Page 44 of The Grumpy Actor

“Then answer my question. Is he coming? Did you invite him?”

“No, I didn’t,” I answer, plucking the balloon out of her hand. “I can’t invite him. Mom doesn’t know we’re back together.”

And there’s no way I’m telling her. She’ll disapprove of it. Just like Lily, Mom was there all through my first heartbreak, so she knows how much I’ve been hurt by Liam before.

I can’t tell her I’m back with him.

Also, there’s every chance things won’t work between us this time either. Actually, I went into this relationship knowing fully well that he still considers love impossible.

But I harbored the hope that I could change his mind.

In a week’s time, the three-month shooting period will be over, and Liam Ryder will be out of Surfside Haven for good. It’s clear our relationship will die a natural death after that.

He’ll go back to his life in LA, and I’ll remain here.

Our future is clearly set in stone.

So I can’t get him involved with my family.

Especially with my Aunt Kate and Uncle George at dinner. They’ll take things up a notch and start planning our wedding. Throwing in Aunt Linda and Uncle Derek, Lily’s parents, will make it hard to control the outcome of the dinner.

Even the mere thought of that happening makes me shiver.

Lily lets out a heavy sigh, and I roll my eyes at her.

“What now?”

“I’m just worried, Sophie. Are you sure about this?” Lily asks, scooting closer to me. “I remember how you were the last time you two broke up, and now you’re back together with him. I just don’t think you’re making the right decisions here.”

I know I’m not, but apparently, my heart missed the memo. I want to be with him despite knowing that we won’t ever have a future together.

From how this whole affair is going, I’ll definitely end up getting hurt because I’m rapidly falling in love with Liam. I just hope there’s a safety net to catch me when I finally fall.

“Can we not talk about this and just focus on the dinner?” I plead.

Lily huffs and stands up. “I’ll go check the cake.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as she leaves, I relax against the couch. I know she’s looking out for me, but honestly, I’m just too confused to think about what I’m doing with Liam right now.

I know this is going to end eventually, and I just want to live in this moment and enjoy it to the fullest. Now that I already know when it’s going to end, I should appreciate our last few days together as much as I can.

I focus my attention on decorating our sitting room for Mom’s dinner party. I join Lily in the kitchen later to decorate the cake and finish up the side dishes we prepped earlier.

By the time seven o’clock rolls around, Uncle George, Aunt Kate, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Derek arrive at the house. They all have wrapped presents with them, and we wait for my mom to get back from the diner.

She doesn’t know I’m planning this. I told her I’d make dinner for us to eat together, but I didn’t mention that it was going to be a full-on party.

I even managed to get Aunt Kate to come here from Georgia. I know Mom will be delighted to see her little sister unexpectedly.

“Surprise!” we all yell as Mom enters the house. “Happy birthday!”

She gasps, her mouth hanging open in shock.

Mom squeals when she sees Aunt Kate and rushes over to hug her.

“Sophie, how did you do this without me knowing?” Mom asks, grinning as she clings to Aunt Kate. “And how did you hide the fact that you were coming here when we spoke on the phone this morning? You don’t know how to keep a secret!”

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