Page 48 of Resisting You
“Really? Like what?” Steve asked, skeptically.
“Yeah, we’re going to need specific examples,” Lydia added. It didn’t escape my notice how Noah tensed up every time Lydia spoke. I knew there was some bad blood there that they’d managed to somewhat get past… but if his demeanor was any indication, Noah clearly wasn’t healed or over it by any stretch of the means.
“How much time do you have?” I joked. I had more stories than I could keep track of.
Steve settled back in his chair, crossing his arms. “I think you’re bluffing.”
“Oh yeah? Do me a favor. Pull out your phone and google: Senator Alvarez and Winstone New Port High School.”
Steve gave me a strange look, but tugged his phone free. After a minute, his eyes went wide as they locked on the screen, reading. “Damn, Rosa. I stand corrected.”
“What is it?” Callie giggled, pulling out her own phone.
“My senior class prank went a little too far,” I said. “We stole the neighbor’s cows, brought them inside the school and letthem wander around all night and then changed the letters on our school to read Winstone Wet Porn High school.”
“Savage,” Lydia said with a giggle.
“Manure was everywhere inside. They had to close the school for a week to have it professionally cleaned. And even then, the smell was horrifying. I was one of thirty seniors who participated in the prank, but of course becausemyfather was the senator, I was the only one caught and publicly shamed for the part I played in it.”
Noah leaned in and tugged on one of my curls. “Looking at us now, no one would assumeyouwere the rebel andIwas the goody-two-shoes.”
“We’re just full of surprises,” I said.
His blue eyes searched mine as he slowly released his hold on my hair, dragging his knuckle down my jaw.
The clinking of a fork to a wine glass tore our gazes away from each other. Ronnie was standing, holding her glass of sparkling grape juice in the air. “I’d like to make a toast,” she said. “To my baby brother and my new sister, Rosa. I couldn’t be more thrilled to share a wedding weekend with the two of you. Cheers to a lifetime of happiness.” She smiled so warmly at me that guilt gnawed at my stomach.
This ruse was fine when we weren’t getting to know each other’s families. But now I was looking into the eyes of lovely people—people I truly liked—and lying to them.
“Totwolifetimes of happiness!” Marty added, lifting her glass of wine high in the air.
I gulped and reluctantly lifted my glass as well with everyone else’s, tapping it to Noah’s. His crystal blue eyes pinned me, reflections of his own guilt bouncing back at me.
Dammit. What have we done?
After taking a sip and setting my glass down, more clinking surrounded us, starting with one fork against a glass. Then two.Then three. Until all the Tripps were tapping their silverware to their wine glasses.
“What are they doing?” I asked.
Noah groaned. “They want us to kiss.”
Ronnie and Lex didn’t hesitate for a second. He tugged her into his lap gently, laying one on her belly before kissing her.
Noah cleared his throat, looking at me with brows raised.
My cheeks felt like fire as I leaned in and gave him a quick peck to the lips. It wasn’t like we hadn't kissed before. But that was privately. A moment shared between him and me. This? This was different. It felt performative. Fake. And this whole ruse felt like such a lie already… I didn’t want to add to it now. Besides, I wasn’t an actor. I didn’t have the nuance Noah did when it came to playing this part.
“That was a lame ass kiss,” Callie said. My flaming cheeks officially turned into an inferno of heat.
“Callie!” Marty elbowed her daughter.
“Well she’s not wrong,” Steve muttered behind his glass.
“PDA isn’t really our thing,” Noah said, offering as an excuse and glaring at his sister. She was the only one who knew the truth and yet was the only one giving us crap over it.
I thought she was supposed to be helping us.
Since I suck at lying… and I’m not an actress, I tried for the truth. Or at least the partial truth. “I feel weird,” I admitted to the Tripps. “I’ve only just met all of you and now here we are… afamily. But you don’t know me. And I don’t want to shove my tongue down Noah’s throat during our first dinner together.” When no one said anything after a second, I added, “Especially when we all know that’s a second family dinner sort of activity.”
