I really wanted that kiss. The need to feel her soft lips against mine again is consuming me.
And my patience to wait has vanished.
“I had something in my eye. Leon was just, uh, trying to get it out,” Erika lies, her cheeks turning an even deeper shade of pink as she rubs her eye, acting out the made-up story.
My mom tilts her head to the side, narrows her gaze, then ping pongs an unblinking look back and forth between us.
I try to support Erika’s lie by saying, “She really did have something in?—”
My mom raises her hand to stop me from continuing the façade as the steady, low hum of the fan oven fills the kitchen before she says, “I’m old, sweetie, not stupid.” She tuts, shaking her head with a devilish smirk.
I brace myself for a flood of questions, but instead, my mom turns to Erika and beckons her to join her. “Let’s leave Leon to cook dinner, and you can help me set the dining table.”
“Okay.” Erika’s visible tension eases as her shoulders drop like hydraulic pistons releasing.
I’m relieved too. One of the things I love most about my mom is that she never interferes in my life, never pushes for details, and doesn’t pry into things that aren’t her business.Like now, for example. However, she might corner me later to ask what I’m doing, since Erika just broke up with her ex just days ago.
My mom doesn’t know I’m in love with Erika. Who knows, maybe, like Ash and Lily, she’s already figured it out for herself.
I check the digital oven timer and inform the two phenomenal women in my life, who are walking out of the kitchen hand in hand, “Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes.”
Erika glances over her shoulder and gives me a huge smile, one that melts my insides, and the kind she only ever saves for me. Her secret smile.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Erika
“I couldn’t eat another thing.” Leon’s dad, Jack, pats his swollen stomach. “That was almost as good as your mother’s roast.” He chuckles to himself, causing us all to join in.
Having not eaten properly for weeks over the worry and stress of the wedding, which Sofia and Lucia are now calling ‘the lucky escape’, I’ve already devoured seconds and am seriously considering having more roast beef and potatoes.
“Tastes like heaven,” I mumble around my food, which is covered in the most delicious gravy. I use the back of my hand to cover my full mouth in the most unladylike manner. “Why are you not married already, Leon? God, I would marry you tomorrow if you cooked this for me every week.” I stop mid-chew when I realize my foolish words and inappropriate timing have stunned the dining room into silence.
Goddammit. Me and my big mouth.
With humor written all over her face, Val finally says, “I thought Leon would be married by now, too.”
Leon flinches, looking annoyed by his mom’s statement.
“You did?” I ask, curiously.
“Yes.” She focuses on me. “To you.”
Completely blindsided by Valerie’s bold statement, I choke, cough, and splutter on the last of my food and reach for the water to help wash it down.
“Surely, you can see how head over heels my son is with you, Erika?”
I down the full glass and ignore her question, because, no, I didn’t see it. Not at the time. But looking back, maybe now I do. The picnics in the park, the donut deliveries, lunch dates, and the movie nights… the endless gifts… the truth has been in front of me all along… the vacation days I take so I can join him at auctions or trail around properties he’s considering investing in, and the hours I spend online trying to find him the perfect watch to add to his collection… we’re infatuated with each other.
“Valerie,” Jack scolds his wife while shaking his head. “Now is not the time.”
Looking saintly, she counters, “I’m sorry, but when do you suggest would be the right time to discuss the thing none of us is brave enough to address, Jack?” Valerie holds her hands out in front of her in a questioning, curious way.
Sweat beads on my top lip as Valerie and Jack have a standoff.
“Everyone notices the way they look at each other,” Valerie points out as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Who is everyone?” I ask, aghast. And what are they seeing?
