And I think I might be falling even harder for him than I thought possible.
Calvin and I make our way back to the main room, only to find everyone sitting on the couch. Abigail’s knowing smirk greets us like a neon sign flashingbusted. My cheeks immediately flush as I take a seat on an unoccupied couch. Calvin sits beside me, close enough to make his intentions clear.
“Where were you?” Abigail asks, her tone dripping with amusement.
“Oh, I was just showing Calvin around,” I reply too quickly, my voice pitching up an octave. The excuse sounds ridiculous the moment it leaves my mouth, especially considering he owns the damn house. “You know… since I got here first… and it’s an Airbnb…” I trail off, the words dissolving into the quiet that follows.
For a few long seconds, no one says anything. My grandparents just keep looking between Calvin and me, as if daring us to explain why he’s sitting so close. The weight of their eyes makes mesquirm in my seat.
Then Calvin clears his throat, his hand finding mine. His thumb traces a slow, grounding circle against my skin. “There’s something we’d like to say.”
Grandpa raises an eyebrow, gaze flicking between us. “We?” he repeats.
I swallow hard, glancing up at Calvin. He’s already looking at me, calm and full of that quiet affection that steals the air right from my chest. “Yes,” I manage. “We.”
Calvin straightens slightly. “We wanted to… broach the subject carefully, considering the history involved.”
It’s like everyone’s bracing for whatever’s coming.
“Calvin and I are together,” I say, the words tumbling out faster than I mean them to. “We’ve been together for months. We love each other, and we wanted to tell you, but there was never a right time. And considering the fact that…”
“He was engaged to your mother?” Grandpa cuts in, his voice sharp enough to make me flinch.
“Yeah, Dad, about that,” Abby says quickly, and I release a shaky breath. I didnotwant to be the one to say it.
“Calvin and I were faking the engagement,” she continues. “It wasn’t real. We were never real.”
“Excuse me?!” both grandparents echo.
“If I may,” Calvin says deliberately. “This is on me.”
He pauses, meeting everyone’s eyes before continuing. “I approached Abigail with a business proposal. I needed a marriage on paper to work with a client who values family and commitment. Abigail graciously agreed, and we both understood it was purely professional. There were no feelings involved.”
He glances at me, his gaze softening. “That changed when I met Blair. She completely upended everything I thought I knew. I fell for her, hard. When Abigail found out, we mutually agreed to end the arrangement. I continued to pursueBlair because, by then, I was already deeply in love with her.”
He exhales. “I take full responsibility for the mistakes I made along the way. But I’m here now to ask for your blessing to continue dating Blair, because I love her and I want to build a future with her.”
The room is silent for a beat, and I can feel my heart pounding. My grandma looks contemplative, and my grandpa’s frown has softened, barely.
I squeeze Calvin’s hand, feeling a mix of gratitude and admiration for the way he handled it all. Whether or not this family meeting ends with their approval, I know we’re in this together.
The room is still silent, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. I can’t take it anymore. “Can someone say something?”
Grandpa lets out a slow exhale, finally breaking the silence. “Well, we kind of figured something was going on between you two,” he says.
Grandma nods, a small smile tugging at her lips. “We were actually planning to bring it up after your graduation. What wedidn’tknow, however, was the fake engagement part.”
“Though we probably should’ve figured that out too,” Grandpa adds dryly.
“Wait, you knew?” I ask, wide-eyed. “How?”
Grandpa chuckles. “Well, for starters, honey, we love you, but you’re terrible at hiding your emotions. You blush every time Calvin’s name comes up. And Calvin…” His gaze shifts to him, amused. “You’ve been more involved with the family lately than you ever were when you were supposedly with Abigail.”
“Excuse me?” Abigail cuts in, pretending to be offended.
Grandpa waves her off with a chuckle. “Oh, no offense, sweetheart, but you two were about as compatible as cats and cucumbers. The whole thing was odd from the start; it didn’t even seem like you were friends.”
Abigail doesn’t argue, because she knows he’s right.
