My gaze snaps in her direction.
“You make him happy. It doesn’t matter if you’re some corporate hotshot, which is so not Ollie’s thing, or you’re a little on the cute and innocent side.” Her gaze turns toward her youngest son. “I haven’t seen him smile like that in a long while. Not even while he was with Ash.”
Guilt gnaws at me. I’m not corporate, I’m not Ollie’s boyfriend, and I’m not even sure he’s smiling that way because of me.
I try to fake my reaction and think how a normal boyfriend would react to acceptance by his partner’s mother, but I think my smile is as tight as my throat, which feels like it’s closing up.
“Ah … and about Ash.” She’s the one avoiding eye contact now.
“I don’t need to know about Ollie’s past.” Especially if Ash is everything I’m not.
“And I wouldn’t normally make you hear it …”
A loud cough that sounds a hell of a lot like “Bullshit” comes from the nearby table where Ollie’s brother Vic must be eavesdropping.
Ollie’s mom ignores him. “The only reason I’m bringing up Ash is, well, he’s basically part of this family. He’s here for all the important events, and being with Ollie, you’re gonna have to meet him eventually.”
Is she saying … I grunt. “Does Ollie know he’s coming?”
Am I a complete idiot here? Here I am thinking he’s using any excuse to get close to me—even asking me to fake it for his entire family—but what if he didn’t ask me here for me? Or for him. Am I here to make his ex jealous?
“I doubt anyone has told him—nobody wants to be the messenger—but I’m sure he’d suspect. I just thought I’d give you a heads-up.”
“Do I need a heads-up?” I don’t know if anticipating meeting Ollie’s ex is a good thing or a bad thing.
I’m definitely at high risk of overthinking it.
“Ma,” Ollie scolds. I don’t know how long he’s been behind us. “Stop scaring him off.” His arm comes around me again, but now I can’t stop the internal questions.
I stupidly thought going into this that Ollie might be milking this charade for all it’s worth and maybe using it as an excuse to continue fooling around or whatever. Wishful thinking, obviously.
What if he’s like every other jock I’ve wanted?
What if he’s using me to remind Ash that he let the best guy in the world go and he hopes to somehow win him back?
Okay, yup. Definitely overthinking this.
“You okay?” Ollie asks.
I force a fake smile. “Thirsty.”
Ollie yells as he pulls me through the throng of kids and people toward the ice bucket near the back door. “Out of our way. Thirsty boyfriend needs a drink.”
I shake my head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Maybe, but I think you like it.”
I can’t help a genuine smile breaking through, because yeah. I really do. I should stop analyzing and enjoy this … whatever the fuck it is.
“So, what’d she say to make you go pasty white?” He hands me a bottle of water. “Wait, you want something else? There’s beer, tonic—”
“Taw-nic.” I chuckle. “So cute.”
“You’re in Beantown now, Clark.”
“Water’s fine. If your ex is gonna show up, I don’t really wanna drink anything harder.”
“Ash is coming?”
Is he faking surprise or did he genuinely not know?
“Your mom said he was. Wanted to warn me. Apparently, I’m the only one with the balls to tell you though.” My joke is as flat as the line between Ollie’s pursed lips.
“I thought he wasn’t going to come. I mean, I knew there was a chance, but Max blew off family dinner last night, and I assumed he was going to do the same today, so there’s no real reason why Ash would come without him.”
“When was the last time you saw him?” I ask quietly.
“Before I moved to New York. Before that, it was a handful of times since we’d broken up.” Something about the way he stares at the ground, as if wanting to hide his expressive face away from me, makes me step forward.
I put my finger under his chin and gently pull it up so he’s looking into my eyes. “You truly didn’t know he was coming?” Because right now, I don’t know if he’s a really good liar or being truthful. His words are believable, but his body language pings my bullshit radar. Granted, that radar has proven broken in the past.
He looks away with guilt written all over his face.
“Is he why I’m actually here?” The growl in my voice is involuntary.
“What? No. You’re here because I want you here.” Ollie steps closer. “You’re here because I used the excuse of not handling my family to get you here even though I know how to deal with them. I’ve had years of deflecting.”
“So … you asked me to come because …”
He sighs. “Technicalities, Lennon.”