Page 59 of Fake Out Hearts

I slip on my boxers and a pair of jeans I find draped on the back of the armchair in the corner of the room. “Stay here. I’ll handle it.” Becca nods as the doorbell rings again, so I rush downstairs. “Alright, alright! Cool it. I’m coming,” I shout at the impatient, uninvited guest.

Without peeking through the peep hole, I fling the door open, ready to tear the head off whoever’s on the other side. But my two worlds collide and grind to a halt when Becca comes creeping up behind me and sees the same thing I see.

“Uh, hi, Mom and Dad.”

Chapter 18

Becca

Oh my god. Oh. My. God.

It’s Theo’s parents. They’re here. My body and brain are still buzzing from the aftershocks of the orgasm I just had, and I’m still reeling from the rule that we bent so far it might as well be broken.

But now here I am, smiling stupidly at my new in-laws as they step into Theo’s house. Our house. I do everything I can to keep a stunned expression off my face, but I’m not sure I’m selling it very well. Thankfully, Milo comes barreling into the living room from wherever he was hanging out, distracting everyone.

“Mom, Dad, this is Milo, our new dog.” Theo grins as Milo eagerly sniffs his dad’s hand before moving on to give his mom the same treatment. “And this is Becca, my wife,” he continues, gesturing to me.

Now the spotlight is on me, and I feel a kind of nervousness that even the worst stage fright I’ve experienced can’t compare to.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Camden,” I say as steadily as I can, offering a hand for his mom to shake.

“Please, call me Anne.” She smiles at me and reaches for my hand, but she spots my ring and seizes on it instead. “But oh my goodness, your ring is beautiful, Becca!” She takes my hand in hers to lift it up so she can examine the ring closer. She beams at Theo. “You have great taste, sweetie.”

“In rings or in women?” he asks, and Anne laughs before she fixes me with her smile again.

“Both.”

I had truly no idea what to expect when meeting his parents for the first time—I didn’t expect to meet them at all today, to be fair—but getting such a warm reception right off the bat is probably the biggest surprise of all.

Anne’s smile fades into a frown. “But I still wish I’d found out from you instead of from the news.”

Theo sighs. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, Mom. I just didn’t know when the right time to tell you was. I mean, how was I supposed to break this kind of news?”

“Simple. By picking up the phone and telling us,” his dad answers, and Theo flushes.

“Right.” He clears his throat. “Anyway, no offense, but what are you doing here?”

Anne smiles at me again, still holding my hand. “We came to meet your lovely wife, of course.”

Theo raises an eyebrow at her. “And you didn’t thinkthatwarranted a phone call first?”

“We love you, Theo, but you don’t exactly have the moral high ground here,” his father chides, and Theo frowns at me.

“That’s classic John Camden for you,” he mutters, and his dad chuckles. “I’m sorry. It all just happened so fast, and I got so caught up in it,” he says as he ushers his parents into the living room to take a seat on the leather sofa. I join Theo and Milo on the loveseat across from them.

Theo leaves out the reasonwhywe had to move so quickly, but I’m not complaining. I can tell his parents really love him, and although their dynamic might be a little messy, seeing that they care enough to show up unannounced to check in on their son warms my heart. My mom would never do something like that for me.

“The heart works in mysterious ways. We understand that,” Anne says as she pats her husband’s knee. “So how did you two meet? And please don’t tell me it was through hockey.”

She seems totally unbothered by the fact that I’m still in my pajamas and Theo’s not wearing a shirt, so either she’s choosing to ignore it, or she really doesn’t have a clue what he and I were just doing.

Thank god.

“Well, it was sort of through hockey. We met after one of my games several months ago,” Theo answers.

It’s a stretch of the truth, but I’m not about to correct him. As far as I’m concerned, the longer his parents think we’ve been together, the better. Besides, he knows them and what they’ll accept much better than I would, so I’m following his lead.

Because it isn’t just the government we have to sell this marriage to.

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