I'm about to ask what's going on when the car comes to a stop, and out pops a happy man and a woman with Molly's smile and curly blond hair.
And I hear Molly say, "Mom! What are you doing here?"
And I only have one thought in my addled brain.
This can't be real.
CHAPTER 46
JACK-IN-THE-CROCK
MOLLY
Oh my god--this cannot actually be happening.
But it is. There's my dad, and there's my mom, and there's Grey, shirtless and sweaty and looking like he just saw us both get hit by a bus.
I'm frozen, heart pounding, hand shaking, fake smile glued onto my face. I force myself to stand, putting Scout down with my brain screaming.
I'm wearing his jersey.
He bit me all over--ohmygod are the marks he made on me showing? No. No, thank god. But it is so obvious what's going on, my face flames to a thousand degrees.
"Mom? What…what are you doing here?"
"Surprise!" she beams, arms out, pulling me into a tight, tight hug. "Happy spring break, honey!"
Surprise. Right--this isn't a surprise, it's an ambush.
"Oh! Wow! I didn't--when did you--" I stammer, my arms pinned in hers. I pat her awkwardly, flustered, trying to sound happy and failing.
Dad is quiet, tight. Smaller than I remember. Or maybe Grey just makes everyone look small. Dad's got that controlled posture he gets when he's unhappy, shoulders squared like he's bracing for a fight. His eyes are narrowed, jaw flexed. Hands in his pressed khakis, glasses glinting. He looks exactly like an accountant who's never swung a hammer in his life.
"Hey, chicken." He gives me a side hug when Mom lets me go. "We missed you."
"You've just been so busy," Mom says, her voice a little too bright. "We thought we'd come surprise you! See the house, come take care of you, meet your friends--"
"Meet thisboyyou're seeing," Dad finishes, his tone flat.
Mom shoots him a look I can't read. I haven't forgotten their fight, the one she constantly brushes off in texts, claiming she overreacted. Looking at them now, I don't think she was overreacting at all.
I want to melt into the dirt and die. They can't be serious. Are they serious?
I turn, wooden. Grey put his shirt on and is standing there calm and solid and here, meeting my eyes.
You okay?The look says.
Hell no,I hope he can hear my brain yell, because my face, I'm sure, looks very confusing.
My smile is firmly in place, but my thoughts and heart are wild, galloping ponies, tearing through me, trampling every blade of grass. I can already hear them balk, almost see their shock, and for a moment I'm terrified.
But then I feel Grey next to me, settling back into the truth of it. There is one thing nothing can compromise.
Us.
I straighten my shoulders, and my eyes land on him.You and me against the world.
And tethered to him like that, my smile eases, softens into something real.
