Page 17 of Pin-up Girl

Aubrey pressed her mouth to the hollow under my ear. “You have a lot of talking to do.” Her voice was more threatening than a murmur should be.

She looked past me, to Donna. “Let me get Sylvie down here. She’ll be so excited to see you.” Aubrey already had her phone out, and her thumbs flew across the screen. “She’ll be right here,” Aubrey said a moment later.

“No one told me you were engaged too,” Donna said.

Aubrey’s smile was so tight, I worried pieces may crack off. “This is about Sylvie. I would never want to ruin her big news.”

“Mhmm.”

I slipped an arm around Aubrey’s waist, and she stiffened at my touch, before relaxing enough to step closer.

“Grandma.” Sylvie burst into the room from the back. She gave us a brief glance, and raised her brows, then turned to Donna again. “You didn’t tell me you were coming now.”

“I couldn’t let your sister ruin your big day,” Donna said brightly, and pulled Sylvie into a hug.

Aubrey was as rigid as a stone statue against my touch.

What kind of family bullshit was this? Aubrey had complained about her family online, but most of them weren’t in Haddarville when I was here, including Donna, so I’d never seen this in person.

“Let me buy you lunch, we’ll talk.” Sylvie tugged her toward the door.

“I’ll bring your luggage in,” I said.

Donna gave me a brief nod.

Aubrey tossed Sylvie a set of keys. “Take as long as you need, Sylvie.”

Sylvie picked them up from the ground where they’d dropped a few feet away, and she and Donna were gone.

The instant the door closed behind them, Aubrey pulled away from me, anger flashing in her eyes. “You have so much fucking explaining to do, Brodie Watson.”

She remembered me. Nice.

“Or should I call you BW?” She asked. “I can’t believe… Don’t think being an incredible kisser makes up for anything. You gave me your fucking initials, and I didn’t see who you… What the fu”—She clenched her jaw. “Start talking.”

“I was seated next to your grandmother on the plane. I realized it was her when she started talking about you, and the things she said… I couldn’t listen to her say those things about you, Peach. My choices were to tell her she was”—I bit back any insults, we didn’t speak ill of our elders—“I didn’t have a choice but to tell her I was your fiancé, and ask her to stop talking shit about you.”

Aubrey’s scowl deepened. “I feel like you probably had a lot of other choices. You know who I am. You’re BW, from the game. How long…?”

“I didn’t know you were you. You have my word. I had no idea who you were until the other night, when you mentioned Sylvie. Pieces fell together, other things you’ve said, and it clicked.”

The growl she made from deep in her chest was probably meant to be threatening. Was it wrong that I thought it was sexy?

“If you told Donna Lantrey, the rest of the town will know by the end of the day.” Aubrey pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t… Fucking hell. There’s so much to unpack here.”

“I couldn’t listen to it.” I placed a finger under Aubrey’s chin and forced her gaze to mine. “Even if I just found out your real name, I know for certain you’re not the person she was describing.”

“No, I’m not.” Aubrey worked her jaw. “That’s Grandma for you.”

“We’ll be low key about this,” I said. “If anyone asks why you never mentioned it before, that’s what you tell them. Sylvie’s announcement came out of the blue, before you could make yours, and you didn’t want to steal her thunder.”

“Or I tell Grandma it’s bullshit and you made it up because she’s a mean cow.”

How morbid was it that I wanted to see that conversation? “Do you want to do that?”

“Fuck.” Aubrey screwed up her face. “No.”

I slipped my arm around her waist again and pulled her closer to me. “Like I said online, this is to give you a counter to your family’s bullshit, and nothing more.”

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