Page 76 of Forever and Other Lies

Blowing out a frustrated breath, he ran his fingers through his hair. He kept going back to the fact that she was dating the paramedic. And that it bothered him! Only because the guy was implicated in a murder! No way was he going to admit that it bothered him for any other reason.

That would be admitting too much.

He preferred to keep all his feelings and emotions buried deep. It had worked well for him so far. At least up until now.

Now he sat on the softer-than-soft couch, staring at the mantle that was missing family photos and other cherished memories. He wished he’d gone for a cold slab of marble instead. And he wished he had never asked Jayna for help because her imprint was all over his home. She was everywhere, in his home and in his thoughts. He was jealous and was that regret he was feeling? Did he miss her?

All of this was only temporary. It would pass. He needed to resume his normal life. Tugging his phone out of his back pocket, he swiped to open the contact list. The redhead from the other night had added her number to it. Nevaeh. Heaven spelled backwards; she’d whispered in his ear.

His finger paused over the text icon and then moved to delete contact instead.

“Knock, knock.”

He turned around. His mother and grandmother, Harry, stood in the foyer.

“We came to check out the new bachelor pad,” Harry stated.

“This does not look like a bachelor pad,” his mother commented.

“Yeah, thanks to Jayna. She helped me decorate it.” The minute the words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back.

“Oh, really?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “Are we talking about the same Jayna who dumped you?”

“I’d hardly say she dumped me.”

“Not what we heard,” Harry persisted. Of course, news of their breakup would have traveled at lightning speed around town.

“It was never real. We were only fake dating.” Again, words he didn’t mean to say aloud were flying out of his mouth.

“What does that mean?” his mother questioned as she sat beside him on the couch.

“Fake dating? Is that some new slang you kids are using for hooking up?” Harry sat on his opposite side.

Hooking up? What did his grandmother know about ‘hooking up’?

“No, Mom, I think what Derek means is that they were never really dating.” His mother turned her attention back to him. “Why pretend to date?”

“Let’s just say that I dated the wrong girl with a father who wasn’t happy that I didn’t want to keep dating her. This father just happened to be a big investor in the company I work for. He was threatening not only bodily harm, but my job as well. And Jayna posed as my pregnant girlfriend to get me out of hot water.”

“Was the pregnancy fake too?” his mother asked.

“Yeah!”

“A mother could hope,” she shrugged.

“So, you dated a bunny boiler with an overprotective father, and that’s why you were fake dating Jayna?” Harry pointed her finger at him as she spoke.

“A bunny boiler?” His mother leaned across him, staring at her mother.

“Like in Fatal Attraction,” Harry clarified.

“Why did you let Jayna break up with you?” Mom asked.

“Because he’s a dumbass,” Harry offered.

His head snapped back in her direction. These two women were going to give him whiplash.

“Because,” he stretched out the word, “I don’t want a serious relationship.”

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