Page 59 of #Awestruck

That caused our mom to practically sprint into the formal dining room. She liked the table to be perfect for the holiday. Everything had to be as Norman Rockwell as possible.

“So I caught your little burlesque show yesterday.”

“What?” I asked as I looked in the fridge for a spot to put the whipped cream.

“The video? Of you and Evan kissing?”

“Oh.” I was glad I was standing in front of the refrigerator so it could cool off my cheeks. I took out the vegetable tray and set it on the counter to make some room. “That kiss was just for the reporters.”

“Okay.” She said it with a tone that made it clear she didn’t believe me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Aubrey grabbed a carrot from the tray and dipped it in some ranch dressing. “You used to be in love with Evan Dawson, and I don’t think it would take much to get you back to that point. If you’re not already.”

What was that I’d been saying about being crazy and certifiable? The delusional apple didn’t fall far from the lunatic tree. “I don’t ... I didn’t love him. I had a crush on him.”

She popped the carrot in her mouth. “That’s not how I remember it.”

It didn’t really matter how Aubrey remembered it. “I wasn’t capable of loving him at thirteen.”

“Juliet was thirteen inRomeo and Juliet.”

“Clearly she’s not my role model and shouldn’t be a role model for any teen girl.”

“But she was the same age as you and fell madly in love. Evan was your first love. And you never forget your first love.”

Now she was just talking nonsense. “Of course I can’t forget him. He’s sitting in the family room playing with your children. And speaking of forgetting, you said you wouldn’t interfere with my love life.”

Aubrey had moved on to the celery. “That doesn’t sound like me at all. Did you get it in writing?”

“Stupid lawyers,” I muttered. “No wonder Hamlet said to kill you all.”

“That wasn’t Hamlet. It was Dick the Butcher.”

“How do you even remember—never mind. The point is ...” I let my voice trail off as I opened the dishwasher. Someone should get this thing running before we sat down to eat and made a bunch more dirty dishes. Like Evan said, if somebody else had done the cooking, the least I could do was some of the cleaning.

It also gave my hands something to do while I worked through my Evan thought process. “I don’t know what I think about Evan and what’s happening with us.”

“Explain.”

“There are so many possibilities with him. One, he is who he says he is. He’s genuine and a nice guy.”

“That’s my choice.”

I paused with some silverware in my hand. “You haven’t even heard the other ones yet.”

Aubrey sat down on one of the barstools, still going to town on the veggies. “Tell me the others.”

“Two, he’s trying to ease a guilty conscience for how he treated me ten years ago.”

Justin wandered into the kitchen, presumably having been chased out of the dining room for not setting the table right. “Who’s trying to ease a guilty conscience?” he asked.

“Evan,” Aubrey said. “Ashton thinks he feels bad about what happened in high school.”

He looked confused. “You think he’s hanging out with you now for something that happened ten years ago? As a man, allow me to tell you that guys don’t do that. Unless they’re in rehab, they’re not worried about making amends. We’re very good at compartmentalizing and moving on.”

“Yeah. What Justin said.”