Page 227 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“Is this all I’m getting?” I asked my mom. She looked at me.
“That’s all you need, honey,” she responded. “You need to lose weight for the New Year, not gain it.”
I felt my face burn with embarrassment. It was one thing if my mother said something about my weight, it was another thing if it was in front of Cayden.
“She’s been doing a great job with staying healthy,” Cayden said. My mom looked at him and smiled, but I could tell that she was irked that he was sticking up for me. She and Brad used to gang up on me to try and get me to lose weight.
Before my mom could reply to Cayden, her doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” I said, desperately wanting to leave the table. I hoped that maybe it was my sister returning. I opened the door to see Brad standing there.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. I shut the door behind me, so Cayden couldn’t hear my conversation.
“You weren’t returning my texts,” Brad said. “I called your mom this morning and she told me that you were coming for dinner. I need to talk to you, Tiffany.”
“No,” I said. “This is not the time, nor the place. There’s nothing to talk about anyway.”
“I don’t understand why you’re being like this,” Brad said. “You’re not even giving me a chance.”
I didn’t want to start this conversation with him. I knew it would only be a matter of time before either Cayden or my mom came to the door to see who was there.
“We’ll talk about this later,” I hissed at him.
“Tiffany, stop being so damn stubborn,” Brad said. “You know that you’ll never find someone as good as me. I have a future going for me. I’m a catch. Let’s stop wasting time by pretending that you’re mad at me and let’s just do this damn thing.”
“Hey, man, I think you need to leave,” a voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Cayden standing in the doorway. I wasn’t sure how long he had been there. I wondered how much he had heard.
“Who the hell are you?” Brad asked. “Wait, I know you. I saw you in that store last week. You were the little punk who was trying to be a hero.”
“I’m Tiffany’s boyfriend,” Cayden said. Brad let out a laugh.
“Her boyfriend?” Brad said. “Listen, I’m not sure who you think you are, but Tiffany’s with me. We’re getting back together. We went on a date last week.”
I watched Cayden’s face fall. He looked at me, at Brad, and back at me again. I could see the wheels starting to spin in his mind as the pieces fell into place. Suddenly, he realized what had happened and why I had been acting the way that I was for the past several days. Despite being upset, he remained calm.
“Tiffany isn’t available,” Brad said. “She might think she is, but she is always going to have feelings for me. You might as well just leave now before you get in too deep with her.”
“I’m not leaving. You need to leave,” Cayden said, pointing to the driveway. Brad looked at him in disbelief.
“Your mom invited me here,” he told me. Honestly, it wouldn’t have surprised me if she did. She didn’t want me to be happy and knew that I was miserable with Brad. It wouldn’t have shocked me if they had come up with this plan after I told my mom that I was bringing Cayden to dinner.
“Fine, I’m leaving, but not because he’s telling me to,” Brad said to me. “We’re not done talking. I’ll call you later.”
He turned to leave, flipping Cayden the bird in the process.
“I am so sorry,” I said as I turned to Cayden. I couldn’t read his face. I wasn’t sure if he was angry or sad. He didn’t speak for a while.
“Was that him?” Cayden finally spoke. I nodded.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“And you went out with him Thursday night, I’m assuming. That’s why you acted so weird after Thursday? You met up with him behind my back and didn’t feel it necessary to tell me?”
His voice was beginning to shake, and I couldn’t tell if he was about to start yelling at me.
“It’s not like that,” I said. “I did see him, but it just reinforced the fact that I’m not supposed to be with him.”
Cayden scoffed.
