Page 14 of No Summer Hotter than You

While I stood at five feet and five inches tall, Anthony easily towered over me with his six-foot frame. I watched how he shuffled his feet and then took a step back, clearly nervous.

“J-just sit down. I don’t know how you’ll react to this.”

He sounded jittery. This was so unlike the usual Anthony that I didn’t know how to react properly. I became alarmed as I took my seat on his couch.

“Anthony, what did you get yourself into?” I asked and watched him struggle to answer.

“Don’t be angry at me, but Aunt Sue thinks we’re dating . . . She thinks you’re my girlfriend.”

His face was even more red than before his confession. In all the years I had known him, I didn’t know he could get this flustered. As he buried his flaming face into the palm of his hands, completely embarrassed, his words hung thick in the air. He took the seat next to me and I noticed even his ears were burning red.

“Why would she think that?” I was dumbfounded. My mind and heart started to race at Anthony’s strange confession. This was far from what I had expected him to say.

“It’s a long story. Apparently, Evelyn is going to be here again and it’s worse this year. Kelvin will be tagging along with her. Both will be here all of June,” he groaned into his hands.

The blood drain from my face as my eyes grew wide. “What do you mean Kelvin will be here?”

“Well, Aunt Sue invited him, and my mom was okay with it,” Anthony said as he frowned. “Both Evelyn and him will be here this weekend.”

“This weekend already?” My lips parted and brows furrowed in surprise.

“I know!” Anthony said with a heavy sigh. “I think Aunt Sue was trying to sniff out if I was still single like last summer.”

“So, you lied that we’re in a relationship?”

Anthony finally pulled his hands away from his face. It was still beet red as he turned to glance at me. I knew perfectly well about Aunt Sue and how she attempted to make one of the twins fall in love with Evelyn. Because it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Evelyn had the hots for both Hughes twins. However, neither of them saw her in that light, and it was obvious in the way they were overly polite with her.

It didn’t help that Aunt Sue seemed to thoroughly encourage Evelyn’s feelings despite the reality of it all. Things got awkward during their visit last year when Aunt Sue casually mentioned how she would love to see her daughter marry either Andy or Anthony one day. They were both so shocked they were rendered completely speechless.

“When Aunt Sue asked me if I was single over dinner, my mom stepped in and lied,” he explained with wide eyes as his voice began to raise. He started to become animated with his hands as he explained what happened. “She lied, Shoua! She lied that I’m in a relationship! And guess what? I had no choice but to go along with it because my dad started lying through his teeth too. It’s as if they conspired together.”

“What do you mean you didn’t have a choice but to go along with it? Why would your parents lie to Aunt Sue anyway?”

“You weren’t there! You didn’t see the way my mom was giving me this look, practically begging me to agree with her. I don’t even want to know what kind of wrath I’d be going through if I hadn’t, all right? And if it isn’t obvious, my parents clearly never liked Evelyn, but they’re never going to admit it out loud to Aunt Sue!”

My lips pulled into a frown, trying to comprehend the situation. “How am I involved in all this mess, though?”

“Well, since I went along with my mom’s lie, Aunt Sue started to ask details about my fake, nonexistent girlfriend!” The same fiery, red flush from earlier rose up his neck all the way to his ears as he locked eyes with me. “I started panicking and, without thinking, I blurted out that you are my girlfriend.”

I stared at Anthony with a wide and gaping mouth like I did with his texts earlier.

He gulped as if he was guilty of something horrible. He took in my expression and tore his gaze away. “I know I fucked up by saying your name, Shoua. I’m sorry.”

I sat for a moment, still trying to process the mess Anthony pulled me into. “W-wait, let me get this straight. Your mom lied to Aunt Sue that you’re dating, which you’re not. Then you went along with what she said. You proceeded to lie to her that your girlfriend is me. Just because you’re trying to avoid being stuck with Evelyn this summer again?”

There was a moment of silence.

“Yes.” His voice was now meek and tiny compared to earlier. He was obviously flustered by how he lied about me being his girlfriend. “But it’s not just for me. It also benefits you.”

“How?”

“You don’t have to deal with Kelvin. Do you really think Aunt Sue won’t try again this year now that he’ll also be here?”

“Anthony Nhia Hughes,” I said with a sigh. The searing heat of my blush immediately climbed up my face as he met my eyes, still rosy cheeked. Kelvin was the least of my concerns right now, even if he had a point.

“Look, look! I know you’re upset, but this is just for one month. C’mon, Shoua. Think about it. Us being in this fake relationship will save us both from Evelyn and Kelvin. Aunt Sue will finally stop pestering us with her horrible matchmaking schemes. Besides, how hard can it be? We’re just pretending, right?”

Disbelief washed over my face as I let out another sigh. “Anthony, you’re my friend.”

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