Page 57 of About That Pact

“Sure, papa,” Elena said sarcastically. “Whatever you need to hear.”

“I think everyone is actually able to go this year,” their mom said, diverting attention away from Elena being a troublemaker.

“Yes!” Gabriella and Elena cheered.

Gabriella was smiling. “I can’t wait to see the twins.”

“Agreed. Wait, does this mean Oliver is coming too?” Elena asked.

Both his parents nodded.

“This is fantastic. What about Nate? Isn’t he in New York?” Elena was asking a million questions, keeping Rafe from being able to leave.

“They have planes in New York,” Rafe grumbled.

“This means Jason and Charlotte will be there too.” Elena couldn’t stop talking. “Charlotte is so much fun, especially with a few drinks in her. I can’t wait to egg her on. This will be amazing. I was emailing her last week and I’m pretty sure I conned her into a dress she would never typically wear. It looked amazing on her when we FaceTimed.”

“No one cares about Charlotte or her stupid wardrobe,” Rafe said sternly.

Silence took over the table when his family stopped and stared at him.

“Yikes, what do you have against Char?” Elena, who never shut up, asked.

He threw his napkin on the table. This conversation—in fact, the entire dinner—had exhausted him.

Getting up from the table, he kissed his mom on the cheek and gave his father a pat on the back. “I need to leave. I have a work thing next week so I can’t make dinner. See you all in two weeks.”

He didn’t wait for them to question him. If his mom was upset, he would blame it on the fake hangover. There was no way he could sit there while his sister went on and on about Charlotte. It was like adding salt to the very open wound.

FIVE O’CLOCK COULDN’T come fast enough. This had been the longest day in Charlotte’s life. Actually, this past week had been the longest week known to man. She did her best to keep a pleasant face on at work, but she’d had to field questions all day long about Labor Day weekend.

What was so difficult to understand about a four-day weekend?

She’d lost her cool when someone had asked if they could work anyway and get time and a half.

No, idiot. It is a national holiday, and we are closed. It was not the company’s fault you didn’t budget appropriately.

Of course, that wasn’t what she actually said, but she’d wanted too. Instead, she went through holiday schedules and what Catch Me recognized, which meant no one worked.

Her phone rang, and it was her brother. Any other time, this would brighten her day, but not now. All she wanted to do was go home, curl up on the couch, and watch a sad movie. She hated wallowing, but since she’d pushed Rafe out the door, work was all she could muster herself to do.

She didn’t answer, not that her ignoring the call stopped Jason. Two seconds later, her phone was ringing again. He wasn’t going to give up.

She answered, wanting to get the call over with. “What do you need?”

“Bad workday, sis?” Jason asked.

“Bad week,” she corrected him. “Anyway, what’s with the back-to-back phone calls?”

“Was going to meet up with Rafe and wanted you to join so we can plan Vegas.”

Vegas, what a shitshow that was going to be. She had no idea how she was going to survive a vacation with him, but her first plan was avoidance at all costs—which meant there was no way she was going to happy hour tonight if he was going to be there.

Her brother kept talking. “While we’ll definitely go bar hopping, just the guys, I thought we could plan some group stuff. You know the parents only expect us all to do meals together, so we have a lot of time to do what we want. Can you meet in twenty to discuss?”

“No, I do not want to meet in twenty to discuss. I have no plan to listen to you and Rafe go over your disgusting playbook of how to attract women in Vegas.”

“We don’t need a playbook on how to attract women. We’ve been doing it for years,” her brother teased. “Look at us.”