Page 31 of Whatever You Need

“Love you too, son. Thank you for doing this.”

I ended the call and suddenly wished I had declined it. There were so many other ways I would rather spend my Friday night, but I would have to suck it up.

Amelia was reading something on her screen while savoring her wine. She looked cute, and honestly, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Then a crazy idea popped into my head.

I leaned forward on the couch and rested my hands on my knees. “How would you like to meet my mother?”

Amelia choked on her drink. She set the glass down on the table and patted her chest. “Excuse me?”

“What’s the big deal?” I grinned, hoping she didn’t think I was a psychopath. “You’ve already met my grandmother.”

She blinked at me as if I was crazy. In hindsight, I probably should have realized that this was a bad idea. If only I had more time to wrap my head around the entire plan.

“Marco,” she shook her head, seeming genuinely confused, “am I missing something here?”

I leaned back, trying to get comfortable. I placed my ankle across my knee. While I really wanted to ditch this family gathering, I didn’t see any another alternative. Not to mention, this was the perfect opportunity to see her again. One too good to pass up.

“I need a date for a family Christmas party.” Her eyes locked on mine. We stared at each other for a full minute while I debated on how many details I wanted to share. “My ex-girlfriend is going to be there with her husband.”

She drew her eyebrows together. “Why would your ex bring her husband to your family party?”

I looked at her, curious what her reaction would be. “Because her husband is my cousin.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah.”

She pulled her legs underneath her. “How did that come about?”

I stared into my glass. I needed to explain this well enough to where she wouldn’t think I was looking for sympathy. I just wanted her to understand. “Sienna and I dated for years when we younger. What we had wasn’t perfect, but I thought it was solid until she cheated on me with my cousin. There really isn’t much more to say than that.”

Her face softened. “There is obviously more to that if you need me for a buffer.”

I curled my fingers around the arm of the couch. “The fallout caused a family rift.”

There was a long stretch of silence.

“Do you think you’d still be together if she hadn’t cheated on you?” She seemed genuinely concerned about my situation and it sent a warm fuzzy feeling to my chest.

“I’m not sure if things would have lasted with Sienna and me. What I do know is that there wouldn’t be a family rift if my cousin hadn’t stabbed me in the back.”

She slipped the blanket off the back of the couch and laid it over her legs. “Were you and your cousin close?”

I drained the rest of my wine. “We were very close.”

There was something about the softness in her voice that had me confiding all this shit. I didn’t talk about this with anyone. The subject made me uncomfortable, but talking to Amelia was easy. She wasn’t judging me, she just seemed interested in knowing my story.

She looked like she was thinking something over in her head. “Is she the reason why you avoid commitments?”

I cleared my throat, still trying to find the right words. “Partly. I’m just not looking for anything serious. I like my life neat, and low-maintenance.” I scratched the back of my head, needing to switch topics. I felt like I shared enough of my dirty laundry. “How about you? What’s your story?”

Amelia nibbled on her bottom lip and stared down at her glass of wine. “What makes you think I have a story?”

I cleared my throat and smirked. “Well, I know for a fact that you weren’t a virgin. So, I’m guessing you have a past.”

“A past, yes. A personal life, barely.”

Her response caught me off guard and left me curious on why she seemed so closed off. My fingers drummed along the armrest of her couch. I could tell by the tension in her shoulders and the way she was avoiding eye contact that this topic made her uneasy. Her vulnerability affected me more than it should have.

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