Sean sighed and looked around my room. “I thought you left LA for good.” He leaned down to see the books placed on my tiny bookshelf and rummaged through the tiny crochet animals I had made on my desk. He picked up a small dinosaur and looked over it. “Thought I’d never see you again.”
My chest felt tight hearing the tone of his voice. “I wasn’t leaving you.”
He met my eyes and averted his gaze to see the framed picture of Noah and me. We were young in the pictures. He was missing his front two teeth. My mom had taken that photo when dad was grilling ribs in the backyard, and I remembered how happy we all were.
Before they separated and dad took Noah with him.
“Your brother?”
I nodded. “Noah broke his teeth when he fell from a bicycle.” I stepped beside him and smiled. “He couldn’t stop crying until I told him that the tooth fairy will take care of his teeth and make him rich.”
“You lied to a kid,” Sean said, making a face and shook his head.
“I didn’t lie to him.” I huffed. “I just made up a story to make him happy.”
Sean stayed quiet for a moment and kept the photo frame down. The tension felt heavy, and I braced myself to look at his face and found him deep in thought.
“Would you do that to me?” He asked, his voice barely audible. Goosebumps raised on the nape of my neck at his intense gaze. “Would you make up a story to make me happy and leave me?”
My lips parted, and I didn’t know what to reply to him.Why would I lie to him to make him happy? Have I done that before?
“Chelsea!” I jumped at hearing my mom’s voice. “Dinner’s ready!”
“Forget about it.” Sean went to the door and said, “Let’s eat.”
He left, closing the door behind him, and I stared at it until my eyes started burning.
I glanced at the photo and sighed. I should not overthink.
Fixing my clothes and hair, I went downstairs, but my steps slowed down when I heard more voices. I bit the inside of my cheek seeing Jesse helping my mom and Karen, his mom, sitting in the dining room talking with a sour faced Sean.
What the hell?
“Oh, Chelsea, honeybun!” I forced a smile when Karen stood up to hug me. I glared at Jesse when he smirked at me. I flipped him off when my mom wasn’t looking.
Sean saw everything and scowled even more.
I made small talk with Karen as my mom and Jesse brought lasagna and garlic bread to the dining table. I remained standing, watching the political stance of everyone already seated around the table.
My mom was sitting beside Sean. Karen was sitting at the head of the table, and on the other side didn’t have a chair. So the only seat left was beside Jesse’s. I could see the grins of my mom and Karen when I hovered over the chair.
Fuck this.
I picked up the empty chair and dragged it to the head of the table and plopped down. Sean sat on my left and seeing his smirk made me feel proud, even though the faces on wing-women fell.
I wasn’t getting back to Jesse, no matter what.
“I brought thisLeroy Les Vignerondesfor you, Marie.” Sean showed the expensive bottle of red wine and expertly removed the cork before serving it in four glasses.
“You didn’t have to,” my mom said bashfully, her cheeks turning red. “We’re old friends.”
“You’re not drinking?” I asked, wanting his attention on me.
“I have to drive,” he replied.
“Oh, what rubbish!” Karen said, waving her hand and sipping on the wine and smacking her lips. “Marie has a guest room. You should stay?—”
“Smells delicious!” I said, grabbing some salad on my plate and wanting to change the subject.
