I squeezed my fingers together. “A few months before my eighteenth birthday. So that’s nine years.”
He made another thoughtful face that had his eyebrows knitting together and that little dash between his eyebrows indenting, probably wondering why I would have moved away at that age. So when he asked, “You got family here?” I figured he was trying to figure out just that.
While I might have told him everything a week ago… I didn’t want to do it then.
I looked forward and stopped myself from frowning. “My grandmother’s the only person I would still call family here, and I haven’t seen her in years. I just found out about the funeral on Monday right before I asked you to come with me.”
His eyebrows did that thoughtful thing again, and some more guilt filled my stomach.
Should I tell him? At least warn him? If I was in his position….
I should tell him. I had never been good at playing games. I had never liked other people playing games with me either. It was the right thing to do.
“Rip?“
“Hmm?”
I could do it.
“Look, I want you to know that I have people I’m related to that might be at the funeral and… things are complicated with them… and I asked you to come with me because you’re the biggest person I know, and I don’t think anybody would willingly mess with you, and I don’t think you’d let anyone mess with me too much if you were around, even if… you know… you didn’t think you owed me one…,” I rambled, trying to think of my words and not sure what the hell else to say that wouldn’t be me admitting just how much my family sucked.
I squeezed my fingers again. “My plan is to mind my own business, go to the funeral, and head back home. I just want you to know why we’re sitting by ourselves. I don’t want to talk to any of them if they are there,” I told him, leaving out the part that warned him that half the people in the room might end up looking at us like they wanted to kill me.
There. He couldn’t say I hadn’t warned him. That’s what I was going to tell myself at least.
The last thing I expected was the smirk-like quirking way the corner of his mouth went to the side.
Then I waited until he let out a sigh that wasn’t unhappy exactly because… because he was still doing that smirk thing.
“What?” I asked him slowly.
He was still making that facial expression when he said, “I didn’t think you invited me to go somewhere because you didn’t want to go alone.”
I pressed my lips together before grumbling in an almost-whisper, “But you thought I wanted you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”
That had that smirk of his going away real quick, and I definitely didn’t imagine the harshness in his voice when he replied, “No, I didn’t.”
I burst out freaking laughing, remembering,rememberinghim asking if we were going to pretend we were getting married.
Married. Me and Rip. Pssh.
Rip, on the other hand, decided to ignore me there in the seat beside him cracking up as he went back to the original topic. But nothing could hide the color on his cheeks or the way his spine went straighter after I’d started laughing. “I figured there was something else you wanted, all right? If it was something important, I figured you would’ve said something.”
Andthathad me shutting my mouth. Then it had me biting my cheek.
The sigh out of his mouth went straight to my heart. “I didn’t, and I don’t give a fuck what you want, Luna. If I could do it, I would.”
Because of the favor.
“I’m sorry—” I started, feeling guilty all over again, because no matter how much he might deny it, I could still sense he was put off about something with this entire situation. He was here because of his pride and that white elephant wasn’t going to let him admit anything.
“Don’t,” he cut me off. “It’s not a big fucking deal. It ain’t even a little fucking deal.”
Somehow I managed to hold back a sigh. I hoped he still thought that when we were heading back to Houston. I hoped he thought that when we were sitting in the funeral home to begin with.
“Okay.” I still felt bad regardless of what he said.
Maybe to him, this wasn’t a big deal, but to me, it was, and regardless of why he was here, I really was grateful this was the case.
