Page 118 of Play Pretend

“How old was the last girl you were with?” Ronan countered. “Younger than Trin?”

“She was…” Theo laughed again. “Yeah. She was twenty.”

“God, you are such apig.” Brynne scoffed. Trinity nodded her agreement, but was too busy scrolling to chime in.

“Pardon my son.” Demi sighed, resting her hand on Theo’s shoulder. He batted his lashes at her, but she ignored him and kept her attention solely on me. “Are you excited to have them in town?”

I glanced at Ronan, and he took a deep breath. His hand found mine under the table and squeezed. “Mom…”

“It’ll be their first time here,” I said, leaving it at that. She tilted her head to the side, like she was expecting more.

“What did you get her?” Theo interrupted, and Ronan blinked. “Don’t tell me you haven’t gotten her a gift yet. Rookie move, brother! What did you ask for, Willow?”

Heat settled in my cheeks. “Nothing,” I admitted.

“Oh, no, that won’t do.” Demi shook her finger at her son. “Tell him what you want, and he’ll get it for you. Won’t you?”

“Yeah,” Ronan rasped. “Of course.” His eyes were wide, and the pulse in his neck thrummed. Poor guy.

“I don’t really need anything?—”

“It’s not aboutneedinganything,” Theo said. “It’s about what you want. Your birthday is a day to celebrate you! Takeadvantage of it.” I chewed on my lip. Ronan’s gaze bore into the side of my head.

“I don’t know,” I breathed. “Maybe some seeds? I’ve had my eye on some Juliet Rose seeds.”

“Seeds?” Theo asked, staring at me like I was an alien.

“You garden?” Demi asked, and I nodded. She just hummed, her gaze turning to Ronan. He squirmed under his mother’s scrutiny. I almost told him to not worry about it, but Brynne chimed in.

“My brother is finally back from Europe. I think I’m gonna go to New York to stay him for the rest of the summer.”

“Oh, is he? Tell him he needs to come see me again soon.” Demi turned her attention to Brynne.

“You’ll be in my city.” Theo grinned, and Brynne rolled her eyes. “We can hang out.”

“I’m good,” she said, laughing. They continued chatting, and Ronan leaned toward me, moving his lips to my ear.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I forgot to tell her that was an off-limits subject.” I shook my head dismissively.

“It’s alright.” I patted his thigh and gestured to the food. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

As the night wore on, I became more and more comfortable. Laughter filled the room, and it was unlike any family dinner I’d ever been to.

Demi was incredible, and Theo was hilarious. Everyone played off each other in that way only loving families could, but somehow Brynne fit in perfectly. I sat on the outside, but didn’tfeellike an outsider.

“Okay, wait.” I laughed, resting my hand on Ronan’s arm. “You jumped off the roof?—”

“Onto the trampoline, yeah,” he said, rolling his eyes. “In my defense, Theo said?—”

“That’s what always got you in trouble,” Demi interrupted, waving her finger at him. “Theo would tell you to do something because he didn’t want to get in trouble. So you’d do it, inevitably get in trouble, then blame poor Adam.”

“I never blamedpoor Adam.” Ronan rolled his eyes. “Adam could get away with murder. He never got in trouble.”

“Because he never did anything to get in trouble,” she retorted.

“That’s not true,” Trinity said. “He always picked on me.”

“Okay, but what did you do first?”

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