Page 12 of Eye of the Hurricane
“Oh, maybe he’ll want to stay too. You have the extra room, right?” she asks. I know better than to think it’s optional.
“I’ll make room,” I tell her.
“That’s my girl.”
By the time we wrap up the call, the bathwater is lukewarm at best. All my precious bubbles have settled into nearly nothing. I give up the idea of a relaxing bath and drag myself out of the tub.
I slip into my pink satin pajamas and matching robe to curl up on the couch instead. Bellatrix curls up in my lap and I put on the reality TV episode I was hoping to watch before my mother called.
I can’t seem to focus on the show. All I can think about is how I’m going to get myself out of the story I told my mother. Maybe I don’t get myself out of it. Maybe I just find some guy to pretend to date me for the night.
I let myself toy with that thought for a minute or two before I remind myself of all the ways that would go horribly wrong. Not to mention, it would be wildly unfair to the poor soul who would have to not only be my fake boyfriend but also endure a night with my parents.
Chapter 4
Katherine
My first fullweek of prep for the new job was absolutely grueling. Still, the hard work is the easier part of all this. The hard part is holding up my promise to Jacob to rest and have fun. Work-life balance, blah blah blah.
I may be having trouble with that side of things. But my best friend, Luna? Jacob telling me that is like a gift to her personally.
“So you told her you have a serious boyfriend and she thinks you’re bringing him to the wedding?” Luna asks, chewing on her bottom lip to hold in her laugh.
“Yep. You can laugh. I know it was stupid,” I groan. She wastes no time letting her laugh loose. Luna has the type of laugh that’s contagious, high-pitched, and loud.
“I get it, though. Your mom scares the shit out of me.”
“You’ve never met her.”
“I’ve heard the legends.”
“Well, the legends hold true.”
“So what are you going to do?” Luna asks. I can’t help but to groan, throwing myself back on my bed.
“I don’t know. Probably make up some story about a breakup. Then again, it’s my mom we’re talking about so no matter what I make up, she’ll be pissed and think it’s my fault,” I huff. Then I consider how silly it is to be worried about being blamed for a fake breakup.
“You could always find a date to take,” Luna says, shrugging.
“You know I don’t have time for dating, especially with this job.”
“I’m not suggesting you get a real boyfriend. I’m just suggesting you take someone with you to the wedding and fake it for a night. What about Ares?” She gives me a wiggle of her brows. “We know he’s into you. It could be fun. And it’s not like he’s an eye sore,” she finishes, winking at me.
“Absolutely not. I might consider it if I hadn’t embarrassed myself by getting drunk and asking him to hook up with me.”
“You’ve seen him, Kat. I’m sure women get drunk and ask him to hook up all the time.”
“Yeah but not me. We’re friends. It was weird.”
“Then let’s go to the single’s night event at The Sand,” she suggests. The last Friday of every month The Sand has a single’s night event for people to go and meet each other.
“Why?”
“To find you a fake date for that wedding.”
I think about saying no, putting up a fight and demanding we stay in. But it kills two birds with one stone, the first being the lie I told my mom and the second being the promise I made to Jacob. So, fuck it. Singles Night it is.
“Fine. But I’m wearing what I have on,” I tell her, standing up to show her. She looks me up and down before rolling her eyes.
