Page 100 of Something Forever

That earns me another smack. “Shut up,” she groans, then turns to her TV. “I’m gonna watch Notting Hill. I need to practice my British accent.”

“Please don’t.”

She just grins and turns her movie on. A few minutes later, I feel the brush of her fingers against the knuckles on my left hand. My eyes flicker up to her face in surprise, but she doesn’t glance my way, her gaze locked onto her screen. The corners of my mouth tugging upwards, I slip my fingers into hers, our hands intertwined.

When we land at Heathrow, I’m exhausted. Whitney took the Xanax after watching her movie and slept for a few hours. I have to rouse her awake and keep her droopy figure upright as we find our way to our rental car. By the time we pull up to my mum’s house, Whitney’s previous tiredness is nowhere to be found. She’s bouncing up and down in her seat, her eyes darting all around.

“Can you chill out? You’re making me anxious,” I tell her.

She shakes her head. “I’m nervous! I want your mom to like me,” she confesses, looking out the window. “Wow, is this it? It’s so pretty. I love the garden.”

I reach for her hand, undeterred by her attempts distract me. “Of course she’s going to like you. She’s going to love you.”

Just like I do.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I don’t know if you noticed, but I am not great with moms.”

“Stop it.” I reach for her chin, turning her to meet my gaze. “That says much more about your mom than you. You know that, right?”

She shrugs and reaches for her bag. “Come on, let’s go in.”

I pull the key from the ignition and round the car to grab our suitcases from the boot. Whitney hops out of the car, stretching her arms above her head and inhaling deeply. Before I can unload the cases, I hear my mum’s voice.

“You’re here! Simon, they’re here!”

I glance up to see my mum bounding down the steps of the house with her arms outstretched. She’s headed straight for Whitney with a wide smile on her face.

“You must be Whitney. It’s so lovely to meet you.” My mum wraps her arms around Whitney, who hugs her back with a dazed expression. “I’m Charlotte.”

“It’s great to meet you,” Whitney replies. “Thank you so much for inviting us.”

My mum waves her off and runs towards me, squealing. “Darling!” she exclaims. “I missed you so much.”

She hugs me, gripping my shoulders tighter than expected. I drop our bags and wrap my arms around her small body, my eyes prickling. When I pull back, she’s wiping at her tear-stained face and laughing.

“Mum,” I groan. “Crying already?”

She waves me off. “I’m a mother.” Skipping over to Whitney, she locks arms with her. “Let me show you inside. Liam can get the bags.”

They go inside without another glance in my direction. Shaking my head in laughter, I grab the bags and follow them into the house. Simon greets me in the doorway, taking Whitney’s suitcase off my hands and clasping my shoulder.

“Liam,” he says softly. “Great to see you.”

I slap his back lightly. “You too, mate.”

“Good flight?”

“Yeah, not too bad.”

We both nod in silence. I hear my mum’s laughter floating from the kitchen as Simon helps me bring our stuff upstairs to the guest bedroom. We fill the silence with meaningless small talk then meet my mum and Whitney back downstairs.

“Shall we go for a walk down to the beach?” my mum asks when we get to the living room.

Whitney glances at me, and I slip my arms around her waist, wanting her closer. “Do you want to?” she asks, her head tilted up to meet my gaze.

I don’t want to go for a walk. I want to take her to the bedroom right now and stay there for the rest of the day, exploring every inch of her body.

“It’s not far, but it is nippy,” my mum says. “We’ve got extra hats and gloves.”

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