Page 15 of Break: Vol. 2

“Why didn’t you tell me you were drinking?” he asked.

Darren frowned. “Dude, it’s a cruise. What else do you do on a cruise but drink? We’re in international waters.”

“She doesn’t drink a lot. She could get sick.”

“Dex, I’m fine,” I tried to assure him.

“No, you’re not fine.”

I leaned back. “I am,” I insisted. “Dex, what’s this about? What’s going on? Why are you getting so irritated?”

Dex gritted his teeth and looked away. “My mother’s inside.”

“Inside … inside the restaurant?” My eyes widened and I pushed away from his chest. “Did you tell her we were coming? Does she know?”

Dex gave me a look. I huffed. “I didn’t meanknowknow,” I said. Not about us—us being the five of us.

“I told her I was here with friends and my girlfriend.”

“She’s going to ask questions,” Cody said.

“I know.”

“What do you want us to say?” Darren asked.

Dex scrubbed a hand down his face. “I don’t know, but I haven’t told her that we’re all dating Jamie. She just thinks it's me.”

I nodded, biting my lip. “Do you want to tell her?” I asked, looking down.

Dex leaned closer, reaching for my hands. I kept my gaze trained on the floor. “Jamie.” I didn’t reply. “Baby, look at me.” I sighed and forced my eyes up without moving my head. “I want her to know about you,” he said.

“But it’ll be hard to explain about the others.” I knew. It was difficult. We hadn’t told anyone else’s parents. For all everyone else knew—aside from Roxi—I was only dating one of them. For Cody’s parents, I was just dating him. For Taylor’s, the same. For Darren’s … well, we hadn’t even gotten that far. “I understand,” I said. “But we’re all here on vacation together. She’s bound to see me without you, right?”

He inhaled and nodded. “You want to hide her relationship with us the entire week?” Darren asked. I turned my head and caught his look. He was frustrated, but I could tell that he understood. This was different from introducing your girlfriend to your parents. It would be a challenge to keep up the charade and to keep everyone else from feeling ignored.

“I’m sorry,” Dex said, sounding tired. “I know it’s a lot to ask.”

“Tonight,” I said. “We just do it for tonight. For dinner, but afterward, we need to have a family meeting. It has to be unanimous, Dex.”

He nodded. “I know. Thank you, Baby.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead before looking to the others. “Thank you and I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, bro.” Taylor shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Now, are we gonna go eat or what?”

Dex nodded and Taylor ambled by with Cody. Dex and Darren exchanged a look. “Baby, why don’t you go inside with the others. We’ll be right there.”

I glanced between the two of them. “Are you sure?” I didn’t worry that Dex and Darren would fight, but I also didn’t want to take any chances.

Darren cupped my shoulder. “Go on, sweetheart. We’ll be fine.”

I bit my lip again and stepped away. “Okay,” I said, “but hurry up.”

“We will,” Dex promised.

I nodded and headed inside.

Chapter 8

Cordelia’s was a restaurant with white tablecloths and waiters dressed in pristine white button-down shirts and black slacks. With all the food they carted around, it was a wonder how none of them had a single smudge or stain on their uniforms. I caught up with Taylor and Cody quickly, and soon enough, Darren and Dex walked inside and joined us.

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