He says he’s over her, and I believe him.
But that doesn’t mean I have to like what she did to him.
Even if I’m very grateful he didn’t end up eloping with her.
“Hello, Caleb,” Ivy says hesitantly when she and her husband join us. I glance over at Jenna, whose lips are pressed together. Caleb hasn’t talked a lot about how his sisters feel about Ivy. Carlie is friends with her, I know. She works for Ivy’s husband. But Jenna obviously shares some of my protective feelings.
“Good to see you, Ivy,” Caleb says warmly, and he moves in to hug her, taking the high road. I let my arm drop from his waist. Thankfully, the hug is brief. “Congratulations,” he says as he pulls away.
“Thanks.” There’s worry in Ivy’s eyes as she studies him, and it makes me clench my jaw. She doesn’t get to be worried after she walked out on him the way she did. Even if she apologized.
I’m super petty.
Ivy looks over at me, and Caleb quickly jumps in. “This is …”
He shares a look with me. I know our relationship the next two days is about his matchmaking mom—not his other family and friends. He probably wants to lie to people as little as possible. Of course, my hope is that all of that will be moot by the end, that we really will be dating, and that none of this will have been a lie. I want to jump in and say girlfriend so that Ivy knows Caleb is over her and fine. But I also won’t make that choice for him.
I lean close to him, whispering as quietly as I can, lips brushing his ear and shivers exploding over me from the touch. I pull myself together. “You can say girlfriend if you want. Or not. I’m fine with whatever.”
Caleb nods almost imperceptibly. “Sorry,” he says to Ivy with a chuckle. “We haven’t really talked about it, but this is Malia.”
That was actually brilliant. It indicated there’ssomethingto talk about. There’s a relationship status, even if we’re not sure what it is. It says all it needs to without lying about what’s really going on.
I reach out to shake Ivy’s hand. “It’s good to meet you.”
“You too,” she says. Then something buzzes, and she reaches into the pocket of the floor-length skirt she’s wearing. “It’s Scarlett,” she says to Chad. “Good talking to you,” she says to Caleb, and then, just like that, they move away.
That was better than I expected. Although I’m not surewhatI expected. Ivy suddenly realizing she’s still madly in love with Caleb à laMy Best Friend’s Wedding? She’s married, for heaven’s sake. I’m being paranoid because I want so badly for this to work.
“Phew,” Caleb says to me under his breath. “Glad that’s over.”
“Me too.” Is it wrong of me that I don’t want him to have to talk to her again tonight or tomorrow? It’s petty. He’s fine. Things were a little awkward, that’s it.
We sit down, and though Jenna tries to study me and Caleb on the down-low, she doesn’t ask any more questions about our relationship. A friend of Carlie’s from her old job in Arizona and her spouse have joined our table, and Jenna and Devin started a conversation with them while Caleb and I were talking to Ivy.
Our act goes well during dinner and the speeches, since it’s easy.
Well, it definitely is for me. We’re just doing little things, like leaning close to whisper to each other, and once when Caleb’s lips brush my cheek, I think I might implode. I want to reach up and press his jaw toward my lips and melt into him. He keeps his arm across the back of my chair once we’re finished eating and plays with the ends of my hair. Whenever his fingers brush my bare shoulders, I have to keep myself from closing my eyes and letting out a satisfied “mmmmm.”
So when he asks me if I want to get some air, I quickly agree, because what is becoming increasingly difficult to hide is how I want to find a corner and make out with him, like Skye suggested, only not for show. Just for me.
I did not consider enough how difficult it was going to be to hide my real feelings from him.
Regardless, I don’t regret any of my decisions.
CHAPTER 7
CALEB
The restaurant has an outdoor seating area covered by a pergola, so Malia and I scoot a couple chairs together. It’s chilly, only about sixty degrees, and she left the wrap she wore here inside. I slip out of my suit coat and drape it over her shoulders.
“Oh, thank you,” she murmurs. She leans back in her chair and stares through the slats at the dark sky above us. “This hasn’t been so bad,” she says.
Not at all. Malia has been brilliant. With my family. With Ivy. With everything. She reacts so naturally to everything I do, as though we really have been seeing each other a couple weeks and the physical affection comes easily. It doesn’t surprise me, given the fact that she loves role-playing games online.
“You’re amazing,” I tell her.
She chuckles and keeps staring above her. “This is a simple mission,” she says. Something about her voice is off, a little bit higher than normal.
