“He’s notmyhunky pilot,” I say with conviction.
Her brows furrow. “What are you talking about?”
“As far as anyone is concerned, we are just friends,” I say with a tremor in my hands.
“Are you…” she asks. “Just friends?”
I drag in a shaky breath. “I’m not ready,” I stutter, and pity morphs her features.
Pulling me into a hug, she squeezes me tight. “It’s okay if you’re not ready, Freya. I won’t say anything, okay?”
“Thank you,” I mumble as tears prick my eyes.
Releasing me from her hug, she dismisses the whole thing with nonchalance. “Besides, my brother has been out there telling everyone Archer ishisboyfriend, so you’re fine.”
Blinking away my tears, this news makes me smile. “He has?”
“Yep. I’m pretty damn proud of him. I never thought I’d see the day he’d admit feelings for another person.”
A laugh bubbles up, and although I’m smiling, I still feel like dirt for not being a part of that equation. I love that Julian is claiming Archer. For the first time, I don’t feel jealous about that.
But it hurts to think thatImay never be ready to be so outwardly committed with them both. It’s wrong of me to ask them to wait, especially since I wonder if I’ll ever be ready.
Holding my hand, Amelia drags me out to the dining room where the entire party is stationed around an enormously long table that seats at least thirty people.
The first pair of eyes I find in the room is Julian’s. His face lights up at the sight of me, but it’s the sudden round of applause that fills the space that takes me by surprise.
Archer hoots and hollers embarrassingly, so I cover my face and beg them all to stop. Amelia’s mom and dad stand up to hug me and thank me for the meal, and it means the world to me. It’s rare that we ever get recognition like this, but it feels even better to be the one feeding them and their loved ones on their special day.
“Please sit with us,” Daisy says, guiding me toward an empty chair.
“Oh, I’m not dressed properly,” I argue.
“We don’t care about that,” Amelia’s dad replies with a wave of his hand.
Julian scoots over, and someone brings in an extra chair for me. I glance at the end of the table where Amelia sits next to her godfather, the good-looking older man I’ve seen at the club.
The family quickly makes room and welcomes me to theirtable, which makes me feel only worse that I’m basically avoiding the situation with Archer and Julian.
As I sit down, Julian puts an arm around my shoulder. “This was phenomenal,” he whispers in my ear, and I see the empty plate in front of him.
“You really liked it?” I ask, desperate for a touch of his praise.
“I fucking loved it,” he says. “Everyone did.”
Looking across the table, I see that Archer has almost nothing on his plate and he’s hardly touched it. “And what about you? You’re not eating?”
He shrugs and gives Julian a quick wink. “Not hungry.”
For the rest of the night, the dining room is filled with chatter and laughter. The wine pours freely, and everyone seems so happy, but I can’t seem to shake this feeling of inadequacy.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, Julian?” a handsome dark-haired man sitting next to Archer asks.
I turn to the man by my side with his arm around my chair. He rolls his eyes before muttering, “Freya, this is Jack St. Claire. My partner. Jack, this is my girl?—”
“Nice to meet you!” I blurt out to interrupt Julian. Thrusting my hand out, I shake the man’s. There’s a pretty blond woman next to him with a little girl on her lap who has her own seat but seems to prefer to be close to the woman.
“Nice to meet you, Freya,” the man says with a playful laugh. He then introduces me to his girlfriend, Camille, and his daughter, Bea. They seem like a perfectly happy family, like they have no secrets to hide from anyone.
