“Well, that depends on what you’ve read.”
“Are you seeing Drew?”
I glanced at him. He’d turned onto his side, listening to my end of the conversation with an appropriate look of concern. I relaxed a little, butterflies fluttering inside me, beating out the fear of what the rest of the day would bring. Weird moment, being split between blissful happiness, and stomach churning anxiety.
“Yes. I’m seeing Drew.”
“For how long?”
“Around a week. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but... we didn’t tell anyone.”
There was a lengthy pause. The kind that makes you wonder if you’re about to get a huge telling off.
Please be cool with this, Mum.
“I’m happy for you. We all are. You should have told us sooner, though. Finding out this way wasn’t fair.”
Her words were heavy with disappointment. I snuggled into Drew, wishing we’d called our families last night. In hindsight, it was the obvious thing to do. In reality, we’d needed the last bit of time together without worrying about anyone but ourselves.
“I know. I really am sorry. Being with Drew is so new, we’re still getting used to it. It was kind of... unexpected.”
“Oh, Ellie.” Mum laughed. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
“What?” I screeched, making Drew jump. “What do you mean?”
It hadn’t occurred to me anyone would ever have seen it coming. Jason certainly hadn’t.
“Sweetheart, it’s been obvious you have feelings for Drew for a while, and he adores you.”
News to me. I mean, obviously, after he kissed me, I knew. Before, I’d spotted no signs of adoration at all. I hadn’t searched for them because I was convinced they didn’t exist, and it was far easier to live in a state of semi-denial than mope around after him, hoping he might notice me one day.
My silence seemed to make her forget her upset with me, and her tone softened. “Are you coming home today?”
“Yeah, we’ll be back this afternoon.”
“We want to see you. Both of you.”
“Erm,” I began, shifting my eyes up to Drew again.
“We could order a Chinese tonight, and invite Michael and Jason too,” Mum interrupted.
Ah. She’d pulled her classic Mum move, sensing me trying to wriggle out of it, and acting quickly to prevent me making up an excuse. I figured she wanted to see Drew and me together for herself. And, of course she’d want to invite Drew’s dad and Jason to come along. Now we were more like one big family than ever.
Oh God. We hadn’t had chance to talk to Jason yet. The last thing we needed was to be thrown into a room with him and our families before we’d cleared everything up with him. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Normal newly-formed couples get to spend their first few weeks together mapping out each other’s erogenous zones, not explaining themselves to their relatives.
“Ellie, please. I’m sure you and Drew have a lot of... catching up to do, but this is a big thing for all of us. It would be lovely if we could get together tonight.”
I winced at my mother picking up on one of the reasons for my reluctance. Completely unaware of what was being said on the phone, Drew slid his fingers down my spine, then around to my stomach. A shiver shot through me, my body still hypersensitive. The mischief on his face told me I was in trouble. My eyes widened, and he shrugged and mouthed, “I’m bored.” I tried to conceal a giggle, as Mum said, “So, what do you think?”
Drew’s mouth descended on my neck while I forced myself to concentrate on what my mum was saying. “Can we leave it until tomorrow? I don’t know how the day is going to play out, but we’ve got a lot to sort out.”
Drew nibbled at my shoulder, his hand closing over my breast, showing me we would never be too tired for this. I tried to wriggle away for the duration of the phone call, but he wrapped his legs around me, trapping me between his thighs.
“Well, you don’t have to stay for long.”
I barely heard her. My limbs weakened as Drew’s thumb rubbed across my nipple, and I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping I’d get through the call without whimpering.
“Okay.” My words came out far more breathily than anyone should ever sound while talking to their mother. “Dinner sounds good.”