Oops, I've Fallen

“Oh my goodness!” the receptionist exclaims. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you.” My mother’s smile is brighter than the freaking sun.

“I feel like the luckiest man who’s ever lived,” Sal adds and starts peppering my mother’s face with kisses.

“Oh, stop it, Sally!” She giggles and slaps him away playfully, but he just grins down at her.

“Darlin’, I’m so glad I’ve convinced you we shouldn’t wait much longer.”

“You’ve already set the date?” the receptionist asks, and my mother’s next words make me feel like I’m about to pass out.

“November 7th!” she proclaims, clapping her hands together. “I have so much planning to do, but I’m so excited!”

Oh, holy fuck. Why does it feel like I’m on a roller coaster ride that I can’t get off?

Not to mention, I’ve yet to break the news to Willow that mom’s new “casual” relationship is headed down the aisle—and, according to my mother, in a month, no less. I told Willow I’d call her after this appointment, but I just haven’t figured out how to package the news that Mommy Dearest is engaged, and, oh by the way, I’ve slept with our future brother.

“I guess we should have told the kids, huh, Stell?” Sal states with an amused smile and a soft chuckle. “By the looks on their faces, I’d say they’re a bit surprised.”

I glance over my shoulder, and Ryan looks like he just drank curdled milk.

Which I definitely understand. Since I feel like he threw up the contents of his foul drink right in my own mouth.

“What do you think, Car?” my mom asks, and I have no idea how I manage to get words out of my mouth, but I do.

“November 7th. Wow. Talk about some big news.”

Although, the enthusiasm behind them is certainly lacking. The tone of my voice would match perfectly with the environment of a funeral, but my mom doesn’t appear to notice because she’s too blissed out and amped up on happiness.

“You and Willow better be here for our big day!” My mom wraps me up into a big hug, squeezing me tight and squealing into my ear. “And Ryan, too! I want all my kids there, okay?”

All her kids. Good God. Why is this happening?

I do my best to react like my mom wants me to, but all I can manage is a halfhearted pat to her back with one hand and a pathetic “Okay.”

“Congrats, Dad,” I hear Ryan say behind me, but I don’t miss the odd tone of his voice. It’s like he’s trying to be happy for his father, but also, his mind is reeling with how fucking fast this marriage train is rolling. Like, a bullet train is really freaking cool as long as you’re not strapped to the tracks while it runs you over.

One month. And we’ll officially be stepbrother and stepsister.

Fuck my life.

Once my mother releases me from her exuberant hug, she moves on to Sal and places a smacking kiss to his lips. “Love you, Sal.”

“Love you too, darlin’.”

The receptionist grins at their cutesy show, but when she meets my eyes, I realize that I’m not exactly smiling. So, I quickly force a grin on to my face, so she doesn’t get the vibe that I’m raining on my mother’s wedding parade.

It’s brittle and uncomfortable and I’m probably showing too many teeth, but it appears to do the job.

“Well, you two have really made my day. And I’m sure Dr. Samson is going to get a kick out of this,” she says and gets up from her chair to open the door that leads patients from the waiting room to the exam rooms. “Congratulations again,” she adds, holding the door open for a giggling and smiling Sal and Stella.

Ryan and I follow their lead, and when all four of us file into one tiny exam room, I instantly feel claustrophobic.

I also have the urge to look at Ryan. To memorize his face and his blue-as-the-sky eyes and his strong jaw. I want to run my hands through his hair and touch his lips with my fingertips.

The desire to be with him, to make him smile and laugh, to touch him and kiss him, it’s all still there. Hasn’t gone away.

If anything, it feels like you need it more. Need him more.

God, I just wish everything weren’t so fucking confusing.

I mean, there’s a part of me that’s actually thankful our parents boned.

Which is nuts.

But it’s what led me to Ryan.

There’s also a part of me that is completely grossed out by it and doesn’t understand how to move forward with anything, knowing that soon I will be related to the man who gave me one billion orgasms.

My soon-to-be stepbrother is the Sex King.

This is so messed up.

“You okay, Carly?” Ryan asks, his voice just loud enough for my ears.

His words pull my attention, and I realize I’ve just been mindlessly staring at a poster about kidney stones while my brain tries to grapple with everything that’s gone down over the past few days.