Chapter Thirteen
Zadie
AssoonasIopened the door to my suite and Eli caught sight of Helen walking around the kitchenette in a tiny pair of shorts and a tank top, he tripped over his own oversize feet and nearly landed on his face.
Helen allowed him some dignity by pretending she hadn’t seen him lose bodily function over her.
“Well, hello, Zadie’s cute family.” Elena strutted out of her room in leggings and a sports bra. Eli’s swallow was audible, poor guy.
My mom hugged them both, cooed over their hair and clothes, and got all the dirt while Eli studied his feet as carefully as he could.
“Did you have a good time on Main Street?” Helen asked.
Mom pressed her hands together under her chin. “Oh yes, we definitely did. Well...Eli was bored to tears with all the shopping I did, but he survived. And you’ll never believe who we ran into.”
My stomach dropped. Oh crap. She was going to say it. Why hadn’t I anticipated this?
Elena pursed her lips. “Hmmm...I don’t think I can guess. You’ll have to tell us.”
“Zadie’s boyfriend. Oh-em-gee, he’s so cute.” Oh god, she said it.
Both Helen and Elena hit me with accusatory stares, then they checked in with each other to ensure neither knew.
“Wow,” Helen said with all kinds of false cheer. “No fair. Zadie hides him from us.”
Oh, I was in for it when my family left.
Elena folded her arms. “Right? It’s almost like we don’t even know he exists.”
Mom hugged me around my shoulders. “Oh my gosh, I know it’s new, but if you haven’t seen them together, youhaveto. Amir treats my girlie like the queen she is. He was all precious with her, pulling out her chair, holding her hand everywhere we went, and, oh, the way he looked at her. It gave me goose bumps.”
Amirhadbeen far too good at pretending to be a devoted boyfriend. As much as I wanted to believe he had it in him to really be that way if he wanted, the truth was, he’d probably seen a romance movie once and absorbed the traits. I was leaning toward deciding he was a sociopath.
“Amir?” Elena turned to Helen with a pinched brow. “Isn’t that the guy who—”
Helen nodded. “Yep.”
They both looked at me again. I hoped my expression was pleading. They could grill me all they wanted when my family was gone, I just needed them to play along for a few minutes.
Elena whipped me with a narrowed gaze. “Helen had a crush on Amir in high school.”
Mom covered her mouth. “Am I talking out of turn? Did you guys not know Zadie’s dating him?”
“It’s new,” I murmured.
Because she was a cool, cool girl, Helen waved off my mother’s worries. “No, I knew. Zadie ran it by me before anything happened. My crush is ancient history, and it definitely wasn’t reciprocated. But Zadie’s so sweet and careful about my feelings, she doesn’t bring him around the suite, so we don’t get to see them together.”
Elena crossed to me and hooked her arm around my neck. “You’ll have to bring your man by for inspection. It’s one thing for Mom to approve. It’s a whole other for your friends to give him the stamp.”
“Helen has a boyfriend,” I blurted. “His name is Theo, and she wants to tell you all about him.”
My mom was a little bit of a golden retriever—easily distracted and sought out happiness to rub herself all over. And since she and Max were basically still newlyweds, she couldn’t get enough of other people’s love stories. Therefore, her attention shifted to Helen and away from me. While she bombarded Helen with questions about Theo, Elena hissed at me, motioning for me to join her by the sink in the kitchenette.
“Don’t even think about leaving this suite until you spill, girlie.” Elena tapped my nose. “I hope the ass you’re tapping is worth the third degree you’re about to get.”
“Vulgar,” I whispered.
Her mouth twitched with amusement. “Tramp,” she whispered back.