Page 36 of Fore-Ever Yours

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” I tease, using his words to me when I was having a nervous breakdown.

“Yeah,” he murmurs, his voice a bit husky, “we are.”

And then in a flash of courage, I add, “And your family is going to love me. Everyone does.” I wink jokingly at him.

“We’ll find out right now,” he says as we pull into a driveway lined with oak trees, their leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. “We’re here.”

I catch my first glimpse of Matthew’s childhood home. It’s a beautiful two-story house with a large porch, surrounded by a well-tended lawn and flowers. It’s more extravagant than the one I grew up in, but still manages to look inviting.

He drives around the U-shaped driveway and parks the car. A woman stands from the rocking chair on the porch and waves excitedly.

“There’s my mom.”

It’s unmistakably his mom. They have the same green eyes and brown hair.

Suddenly feeling nervous, I quickly turn to Matthew. “We didn’t talk about your family. I don’t know much.”

“Really? No cyberstalking on my family, just me, huh?” He smirks.

I swat at his arm. “Not the time to joke around.”

He grabs my hand. “We’ll be fine.” He looks at me with those emerald eyes of his, a mixture of nerves and excitement visible in them. I take a deep breath, fixing my expression into a confident smile.

“We’ll be fine.” I echo him.

We step out of the car together, his hand quickly finding mine as we walk toward the porch. He leans in and whispers, “She’ll love you, remember?”

It makes me smile to hear confidence in his voice. It’s like this balance we have. When he’s low, I’m high, and when I’m low, he’s high. We level each other out.

His mother descends the steps and hurries toward us. She’s shorter than Matthew by a head with warm, loving eyes that mirror his. The way she looks at her son is enough to tell me how much she missed him. She envelopes him in a tight embrace, which Matthew returns with just as much enthusiasm.

“I’ve missed you terribly.”

“I’ve missed you too, Mom,” he mumbles into her shoulder.

She steps back and looks at me, her eyes appraising. I stiffen a little under her gaze, but then she smiles widely. “You must be Beth! It’s so great to meet you.”

“Hi, Mrs. Wilkes,” I say, extending my hand for a shake.

“Oh please, call me Maggie,” she says enthusiastically, pulling me into a hug.

The door opens, and a girl about my age steps out onto the porch. She takes in the scene with a bright smile before bounding over, throwing herself into Matthew’s arms with a squeal of delight.

“Sis,” he grunts in response, wrapping his arms around her.

Before I can introduce myself, she turns to me and gives me the biggest smile. “I’m Alison,” she says, looping her arm through mine and leading me toward the porch. “Come on, we have so much to catch up on!”

As she briskly walks away with me in tow, I share a look with Matthew over my shoulder. He simply shrugs, an amused grin on his face.

Chapter 14

Matthew

Ithoughtitmightbe weird having Beth in my home while we’re in this fake relationship. But the truth is, it feels natural. While we may be faking a girlfriend/boyfriend relationship, I would consider us friends. Pretty close friends. Being with someone for two months straight, all day, every day, you get to know them.

And I know Beth. The kind heart she has. Her confidence. Her talent for making this social media stuff look easy.Her beauty, a small voice in the back of my head whispers.

What? Even friends notice looks. I’m not blind. I have twenty-twenty vision.

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