Page 46 of What Hurts Us

It was enough to snap her out of her trance. “Um. Yeah. Be right there.”

“I’ll go help, honey,” I said quickly, punctuating it with a peck on her cheek before turning and walking out.

While I cut through the kitchen and headed toward the deck, Karim gave me a salute as if I was walking to my own execution. Layla’s mom watched with the eyes of a hawk as I slid the glass door back. Her hands never stopped moving as she arranged cheese and crackers across the cutting board I had given her.

Layla’s father was a tall man who sported a thick, graying mustache and akiss-the-cookapron. “Mr. Mousavi,” I said as I slid the door closed.

Slowly, his gaze raised from the grill grates. He looked me up and down. “Callum Fletcher.” The door opened and closed behind me again as Karim joined us. “The rumors are true. My baby girl has moved in with the boyfriend that she didn’t tell us about.”

Fuckity, fuck, fuck.

This wasn’t good. But I wasn’t backing down. If I was going to pretend to be engaged, I was going to be the best damn fake fiancé Layla ever had.

“Yes, sir.” There was no use in denying it.

He prodded the ears of corn that were searing on the grill. Karim carried over a bucket of water and set it on the patio table. He dumped a healthy portion of salt into the water, took the tongs from his dad, and pulled the corn off, dunking each one in the bucket.

A tray of vegetable kabobs looked ready to hit the grill. I grabbed them and started arranging them beside the searing skewers of chicken. Mr. Mousavi offered a nod of approval.

Crisp autumn air whipped through the trees that lined the backyard. “I had hoped to meet you all sooner,” I said with as much conviction as I could muster. “You have a lovely family.”

A knowing smile crept up beneath his caterpillar mustache. “But you’re not here about my family.” He gave one of the kabobs a turn. “You’re here about my daughter.”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Karim,” he clipped as he plucked each kabob off the grill and dropped them onto a platter. “Take these inside.”

Karim gave me a harsh assessment, annoyed at being dismissed, before opening the door and carrying the food inside.

“My daughter has always been private. Independent and strong-willed,” he began. “It wasn’t a surprise when Sepideh told us about you two.”

I couldn’t, in good faith, tell him that I loved his daughter. We were nothing more than roommates. But I did want to offer him some comfort that I wouldn’t dare hurt her. “We met on my worst day. She picked me up and put me back together. I trust her with my life, and I would protect her with mine.”

16

LAYLA

“Shush!” my mother squeaked as she craned over the sink toward the cracked kitchen window. She and my aunt were eavesdropping on the completely bullshit conversation Cal was having with my dad. I didn’t even want to know what tall tale he was spinning to convince my father to give us his blessing. The more I thought about the web of lies we were weaving, the more my stomach leaped into my throat.

I sat on a kitchen-island stool with my feet propped on another. Karim wandered in, arms full ofbalaland kabobs. My stomach growled at the sight.

“Ballsy to go straight for theKhastegarithe first time he comes over,” Karim muttered.

“Ah! Hush!” Sepideh hissed at Karim as she elbowed my mother to get a better vantage point at the sink window. Whatever Cal had said had the two of them swooning with simultaneous “awwws!”

I rolled my eyes when Karim started humming an off-tune rendition of “Here Comes the Bride.”

If we were going to eat the food while it was still warm, someone had to get it on the buffet. Thatsomeonewas me since everyone else was preoccupied with this farce of a relationship.

But it didn’t feel like a farce when he touched me… When his body pressed against mine. When his lips touched my skin and he called mehoney.

It felt real.

Dangerously, terrifyingly real.

The glass door slid back as Callum walked in. My dad followed, clapping his hand on Cal’s shoulder like they were old friends. For some reason, that pissed me the hell off.

Callum had the doting boyfriend thing down. The grumpy façade baffled me because deep down, he was tender-hearted. The little touches… The way he jumped in with both feet into my family’s gathering…

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