Page 48 of Filthy Commitments
“He’s a handsome kid,” her father added.
I caught Asia’s eyes as she looked up from her nephew. “He’s the first. All of Bow’s kids look like their father.”
Nuzzling her, I whispered, “I wonder who our kids will look like.”
A blush covered her cheeks, making my heart pound.
Take it slow, Jett!
Asia
“We can go pick up things to bar-b-que, Max. Do you think you could start a fire in the pit in the backyard?” I asked my brother-in-law. Dinner time was approaching, and there was a houseful of people to feed.
“I can do that. Let me grab you guys some cash to buy the food.”
Before he could take two steps, Jett stopped him. “I got it, man. It’s not a problem. How about some brews to go along with that?”
“That’s nice of you. I’d love to toss back a few with you. Hurry back, and I’ll teach you how to make a mean chicken leg.” Max gave Jett a high-five, and it made me smile.
Jett was getting along well with my family. And when he mentioned something about becoming a personal trainer to Max, I was kind of surprised at how excited Max got about the idea.
When we got to the grocery store, Jett pushed the basket while I grabbed things off the shelf. “I like being all domestic with you, Asia. In fact, I like everything we do together. And I like your family too.”
“They sure do like you too, Jett.” I wasn’t lying. My parents thought he was great. So did my sister and Max. Even the baby felt comfortable in his capable arms.
He moved up beside me, bumping my shoulder with his. “It feels natural. Don’t you think?”
I smiled at him and ran my hand over his cheek. “I do.”
“I do.” He looked at me with soft eyes. “I could say that over and over to you, my little Asia.”
I knew what he was getting at. Marriage. A real one.
But I wasn’t going to get into that today. I wanted to have a great time with my family. The next day we’d be heading back home to get ready for his high school reunion that would be in Jersey.
Back to one night of lying. I wasn’t looking forward to it. Then there’d be a wedding that we’d have to lie at too.
In the back of my mind swirled the fact that if we stayed together, we’d have to eventually come out with the truth. But I didn’t want to talk about it yet. I wanted things to settle for us first.
Things were so damn complicated. Maybe too complicated to all work out without things getting very messy. I wasn’t sure how we’d pull things off or how people would perceive us if the truth came out.
I thought maybe a fake divorce followed by us getting back together might work for his family. But we’d always have problems with getting our families together. A thing both sets of parents were keen on.
That was the first thing my mother said to me was that she wanted to meet his parents. And his parents were set on meeting mine. I didn’t know how we were going to handle all that.
Things would have to get messy or worse.
As much as I wanted things to work out, I knew there was a huge chance they wouldn’t. It certainly would be easier to walk away after the last function and call it quits. The lie was too big to overcome.
My heart, the naïve thing it was, told me anything could be overcome. The truth will set you free.
That may be so, but that freedom would come at a great cost. No one would look at Jett or me the same way again.
As we stood in the checkout line, Jett ran his arms around me, kissing the side of my head. “I think I might like to do something nice for your sister and her little family, Asia. Do you think giving them a house would be too much?”
I choked on the laugh the came out of me. “Jett, that’s too much!”
He nodded. “Yeah, I was afraid you’d say that. But I feel like I could do something to help them get out of the hole they’re in. I’m not the kind of person that generally thinks about things like that.”
