced.
“Well, well, well,” Hayley drawled as she glanced between us. “Isn’t this … interesting?”
“Huxley,” Lucy said in a cold voice. There was a challenge in her eyes.
“Lucy,” I replied, matching her tone.
“It’s been a long time, Kit Kat thief,” she drawled.
I had to force myself not to laugh. “Yes, it has.”
Lucy’s gaze moved to her sister. “I knew that you were keeping something from me. I just had no idea it was going to be this juicy.”
“Don’t tell Mom,” Wylie admonished. “We’re keeping it a secret from them until we’re sure that … well, just until we’re sure.”
Lucy’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought she was going to try to use her newfound information as a bargaining chip. Ultimately, however, she nodded.
“Fine,” she said. “I demand to be there when you tell her, though.”
“I’ll see what I can arrange,” Wylie replied dryly. “You just get off on the drama.”
“I do get off on the drama,” Lucy agreed. “This is going to be good drama, too.”
For a moment, Wylie’s smile slipped, and I saw the worry. Ultimately, however, she shrugged. “It’s going to be fine,” she said. Her gaze moved to Hayley. “How much do we have to pay you to keep your mouth shut?”
“Oh, I can’t be bought,” Hayley replied. “Also, there’s no amount of money that would convince me to keep quiet. This is just too juicy.”
I slid my eyes to Wylie and found her looking at me. All I could do was shrug. “The best laid plans.”
She snickered, then went back to her breakfast. “It was still worth it.”
I watched her eat, my heart pinching. It certainly was worth it.