Page 65 of Fake It For Him

Mom stared between the two of us for a moment before she nodded. “She is lovely. He really does love her, but I didn’t come here to talk about them.”

At the apprehensive look she gave me next, my heart tightened. “What did you come here to talk about, Mother?”

She drew in a deep breath. “Your father told me that he saw you had a run-in with Finn and Norah at the bar. He also saw you drinking excessively after. We were both surprised that it ended there, but I’m proud of you, Calan. You really have grown.”

“Thank you,” I said cautiously, sliding my hand away from Ella when I felt hers stiffen under it. She kept smiling at my mom, but I knew this was triggering her fight-or-flight response again.

Internally, I sighed. I’d just gotten her back on board and now this. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to convince her to stay again if this conversation went sideways. Mom was oblivious, though. A sheen of moisture appeared in her eyes as she glanced at Ella.

“I would like to invite you both to the annual Christmas Eve party at the house,” she said, stunning us both. “You can stay over here again and spend Christmas with us.”

My heart started slamming in my chest. I hadn’t had a pleasant Christmas with my family in years. Last year had been such a clusterfuck that I’d promised myself I’d never put myself through it again.

“No,” I said, going with my gut reaction. “I doubt Finn wants me there. Just because we made it through last night without incident doesn’t mean he’s ready to have me around all the time.”

Mom shook her head. “It’s not entirely up to Finn, darling. Your dad and I have agreed. Freya wants you there. So Finn is the only one being a stick in the mud.”

“Yeah, but I understand why he wouldn’t want me at Christmas,” I said, fighting the urge to grab Ella’s hand again.

Things just felt easier when I knew I had her support, but her spine was still ramrod straight and she was eating like she was hoping the sound of her own chewing would block out this conversation. Mom gave me a hopeful smile. “I understand his reasons myself, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t come. Things are different now, Cal. Better. You have Ella, and slowly, with time and exposure, Finn will come around. He has to. You’re family.”

I glanced at Ella and so did Mom. “I understand if you have plans with your family, dear. How do your parents usually spend the holidays? They’re welcome to join us as well if you think they might like to.”

Ella nearly choked on the bite of toast she’d just taken, blinking fast as she turned to my mom. Since I knew she hadn’t seen her family in years, I spared her from having to explain the situation right here and now.

Bracing myself for having to face her wrath because of this, I stole my mother’s attention away from Ella by nodding at her. “Okay, yeah. We’ll be here for Christmas, Mom.”

My mother smiled radiantly and nodded, then stood up. “That’s wonderful. We’ll look forward to having you both here. For now, I’ll leave you to enjoy your breakfast in peace.”

After hugging Ella goodbye and giving me a hug when I walked her to the door, she left. I walked back to the dining room to find Ella fuming. Her cheeks were red, her features taut as her green eyes flashed at me.

“You had no right. I’m not spending Christmas with your family, Calan. It wasn’t part of the deal and I’m not letting you steamroll me into it. End of story.”

Disappointment coursed through me, but I nodded. “I thought you might feel that way. If that’s really what you want, then I’ll come up with an excuse for why you couldn’t come.”

Surprise registered on her expression before the fight drained out of her and she slumped back in her chair. “Thank you. I’m sorry I reacted that way. I just, uh, I was expecting you to try to strong-arm me into it.”

“I understand,” I said as I went back to my chair. “The offer will be on the table if you change your mind, though. I’m going to go, even if you don’t.”

This might be the best chance I was going to get at redemption, and even if that chance would’ve been a hell of a lot better with Ella at my side, I couldn’t rely on her for everything. If she did decide not to come, I was just going to have to find a way to show my family that they could still trust me, even if I was all by myself.

34

ELLA

A week after the engagement party, I was in Maui and I’d realized that I had no idea what I had been agreeing to when I’d said I’d go to Freya’s bachelorette party. I’d thought we were going to go to a swanky nightclub—perhaps one of Calan’s—and at most, that we’d be spending the night at a nice hotel after.

But no.

Instead, we’d taken a chartered flight to Hawaii and we’d be spending three nights at the most luxurious hotel on the island. I was still in a state of disbelief as we checked into our suite and I was shown to my room.

Because yep, I had a bedroom. The suite came with five of them and I was sharing with Jim’s sister, Polly. I’d only met her this morning, but I didn’t mind sharing with her.

On the plane, she and I had hit it off and become fast friends. We were the only two people here who didn’t really know anyone else, so we’d naturally gravitated toward one another. She was nice. Friendly. Better than I could say of any of the other girls, outside of Freya.

In total, there were ten of us, Freya, Polly, and me, and seven of Freya’s closest friends and bridesmaids. The other girls were not my type. They were uppity socialites with sticks up their asses and way too much makeup caked on. They’d sneered at me, more so when they found out who I was, and they’d given Polly similar treatment.

Shortly after we’d taken off, she’d come to sit next to me, and she and I had started talking. Finding out she was my roommate was definitely a relief. These other girls? I didn’t know if Calan had a history with any of them or if they were simply such snobs that they couldn’t believe I’d made the cut for an invitation, but they didn’t like me.