Page 14 of Pretend You're Mine

No one did.

She glanced down at Creed’s outstretched hand before she reached out and shook it. "Hello, Creed. I've heard so much about you." The lie fell easily from her lips. "Call me Evelyn."

Now that we'd gotten past that, despite my mother's stiff posture and forced smile, all that was left was introducing Creed to my sister and cousins and getting through dinner.

Soon, we'd be holed up in our room, having our much-needed privacy.

I whipped my head to where one of my cousins sat. "Creed, that's Nathaniel. Nathaniel, meet Creed."

With a broad, shit-eating grin, Creed turned in my cousin's direction. "It's great to meet you, Nate."

Fuck. I had skipped this part in my explanations.

Abbreviating names was a concept that my late father and uncle frowned on for reasons best known to them. And it was clear from the way my cousin rolled his eyes that he upheld this tradition too, as obsolete as it sounded.

I heaved out a low sigh.

"Did I say something wrong?" Creed mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear. I looked around the room; all eyes except Nathaniel's regarded me carefully.

My cousin was too focused on glaring at my fake boyfriend with narrowed eyes. His nose wrinkled in disgust.

"No. You're doing great. The problem is this stuck-up human. He doesn't like his name being shortened."

"Oh, shit!" That was all Creed could manage.

I continued as though nothing had happened. "The gentleman over there is Joseph Branson."

Creed nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Joseph."

"Welcome, Creed. Guess you're a part of the family now."

I fought the urge to punch my cousin in the face for his insensitivity. The attitude of every last one of them grated on my nerves. Every time I thought it couldn't get any more awkward, one of them somehow managed to raise the bar. I could only imagine how Creed felt.

Before I could think of a word to put in, Joseph continued with the same sly smile on his face. "So how did you two meet? It seems everyone is shying away from the subject. I'm tired of holding back. I'm curious."

Creed gave a single nod. “We met in a coffee shop. Avery stopped by for his daily dose of caffeine, just like I had. It was love at first sight and from there we got talking. So here we are today."

Damn! If I didn't know better, I would have believed every sweet lie that flowed smoothly from his lips.

"Who made the first move?" Joseph pressed further. He had a weird glint in his eyes and his mouth curved upwards in a half-smile. "You or Avery?"

The question made the ball of anxiety lodging in my stomach grow even larger. I smelled a trap, but I had no idea who set it, or why any of them would want to set me up. “You’ll be better off not knowing whatever it is you think you need to know, Joseph Branson."

Edmund chose the right time to arrive with our coffee.

"Or maybe you could just tell us the answer to that question, little cousin," Nathaniel added, sarcastically. I stared straight at him as I took a sip from my cup, forcing my facial features to remain normal as the bitter aftertaste of the beverage dragged across my tongue and slid down my throat.

Maybe I'd made a mistake taking up my mother’s offer to spend the holiday here. I would have been better off staying at my place alone.

All I could see were a group of people that claimed to love me but would pick on my partner—my fake partner—at each goddamn opportunity because my choices didn't fit into their worldview.

"I made the first move," Creed blurted out.

I couldn't help but feel conflicted as I watched Creed sacrifice his reputation for my sake. On one hand, I appreciated his selfless act and felt guilty for putting him in such a position. But on the other hand, I resented him for taking away my agency and making me look like a helpless victim in front of my family. I didn't know how to feel about his actions, torn.

"That sounds great. How long have you both been together?" Joseph probed further.

I couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger towards Joseph as I watched him relentlessly interrogate Creed about our fakerelationship. It seemed like he was purposely trying to make Creed uncomfortable and I couldn't stand for it any longer.

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