Page 43 of Faking Ever After

Percy diverted the conversation to Julia and Neil’s flight here and the few days they had spent in Athens.

“What a magnificent city,” Julia said. She spoke about visiting all these ancient agoras that only existed in my imagination, but my attention kept drifting to Benny, who flirted with Judith in ways that made Alicia and Lawrence as innocent as a priest and a nun.

And through all of this, Percy’s leg kept touching mine under the table. I wanted, more than anything, to take his hand and drag him upstairs where nobody could bother us, but that would be deeply uncharacteristic after spending days acting like an old couple. So I resisted the urges and waited for another endless dinner to wind down.

Alicia and Lawrence seemed fascinated with everything Benny had to say. Judith was smitten. Emily expressed something like genuine interest, almost like she was bored and wanted to see how it would all play out. It was my Percy who was caught in the middle of it all. And it was as though Benny wanted to seduce Percy as much as he wanted to seduce Judith. He continued clapping Percy’s shoulder with abruptness and strength that made my poor man cough.

I spotted Nektaria later in the kitchen and slipped from the deck to greet her.

“Dinner was delicious,” I told her.

She shook her head, her curls flying around furiously. “It did not turn out how I planned.”

Nektaria had said this about every single dish I had praised since arriving here. “Why haven’t you joined us tonight?”

Her gaze jumped to Benny on the terrace and back to me. “Every year, Finn, whether Percy is here or not, a businessman comes with big plans. I cannot stomach this.” Her Greek accent showed strongly in the last sentence.

“Do they ever succeed at what they’re trying to do?” I asked.

Nektaria measured me for a moment, then cocked her head to one side. “They often try to reach Percy through his mother,thinking women must be weak when their sons are praised. Thinking men would smell the reeking scam on them. They are wrong. Lawrence only pays attention to his wife and lets things play out however they like, but Alicia…” Nektaria wore a proud little smile as she shook her head. “She sees more than she lets you know.”

“Then I guess we’re all safe,” I said, hoping to assure her. But Nektaria said the very thing we all knew. We were in a pretty sour pickle here. Judith laughed so loudly at something nobody else found funny that it made my heart clench.

“Not all of us,” Nektaria pointed out sadly.

And I had nothing to say to that. Benjamin Tupper reeked of dishonesty, even if I pretended he hadn’t dismissed me as unimportant after exactly one and a half seconds of speaking to me. And he might not be trouble for the core family, but he would be trouble for Judith.

“Here,” Nektaria said, thrusting something forward before I realized she had been keeping her hands busy all along. I looked down and found a large slice of orange pie with an extra scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, the sweet juice the pie was soaked in pooled around the slice on my place. “A big one for you, Finn.” She said those words almost like she was verbally pinching my cheek, but I couldn’t hold my grin back.

Just then, all problems in the world could be solved with a slice of orange pie.

CHAPTER 16

Percy

On the thirdmorning after our return from the marble village, our newly established routine was upended. Instead of waking up with a yawn, a stretch, and a half-hour of getting naughty with our hands, Finn and I woke up to banging and clamoring under our window. A scream made my blood curdle and I jumped out of bed with a splitting headache that would follow whatever disaster took place outside.

I pulled the curtains open while Finn blurted questions I had no answers to.

Morning sunshine poured into my wide pupils, filling my vision with a burning white light for a moment before my eyes adjusted. Then, following the scream, there was hearty laughter. Out on the sea, in a wobbly little boat, Aunt Judith gripped the sides and tilted left and right erratically while Benny Tupper rowed them in circles.

“They’re going to drown out there,” I muttered, anxiety leaving me. Thankfully, the sea was shallow for a hundred feet from the beach, so I didn’t worry about them. They wore tiny life jackets that made arm movements more challenging.

“Is it urgent, though?” Finn asked.

I laughed and crossed the room back to the side of the bed, leaned down, and pressed my lips against each of his eyelids. Last night, Benny Tupper had insisted on trying more of the local wines in our cellar and Dimitrios was happy to brag about the collection he had curated over the years. We did some tasting and then some more, and finally, Benny seemed to remember a desirable vineyard a friend of a friend was putting up for sale. “Wouldn’t a man with such a delicate tongue for wine do well owning a vineyard? I would be more than willing to contribute. What do you say, Percy-boy? A partnership?” He dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. Dimitrios chortled at the delicate tongue bit.

Finn seemed to consider this proposal with some gravity. “You could call it Tupperport.”

My elbow in his ribcage made him yelp in surprise. “Thanks for the offer, Benny, but I’m not that experienced in that industry.”

“Industry? Percy-boy, you’re a wealthy man. Wealthy men own things and hire experts to make them run smoothly.” Benny sloshed the wine down his throat and asked for more. “Top it, Dimitri. Up, up, up. There we go.” He had to balance the glass so he couldn’t spill the contents that reached up to the very edge, to Dimitrios’ horror. A slurp that followed was enough to kill my libido for the evening.

This morning, Aunt Judith and Benny Tupper were cackling and hooting while balancing their tiny dinghy and I decided that kissing Finn’s eyelids was the most romantic thing I could achieve with all that noise.

Finn put his hands on the sides of my torso longingly, holding me with yearning and reluctance to let go, but the guffaw from the boat made me grunt. “Later,” I said.

His reply was the gentlest of moans. The sheet covering him was low around his waist, revealing his smooth olive skin enough to make my mouth water. “Promise?”

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