Page 55 of About That Pact

She glanced over at him. His hands clutched the steering wheel, and he was staring out the windshield.

“In general, no, questions are not a bad thing.”

“Then what would have been the big deal if I’d gone inside and talked to your parents?”

The flutters disappeared. Something awfully close to anger started to drape over her. Didn’t he get it? If her parents saw him, they would jump to conclusions there was more than friendship between them. Her mom would start planning their wedding before they even walked out the door. Then, when Rafe decided he’d had enough, she would have to deal with the outcome. Not only with a broken heart, but having to see him all the time.

Ugh, family get togethers would never be the same again.

Worse, what if they caused a rift between their moms all because they’d hooked up?

Yes. Yes, it would be a very big deal if he talked to her parents. It was like he only cared about himself.

“I don’t even know why this is a discussion,” she declared. It was a moot point. He wasn’t there to whisk her away and profess his undying love for her. She had enough on her plate with going to school, the last thing she needed was Rafe getting all emotional about not talking to her parents.

His knuckles were turning white.

“How would it not be a discussion?” he sneered back. The curiosity was gone, his voice now filled with anger. “Unless you’re telling me last week was just you cashing in our pact for you to lose your virginity. Was that all it was?”

“It’s not like it can be more! I’m going away to school. You’re always out with Jason. This wasn’t what I planned.”

“Fuck your plans,” he yelled. “At the end of the day, last week was nothing but you checking something off your list. Tell me, was that all it was?”

“Don’t do this. I have more to deal with than you acting all territorial because you took my virginity,” she snarked back. Him acting like this didn’t make sense. Didn’t he get she didn’t have time for this? She had college, new friends to make, academic groups to join.

“You know what? I have better things to do right now.”

Charlotte didn’t say anything, but she got his message loud and clear. She slammed the door when she got out of the car. Once she stepped into her house, she heard him zoom off. Wiping the tears from her face, she was grateful her parents had gone to bed.

This night was awful.

It was only made worse the following week when someone on Facebook tagged Rafe in a picture with some blonde hanging all over him. The grin on his face proved he wasn’t bothered by all the attention.

The rest of the summer continued like this. Both of them posting pictures of how happy they were without the other. Every family function, they verbally pushed each other down. Whenever they were at the same party, they made a point of ignoring each other. Nineteen years of friendship vanished. In its place was a cold wall of anger.

Going away to school couldn’t come fast enough.

Chapter 20

THE BIANCHI FAMILY had a standing family dinner on Sunday nights. Rafe did his best to make it every week since he was closest in proximity. In his father’s eyes, who was born and raised in Italy until he migrated to California in college, it was a tradition to have Sunday as a family day. Apparently, his father’s family had always had dinner together, since the beginning of time, so the tradition was continuing even if it was only on Sundays and regardless of where they lived.

This particular Sunday should have been fun. Gabriella, who lives in Napa, was attending, and she only made it once or twice a month since it was over an hour drive for her. That excuse wouldn’t work if he used it, but Gabriella could get away with anything.

So could Elena, who lived in Los Angeles and hardly made it home, let alone for a weekly Sunday dinner. Without traffic, which never happened, it was a six-hour drive. However, she was gracing them with an appearance tonight.

Normally, this sounded fantastic, but not tonight.

Ever since his blow-up with Charlotte, he’d been a heartbroken mess. He hadn’t realized how much time they’d been spending together until he wasn’t able to see her. It had been a week, but to him, it had been the longest week in existence. He wanted to blow off family dinner and be miserable at home by himself. His sisters were like undercover FBI agents the way they were able to tell whenever something was wrong with him. There was no doubt they would discover why he was brooding. And as soon as they found out it was about a woman, let alone Charlotte, he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

When he tried to call his mom and pretend he was sick so he could skip out on family time, she laughed. Actually laughed. Then told him a hangover was no excuse to miss dinner, especially at his age. His mom was probably telling the family he partied too much, so he was in a bad mood. The bright side, he planned to use the faux hangover as his excuse for his bitter attitude at dinner.

He got to his parents’ house, and the chaos almost made him smile. Almost. His dad was watching AC Milan play, which was never a quiet experience. His dad was an extraordinarily loud soccer fan, with something to yell for every kick. His mom was talking to someone on the phone. He heard something about Vegas, so it had to be one of her best friends. Gabriella was sniffing different wines to decide what to drink. She was, without a doubt, a wine snob. Then, there was Elena, who was singing a song about Watermelon Sugar while dancing in the kitchen next to Gabriella.

Elena saw him first and nudged Gabriella. Now, they were both staring at him. Frick and Frack were on the case, determined to figure out why he was miserable.

Good luck with that.

He was a steel trap when it came to his bullshit end with Charlie.