She might tell me that we are just a fling, but she was desperate to impress my mum, and to me, that is a woman who wants to stick around in this family.

And I couldn’t be happier.

As we all devour dessert and lean back in our chairs, full of sugar, Mum picks up her glass of wine and looks toward Harper and me.

“So, how long have you two being sleeping together?”

I choke on my red wine and spray it across the white tablecloth.

Flynn bursts out laughing and thumps the table with delight.

“Marion, you can’t say things like that.” Dad takes the wine glass out of her hand, and Harper is still in total shock.

And all I can say to reply is, “I told you it would be written all over my face.”

To which Harper bursts out laughing, thankfully. “You win.” She looks at me.

“I usually do.” I pull her to me and kiss her hard.

Chapter Fourteen

HARPER

The last few days have been a whirlwind.

Knowing I’d been waking up in the middle of a nightmare wrapped in Forrest’s arms, that explained the constant sense of him as I woke every morning. His scent on my pillow was the present that he had left after calming me and then leaving me to sleep. It turns out it wasn’t a magic mattress like I thought it was giving me such a restful sleep, but rather the man who was lying on that mattress during the night.

Then, giving in to feelings of undeniable want, Forrest and I had the hottest weekend in bed together, and many other surfaces in his apartment as well. We explored each other, and I’m just enjoying letting my guard down, for the moment.

Although we have agreed to keep our arrangement between us, there was no way we could keep it from those closest to us. The moment that his mum called us out over dinner, I knew that if I couldn’t keep it from a woman I’d only met for the second time, then there was no way we could keep it from the rest of the group.

I mean, Felisha cornered me the minute she walked into the apartment for the dinner. Her words were still in my head, “You’ve been fucked senseless again by the man over there who can’t keep his eyes off you, haven’t you?” with the biggest smile on her face. She is so Team Forrest in this. She wants what he wants. For me to ride off into the sunset, happily ever after, but we don’t all get that. Felisha was lucky, and I love that for her.

I’m about having fun in the here and now. That’s all it will be.