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“For the record,” Nancy said, having finally made her way to us, “I tried to stop her. Not very hard, but I did.”
“They were nice,” I replied. “And you did warn me about them.”
“My reputation precedes me.” Isra smiled, but then she looked at me. “Though I can see why you wanted to lock her down so quickly.”
“Right?” Levi put a hand on my shoulder. “Just look at her. The dress alone is incredible.”
I had to resist the urge to sputter awkwardly at the compliments. What did peopledowhen they got so many?
“Thanks,” I finally was able to say. “It’s vintage, like most of my things.”
“And thishouse,”Isra started. “Finally, Levi can move out of that ugly apartment.”
Levi’s hand tightened on my shoulder. We hadn’t talked about this.Whyhadn’t we talked about it?
The answer was obvious. We wouldn’t be moving in together. Not for a fake marriage.
“Um, yeah. We’re still figuring out who will move.” All I needed to do was delay until Levi and I could get our shit together and communicate properly.
“It should be him, obviously. You own this home, right?”
“Yes.”
“This is afamilyhome. You don’t raise kids in apartments, Levi. You know that.”
“I do,” he said. He sounded much calmer than I felt. “We’ll figure it out.”
She narrowed her eyes; I knew that wasn’t a good answer. But before I could try and give her a better one, I caught sight of my parents again, still staring at me.
“Um, I should go talk to my mom and dad,” I said. “Give me one second.”
“Are you sure?” Nancy asked. “It’s very fun here.”
“They came all this way,” I replied. “It’s only polite to.”
“Then I’m coming with you,” Levi said, his hand sliding into mine. “We should do everything together, right?”
“He’s a pro already.” Isra leaned into Levi and added under her breath, “Try not to lose it this time.”
“Like you wouldn’t.”
I looked between the two of them with a raised brow. What the hell were they talking about?
“Come on,” Levi urged, tugging me away. “Let’s get this over with.”
“H-hey,” I said when I walked up to them. “So glad you guys could make it.”
Mom glared at Levi before turning to me. “Yes, sure.”
“It could have been a better day,” Dad muttered.
“My wife didn’t want her brother here,” Levi said firmly. “So he had to leave.”
“Wait, what?” I asked. “What do you mean he had to leave?”
“Calvin wanted to celebrate you, and this man kicked him out.” Mom said it like it was the worst thing to ever happen to her.
“I’m her husband,” Levi reminded. “And he was going to start a problem. So I prevented that.”