Page 42 of Bullied Pretend Mate
“Some people think the water was struck by lightning,” my dad said, glancing at my mother, who was leaning over the table to fill his coffee.
“Maybe it was a lake monster,” she shrugged.
Neither of them paid attention to me. If they had, they might have noticed the wretched look on my face.
The three of us steer the conversation away from that night, from Tara and Aurela. From our group in general. It’s like we have an unspoken yet serious limit to how much we can talk about it before we have to move on.
But even as Valerie and Phina start talking about the new baby boutique opening up downtown, my mind keeps wandering back.
To Tara. To Aurela.
And I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something I’m missing.
Chapter 20 - Felix
“I feel like we could seriously become wedding judges,” Maeve says, leaning forward and plucking one of the champagne-soaked strawberries from a shining silver tub in the center of the table.
My gaze narrows in on her lips, watching the way she wraps them around the berry, already fantasizing about her wrapping them around something else.
We’re sitting under a large white pergola, which is strung with fairy lights. Fluttering white curtains at the corners blow in the wind. It reminds me of something from a Greek island, even though we’re nowhere near the lake’s beach.
“Weddingjudges?” I ask, laughing at her and stealing a strawberry for myself. This wedding is a lot more low-key out by the lake, and Maeve and I sit at a table under the pergola. A candle in the middle of a mason jar flickers by the strawberries.
The theme is all pink, red, and white. A little like a Valentine’s Day wedding, which Maeve mentioned the moment we walked in, marveling at the fact that she managed to match the theme in a pink and white floral dress that hugs her curves and flares out around her knees.
I like the way it covers her like a turtleneck, with its high collar. I like the mesh along her arms, and I haven’t been able to keep myself from drawing my fingers along the material, feeling her warm skin just beneath it.
“Yeah,” she says, talking through the bite of berry in her mouth. “Like, think of it like a reality TV show or something. You and I, going to weddings. Judging them on their theme, the vibes, the party. It could be a whole competition thing, andthe couple that wins gets an all-expenses-paid honeymoon, or something like that.”
“So which one has been your favorite of the three so far?”
“This one,” Maeve says immediately, and I raise my eyebrows at her, surprised that she chose so fast. And also that she’s choosing this one, even though the other one had the ice sculpture and way better food.
“That was a fast answer,” I remark. “Can you tell the audience why?”
Maeve pauses, then laughs at herself. “Because I’m here right now, and the view isverygood.” She pauses, knocking her foot against mine under the table, and it sends a thrill running up the length of my spine. Then she goes on, laughing again, lolling her head to the side, and saying, “And I think I might be just alittledrunk from the strawberries.”
Because I’m here right nowis the most Maeve answer I could have asked for. I realize I’m still staring at Maeve, my chest feeling warm and fuzzy, when my parents appear at the side of our table, staring down at us with mild smiles on their faces.
“The two of you aren’t going to dance?” my mother asks, tucking her shawl over her shoulders and looking between Maeve and me.
It’s weird because it almost seems like my parents are coming around to the idea of her and me. Maybe when we got together and the entire pack didn’t revolt at the very idea, they started to realize that who I’m with wouldn’t be as detrimental to their standing as they thought. It’s been a strange experience, to have them care about this my entire life—to the point that my mother was going out of her way to hook me up with Annette—only to watch them realize it’s not that important after all.
Besides, I don’t give a damn about my standing. It’s not like my friends are going to stop talking to me, and our alpha supreme married a Winward, for fuck’s sake. Phina’s brother was known for running around with the gang here in town, then for being a huge part of the drug problem at the seedy motel.
And near the end, they were starting to get into even more illicit activities. Valerie and Lachlan don’t really like to talk about it, but she was taken by their gang at one point. Kidnapped and brought back to Silverville against her will.
If Xeran can make a Winward the luna, I can be with Maeve.
“I’m too drunk to dance,” Maeve says, leaning over and putting her head on my shoulder.
Without thinking, I brush the copper curls back away from her face, only remembering my parents are watching a moment later.
My father has a strange look on his face, and when he glances at my mom, I realize what it is. Happiness. Pride.
They’re happy that I’m happy.
And that makes guilt shoot through my stomach. What are they going to think when Maeve and I break it off? Did I really go through all this just to break up with the girl my parents finally approved of?
