Rafe just rolls his eyes. “I don’t need a date for the wedding. I don’t want a date for the wedding.” He shakes his head and then leaves the screen. “Something smells fishy, and it’s not coming from the ocean,” he calls out as he leaves the room.
“It’s your upper lip, jerk,” Mia calls after him, and her parents just shake their heads, not saying anything.
They are used to Mia and Rafe fighting like cats and dogs. It’s been that way for years. The Bishops are loud, argumentative, loving, andalways there for each other. Unlike Rex and me. We didn’t argue like that. He was more subtle in his digs, and I was more introspective. We didn’t love as hard, nor did we fight. I kinda wish that we had. But that was the past. We had no real relationship now. Past hurts and jealousies had caused a wedge between us that even a wedding couldn’t fix.
“I’m looking forward to explaining everything as soon as I get to town,” I say brightly. “I’m sure Mia is as well. We are so happy to finally let the cat out of the bag. Aren’t we, darling?”
Mia stares into the camera, and her eyes are twinkling.
“Oh, definitely. We have been counting down to this day. Haven’t we, Lukey Wukey?”
I try not to cringe at her nickname for me. As I listen to Mia, I realize there are a lot of things that we need to figure out. While the idea seemed like a good one at the time, I am fast beginning to think that neither Mia nor I has thought this through properly. She is my best friend and always has been, and I know her like the back of my hand. But this is brand-new for both of us. I don’t know her on a romantic level, and I’m certainly not sure how we are going to convince people that we’ve been together for over a year. I can feel panicked thoughts moving through my brain toward my heart, but I keep my expression cheerful. We’ll figure out the kinks when I get to town.
“Anyway, I need to speak to my boyfriend in private, please?” Mia says and turns to the rest of her family.
“Grandma, Grandpa, hi,” I say, waving. “Good seeing you both.” I use the old familiar terms that they’d asked me to use when I was young. They’d always been loving and gracious to me. I missed going over for Sunday dinners.
“Hello there, Luke.” Lucille speaks up, beaming at the screen.
Mia’s mother looks pissed, which makes sense because I have a feeling that my parents and grandparents are going to be pissed too. I haven’t been home in a while, and they’re going to wonder if I’ve been sneaking onto the island to see Mia and not them.
Shit, this is already murky.
“So, Lukey, I want to just ask you something private,” Mia says in a singsong voice. “I’ll be right back.”
She hurries quickly through her grandmother’s kitchen toward the backyard. I watch as she opens the door and then runs around to the side of the house. Her hair is wispy and loose, and she’s breathingheavily as she leans back against the white exterior of her grandparents’ home.
“Oh my God, Luke. I think we fucked up,” she says, staring into the phone. “They had so many questions, and I didn’t know how to answer them. And then, of course, Rafe wouldn’t believe me because he sucks, but he’s right. How do we explain all of these things? Ugh, this was a mistake.”
“Take a deep breath, Mia. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in?—”
“Jeez, shut up!” she says loudly. “I do not have time for meditation techniques. I don’t even like meditation when I am not feeling anxious, let alone when I’m feeling anxious. Who thought breathing was a good way to calm down? It’s not. It’s absolutely not.”
“Mia, you’re losing it,” I say patiently. “And actually, breathing techniques are known to be?—”
“Shush.” She glares into the phone, but she stops speaking and just breathes for a minute. “What are we going to do, Luke?”
“What do you mean, what are we going to do? We’ve already decided what we’re going to do.”
“But it was a mistake. Should we come clean? I can just go in there and be like,April Fools.”
“It’s not April.”
“I can be likeJune Fools.”
“Really? And then what do you want Rex to think?Oh, I was right. You two are losers who couldn’t get dates.”
“He really sucks—you know that, right?” She stares at me, her light-brown eyes as open and endearing as they’ve been since the very first time I met her.
“I know, trust me. He’s my brother, and he’s sucked for a long time. I’ve told you that.”
“I suppose you’re right. I mean, it’s not my fault that he was charming to me once.” She nods slowly.
“And about that … Mia, I think there’s something that you should?—”
“Anyway,” she says, cutting me off, “I have an idea.”
“I was just about to say something to you.” I frown at her interruption.
