Page 25 of Justus
“He’sactually been really great. Mom loves him.”
“That’sfantastic,” she says, clearly not interested. “Now, tell me how it was. Any manthat can dance the way he does has to be good in bed.”
There’sa commotion in the background and Ayda says, “Shut up, Dare! I didn’t say Iwanted him!” Giggling, she returns to the phone. “So, is he as good as hethinks he is?”
“Better,”I admit with a sigh.
“Well,ride him like you stole him. It’s about damn time.”
“Ayda!”
“Please,you two have been dancing around each other for months. I’ve never seen him tryso hard to get a woman’s attention. Are you going to keep seeing him or is thisa one time deal?”
“I’llhave to get back to you on that. I have to go. I’ll talk to you later. TellDare I said stop fucking laughing at me.” I can’t hear him, but I know he is.
“Youknow him too well,” she laughs.
Apparently,I don’t know Justus well at all. As soon as I hang up the phone, he appearsdressed in a dark suit, a mysterious smile on his face. “Is that my brother’ssuit?”
“Ihad to make do.”
“Forwhat?”
“Forthis.” In the middle of the patio, with the light of the flames dancing on hishandsome face, he drops to one knee and holds up a small velvet box. My heartjumps into my throat. What the hell is he doing? He can’t be serious.
Heis. Opening the box, he displays the stunning diamond ring inside. “SadieBelmont, I can’t imagine spending another day without you. Will you marry me?”
Momshrieks, and her friends gather around her, all of them staring with batedbreath, awaiting my answer. I’m going to kill him. I know this is fake, thathe’s doing it for her benefit, so why do I feel like my heart is trying toclimb out of my chest?
Thehope and joy on my mom’s face shreds me. Who knows how much longer she has?This is her dream for me, and I can’t bear to see her disappointment if Irefuse. Letting her think Justus and I are together is one thing, but faking anengagement is another. My mind races as he smiles up at me. Fuck. What do I do?
“Yes,”I murmur, finally, unable to see a way out without breaking my mother’s heart.
Justusputs the ring on my finger and sweeps me into his arms. “What the fuck do youthink you’re doing?” I hiss into his ear.
We’resurrounded by Mom and her friends, hugging and congratulating us. When I getfree, I grab Justus’s hand and drag him toward the house. “Excuse us for amoment,” I call, and Mom waves us away.
Angerrages through me as I stomp up the stairs and into my bedroom with Justus righton my tail. He shuts the door behind us and stands there with a wide, goofysmile like he didn’t just do something completely insane.
“What.The. Fuck?”
“Didyou see your mother’s face? It was perfect. Now, about my bachelor party.”
“We’renot getting married, you lunatic!” I pace the floor. “Why did you do that? Andwhere did you get the ring? What kind of shit are you trying to pull? Are youtrying to push me into telling her the truth? Because you didn’t have to goalong with this in the first place!”
“Whoa.”He holds up his hands. “Slow down. I’m not trying to sabotage your plan, I’mimproving it.”
“Improvingit? So now what are we supposed to do? Pretend to be engaged? Lie about livingtogether? She’s going to want to start planning a wedding.”
Justusruns his teeth across his bottom lip. “We can just say we want a longengagement.” Some of the confidence has drained from his voice, and hisunspoken words hang thick in the air.
Along engagement. Because she won’t survive long enough to know we lied.
Itall hits me at once. My mother is dying. And soon. It’s not some niggling fearof a loss in the future anymore. It’s right on top of me. A sob escapes beforeI can stop it, and I lean against the wall, covering my face.
Ihear Justus curse before he wraps his arms around me. “I’m sorry, Sade. Ishould have asked you. After I saw how bad your mom was and she was telling mehow her dream was to see you happily married before she died…I just…didn’tthink.”
“Sheput you up to it?” I ask, burying my face in his neck.
