Page 6 of Can't Take My Eyes Off You

‘For laughs, mostly, but also because he’s a dick,’ he says, shooting Mike another glare, then turning his attention to his plate.

Melinda’s brow furrows. ‘Michael isnota dick.’

‘At least not a big one,’ I say under my breath, flashing Jacob a smirk as he side-eyes me.

Mike shakes his head. Oops, he heard me. All eyes are now on me, probably expecting me to apologize for even existing in their world.

‘Um,’ I say, just for fun now. ‘I take full responsibility for the F word, but Felicity used the wordporn,’ I remind Melinda. ‘If we’re going to chastise someone for talking about a specific topic, let’s at least hold accountable the woman who brought it to the table.’

Melinda glares my way. ‘Sweetheart,’ she says, turning her attention to Will, patting his hand, which is the closest she’s come to hugging one of her sons since she birthed them. ‘Berkley just isn’t the quality of woman we hoped to see you with.’ She continues speaking like I’m not literally sitting two chairs away from her. ‘I didn’t want to say this in front of her, but Felicity is more your type for the long term.’ She side-eyes me, lowering her voice, probably in a last-minute attempt to spare my feelings based on whatever my face is doing right now. ‘She’s from a great family and knows how to behave in a way that won’t embarrass us. You’d have beautiful babies.’

Babies?She’s planning their children too?

‘Berkley’s the kind of girl you lose your virginity to and then move on,’ Mike adds.

O-ffen-sive. They don’t expect me to sit here silently and take this abuse, do they? ’Cause if so, they obviously don’t know me well.

‘Must be true,’ I say, lifting a shoulder. ‘Considering Finn just asked if I’d take his virginity in the bathroom upstairs later.’

Mike bursts a laugh but Finn shoots me a glare.

Will’s entire aura changes from annoyed to pissed. He tosses his napkin onto his plate. ‘Youwhat?’ he barks in Finn’s direction.

Finn shrugs, shaking his head like he’s no idea what I’m talking about.

‘Why would you say that to her?’ Will yells.

‘Let her go, William,’ Melinda pleads with him. ‘It’s the right thing to do. Tell him it’s the right thing to do, Michael.’

‘Do it,’ Mike says, staring at his phone, not paying attention to even one word. ‘Get you some rich ass.’ He glances my way with his usual douchey arrogant grin.

How.Fucking.Dare.Him.

I reach across Finn, grab Mike’s phone from his hands, and drop it into his sparkling water. Ker-plunk, asshole.

‘Damn it, Berk!’ Mike yells, grabbing the phone from his glass and shaking it out, sprinkling sparkling water all over Felicity, who’s sitting across the table from him. She lets out a horrified squeal that would make you think it was acid, not water.

‘This is Valentino,you idiot!’ she yells at Mike, standing up so urgently she sends her chair to the floor with a crash, startling everyone.

Will and my gazes meet, both wide-eyed and unsure how to react to any of this. This dinner is suddenly chaotically unhinged, like a Griswold family get-together. I hope we laugh about it later but presently, I’m low-key terrified of how this will end.

‘Blame Berkley;shedid it,’ Mike says, like we’re twelve and he played no part in all this.

Melinda turns her attention to me, her face pinched in a way that might hurt. ‘Since you’re insistent on ruining the dinner we’re throwing you, I might as well get this over with. Here.’ She pulls a card from under her plate, handing it to me via Felicity. ‘Perhaps this will help you not leave here completely broken-hearted.’

‘You got me a gift?’ I act shocked as I peel the envelope open, pulling out a graduation card, signedThe Adlers. God, she should be a fucking poet. It’s the same heartwarming message they wrote on my high school graduation card. Inside is a check for twenty-five thousand dollars.

Wait.

What?

I look at it again, heat rising from my chest to the top of my ears, and tears burn my eyes as they attempt to surface. Her words play back in my head:maybe this will help you not leave here completely broken-hearted. Will was right. This is an intervention to rid the family of me.

‘Is this…?’ I blink back tears threatening to spill over.

‘A small bribe, darling.’ Melinda pinches her fingers together like it’s no big deal. ‘Nothing worth crying over. You just made more than you’ll make all year!’

‘Jesus, Mom!’ Will yells, standing from his chair and making his way to me. ‘I told you, I can do this without losing Berkley.’

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