Page 46 of Say Yes to the Hot Mess
No, no, no! Stop thinking about him!
But in turning away from Dex, my mind immediately goes back to Archer, and that’s even worse.
“All right. Should we lay out some ground rules and get our story straight?” I say, because a) I need a distraction so I don’t think about missing Archer, and b) I am not a great liar, so I need to be prepared. “We need to figure out what we’re going to say if people ask how we met or something. I’m supposed to be your girlfriend, right?”
“That’s what I told my mother,” Dex says, nodding. “She’s trying to marry me off. So we do need to be convincing. For how we met, I’d say let’s stick to the truth. We’re neighbors. We didn’t get along at first—”
“But then we fell madly in love?” I say skeptically, raising one brow at him.
He shoots me a grin. “What can I say? You found me irresistible. ‘Stupid hot,’ even.”
“I knew that was going to come up,” I mutter, but I’m smiling too. “Fine. How long have we been together?”
“Ah. Well,” he says, shifting in the driver seat. “That’s where we’re going to have to be creative. Because my mother knows that not so long ago, I was decidedly single.”
“That’s right,” I say, remembering the conversation I overheard while he was out by the hot tub. I think for a second. “Okay, well, it was love at first sight, then. I saw you when you moved in and we hit it off immediately, but you only asked me out when you found out you needed a date.”
“Good,” he says, nodding, and some of the tension leaves his shoulders. “That works.”
“Of course,” I say airily, examining my fingernails, “youbeggedme to go out with you—”
“I don’tbeg—” he cuts me off.
“And you were sosweetwith your puppy dog eyes when you said you absolutely couldn’t live without me—”
“Maya,” he growls, and my words turn into laughter.
“Calm down,” I say, swatting him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass you or your masculinity.”
“I’m not worried about my masculinity,” he says, glancing quickly at me. “My masculinity is firmly in place. What I’m worried about is my mother hearing that I told a woman I couldn’t live without her. She would have you trying on wedding dresses faster than you could blink.”
“Oof,” I say, wrinkling my nose. “Shereallywants you to get married.” Scarlett was right: Mama Anthony is overbearing.
He nods, turning on the blinker and then switching lanes. “She does. She wants grandchildren. Speaking of which—”
“Oh, I’m not going to tell her about Archer,” I say quickly.
Dex sighs with relief. “Good. I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m not sure how it would go over.”
“I’m not in the mood to be judged,” I say quietly. I hope that doesn’t offend him, basically assuming that his mother is a judgmental woman, but…it’s true.
“So you and the father weren’t married?” he says, looking at me.
“No,” I say with a sigh. Oddly enough, I don’t mind telling him that. Maybe because I have no problem setting him straight if he decides to get uppity about it. “We were dating, and when I found out I was pregnant, we got engaged, but…” I shrug. “We weren’t a good fit. And we definitely wouldn’t have been happy.”
“What makes you say that?” Dex says.
“Well, he wanted an open marriage, for one,” I say, my voice dry. “And he for sure cheated on me, then tried to play it off like we’d been in an open relationship the whole time.”
“Wow,” he says, sounding stunned. “That’s…sort of horrible.”
I nod. “It really is.” I swallow, my mind going back to everything that went down with Chet. “I held onto the relationship for much longer than I should have,” I admit. “I just was so scared, you know? I was young and pregnant with very little support system—my cousin and his best friend were the only ones nearby. Uncle Frank was supportive, but he’s here, and I was in Missouri.”
“Parents?” he says, glancing over at me.
I shrug. “My dad passed about four years ago, and my mom left when I was little.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, looking sort of like he regrets asking.
