Page 142 of GAF Factor

“I would suggest you sleep on it a few days before you make any rash decisions. You know, wait until IKE gets back and try to be normal again. Then you can see how life goes.”

I blew out a harsh breath, irritated with her rational thinking. “I guess I could do that. I mean, it’s an idea.”

“Right. Not the best, but it’s all I could come up with on short notice.”

“Well, we can’t all be the brightest in the family.”

“Speaking of family, have you talked to Mom and Dad lately?”

I rolled my head back to face her, not liking the tone of her voice. She stared at her nails, paying way too much attention to them. “Riley, what did you do?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing.”

I sat up suddenly, gripping her by the shoulders. “Riley, tell me you didn’t invite them here.”

“Invite is such a strong word.”

Anxiety rippled through me. The last thing I needed was my parents anywhere near me. “How could you do that?”

“Technically, I didn’t do anything. Mom asked about you since you didn’t exactly call and tell her how you were doing since you moved out and left Shawn. Thanks for leaving me tothat uncomfortable conversation, by the way. So, she said she wanted to see you, and I said that you were busy at the moment. She wanted to know what made you so busy that you didn’t have time for your own mother, and you know me. I really had no good response for her.”

I glared at her, my nostrils flaring.

“What? You know I’m no good with her. I was defenseless!”

“You could have told her I was doing fine!”

“I tried to. She didn’t believe me. She said that if you were fine, you would have called her. Which you would have. You always avoid her when you’re not okay, which she knows. You’re not hiding anything from her at this point.”

I stood, shoving my hands through my hair again. This was awful. She would never understand the situation I was in. How was I supposed to explain IKE to her? She wasn’t exactly the type of woman who believed in living together before marriage, so how would I explain to her that I was shacked up with IKE when I wasn’t even divorced yet?

“You didn’t tell her about Kavanaugh, did you?”

She winced. “I didn’t have to. Remember that article in the paper?”

My eyes slipped closed in mortification. “Crap. I totally forgot about that. I’m surprised she wasn’t calling me the moment she saw it.”

“Well, I think the only reason she didn’t was because she thinks you’re with him and she’s excited about that.”

That was even worse.

“Did she say when she was coming?”

“Next week. Tuesday.”

“Tuesday,” I murmured. “That doesn’t give me much time.”

“Not really.” She watched me carefully. “What are you going to say to IKE?”

“I don’t know. Should I ask him to stay away?”

“Honestly? I think if I was in love with a man and he asked me to stay away, I’d be pretty pissed.”

“But, it’s just because I need to give them time to adjust to?—”

“It makes it look like you’re embarrassed about him. It doesn’t matter how you cut it. Sorry, Isles, if you ask him to stay away, that’s the beginning of the end.”

As if he knew I was talking about him, my phone rang and his name lit up the screen. I looked at Riley, my chest tightening painfully. “He’s calling.”

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