Page 42 of Heartless

“Exactly. Also, no politics. No controversial topics. No ex talk. And you are not allowed to swear in front of her. Tyler does it and it really sets her off.”

“Am I allowed to breathe?”

“No, no, no. No sarcasm. Tyler uses it and it...”

“It sets her off. Got it.”

Madison’s eyes were on me, but refused to make it easy for her by asking what worried her so much.

“You could still say no,” she said eventually.

“Say no?” I glanced at her for a moment, before I returned my gaze to the road again. “It was my idea, remember?”

“You don’t have to go through with it.”

“For fuck’s sake, Madison. Relax, okay? You are giving me a headache and we haven’t even arrived at your mother’s yet.”

“And now you’re swearing,” she lifted her hands in the air in an uncharacteristic manner, like she was desperate. “I told you not to swear thirty seconds ago.”

“Your mother isn’t here now, is she? I can unleash my full arsenal of profanity and sarcasm. Don’t even get me started on controversial topics like extraterrestrial life and the impending doom of AI domination. Oh, and let’s not forget the juicy details about my exes.”

My speech made Madison shut up for a change, and the drive to her mother’s house was relatively calm. At least for me. She checked her makeup four times and smoothed her hands over the skirt of her dress repeatedly, but when she started to tap her finger on the handle of the passenger door, I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached over, took one of her hands in mine and squeezed it gently, trying to reassure her.

“It’s going to be fine. She will like me just enough to stop setting you up with random dudes, and I won’t set her off.”

Madison said nothing. She yanked her hand from mine, making me laugh.

“You can’t do that in front of your family. They’ll get suspicious.”

“Don’t touch me then,” she hissed.

“Fine,” I gritted my teeth together, trying to hide the unexpected hit on my male ego.

I waited for some kind of apology from her for the rest of the drive, but it never came. She didn’t even spare me a glance before she exited the car when we arrived at her mother’s.

Sylvia greeted us at the door with arms opened wide. I hugged her, as she expected me to do. Madison received the same welcoming, but she was so stiff, Sylvia narrowed her eyes examining her. My fake girlfriend was too self-absorbed to catch it, though. The nervous touching I witnessed in the car was gone. She looked poised and calm. No signs of anxiety. But she was also emotionally disengaged.

“I’m so glad you two made it. Hannah and Tyler won’t be joining us tonight. She’s not feeling very well,” Sylvia said almost apologetically. “But Clem and Lucas are here. And my Mike. Have you met my Mike?”

She turned around, and he was right behind her. We shook hands, and I followed them inside, Madison at my heels.

“Is everything okay with Hannah?” I asked.

Last time I talked with Tyler about the pregnancy, he had told me that everything was fine, but bad things happened fast and unfortunately without you seeing them coming.

“Oh, yes. Pregnancy discomfort. Madison, for example, would never complain about something so mundane as sleepiness, but I guess not everyone is like my Madison.”

I glanced over my shoulder and raised a questioning brow. Madison shrugged.

“Do you want children, Parker?” Sylvia asked.

“Sure,” I said as calmly as I could around the limp in my throat. “Who doesn’t? With the right woman, of course.”

I peeked over my shoulder again, and this time winked at Madison, knowing damn well that all Sylvia would see was a glance between lovers. Madison shook her head slightly, a barely visible sign for me not to play games with her mother.

We entered the dining room and found Clem, Lucas, and Daphne on the floor, the little one on her stomach, squealing happily at the funny sounds her parents made.

My chest contracted painfully at the sight of them.

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