Ugh. How do I put this…
“So you’re probably not going to like this.”
“What? Lilly, just say it.”
I squirm, adjusting the seat belt. Though it’s not pulling on my chest, it feels like it’s choking me. “When I walked through the kitchen after using the bathroom, your mom kind of cornered me.”
“Okay?”
“And asked point-blank if we’re dating. I mean…I didn’t know what to say. She looked so…” My hands do that thing where you wave them around here and there. “Hopeful. And I didn’t want to ruin her evening.”
“Ruin her evening?” Rome turns his body to look at me. “Wait. What does she think is happening between us? You obviously told her we’re just friends.”
“Not exactly?”
He glances over.
Glances at the road.
Glances back over at me. “Lilly. Did you tell my mother we’re dating?”
“No?” Did I? Um. “Not exactly—but I also didn’t deny it.” He looks appalled. Absolutely appalled. “What!? I was trying to make her happy! It’s harmless!”
Shit.
He does not look happy.
At all.
I mean, what’s he so mad about? It’s not like I committed a crime! All I did was make his mother happy. She looked so…excited.
And I’ve never had a guy’s mother fawn over me that way—I guess you could say I got caught up in the moment.
“Is it so bad that they think you’re seeing me? Are you that embarrassed about it?” My stomach drops as I cross my arms over my chest, affronted. “I know I’m not winning a Nobel Peace Prize for being smart, but I do okay. I made the dean’s list.” Two years ago, and for one semester only.
“You think I’d be embarrassed to be dating you?”
I look out the window at the little farms and houses in the distance. We’re on the highway now, not too far from school but still driving in the middle of nowhere. Not much to see. I turn back toward Roman.
“I don’t know. What other reason would make you so upset? The next time you go, all you have to do is say we’re not dating anymore, right? No big deal.”
They do that on television all the time and in those cute little holiday movies.
“Lilly. You met my mother—you’ve seen what she’s like, and you only spent two hours with her.” His hands grip the wheel, and if it were brighter in here, I bet I’d see white knuckles. “She’s going to hound me to know details about our relationship that don’t exist—and I’m going to have to tell her you lied just to save my ass because you thought you were helping.”
Well shit, when he puts it that way…
“I am so sorry, Roman. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I thought telling her we were dating would mean she would leave you alone about it and not bug you.”
“I want to make the buzzer sound and rest my head on the steering wheel, but that would only make you feel worse.”
“Huh?”
“Crap. Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes, you said that out loud.”
“Sorry.” He grunts, shifting in his seat, which is no easy task given he’s strapped into it. “I get it—you were just trying to help. Which isn’t going to solve my problem.”
“What problem is that, exactly? You have an awesome family, you get stellar grades, you just moved into an amazing house.” I tick off his lack of problems on my fingers one by one.
“True. However”—he thrusts one finger into the air—“that’s not going to keep my mother from breathing down my neck in the worst possible way.”
“Is she that bad? She can’t be that bad.” Can she? I wouldn’t know as my mom has no interest in my dating life other than to discourage me from having one. It seems Roman and I have the opposite problem when it comes to our parents. “She fed me.”
Roman laughs, eyes on the road. “What are you, like a stray cat that gets fed once and becomes loyal for life?”
Basically. “Ha! No.” But I don’t mind a free meal now and again…and again.
Meow.
“Well, maybe it wouldn’t hurt for her to believe we’re dating for a while. Then maybe she would stop trying to set me up with the daughters of the women she volunteers with. She hasn’t done it in a while, but she was gearing up to.”
“It’s not as if she’s going to see me again.” I pause, considering this statement. “On second thought, I do want free food, so she probably will be seeing me again.” I laugh. “It wouldn’t be a hardship to gaze into your eyes and smile adoringly.”
I blink and flutter my eyes rapidly in his direction while clutching my chest, pantomiming an old cartoon where the girl skunk has heart eyes for the boy skunk.
“Lord, I wouldn’t even be able to take you seriously if you were making that face at me across the table.”