“I love you too,” I say.
We lay like that, basking in warmth and contentment, until I get drowsy. Seth glances at his phone.
“They’ll probably be gone for another hour or so. Want to take a quick snooze before I drive you home?”
I nod, and he sets an alarm and gathers me up.
We drift off together, heartbeats in sync.
And when I awaken, it’s not to the beeping of an alarm.
It’s to a child’s voice shrieking, “There’s a girl in Uncle Seth’s bed! And she’s naked!!!”
CHAPTER 29 Seth
“Max, close the door,” I say, bolting up. He can’t hear me, because he’s screaming with a level of horror that would make you think an asteroid just hit the house.
“Max,” I yell. “Close the door.”
His eyes go wide and he freezes, then slams it shut. I hear him running down the hall, still shouting about the woman in my bed.
Said woman has buried herself completely under my tiny blanket, where she is currently laughing so hysterically the bed is shaking.
I lean back against the mini headboard and burst out laughing too.
From the living room, I can hear my sister-in-law trying to quiet her son’s hysteria. It doesn’t seem to be working, because I catch the sound of Jack joining in.
“So much for a clean escape,” I say. “Sorry. I don’t know how they’re back already.”
She reaches for my phone and checks the time. “Probably because your alarm didn’t go off. It’s nine forty-five.”
“Shit. Let me see that?”
Turns out I set the alarm for 8:30 a.m., not p.m.
“Admit it,” Molly says. “You did this on purpose so I would have to do a walk of shame in front of your entire family.”
“Okay. I admit it.”
She flicks me on the shoulder.
“So, what’s the move?” she asks.
“Uh, first we get dressed. Then we go out and act like absolutely nothing in the world is weird about this.”
“Great. That should be easy.”
She slips her sundress over her shoulders and I shimmy on my pants. We gather up all her belongings.
“You ready for this?” I ask her.
She takes a deep breath. “Yes. Can’t wait.”
I open the door and we walk to the kitchen.
My entire family is there. The boys are eating orange Popsicles, which I suspect they were bribed with to get them to stop yelling. But at the sight of us, Max’s eyes bug out of his head.
“That’s the girl!” he cries. “The one that was naked!”
“Guys, this is Molly,” I say, putting my arm around her. “You met her the other day. She’s my girlfriend.”
My mother drops the sponge she’s holding onto the kitchen island and puts her hand over her mouth. My dad inclines his head at me with a huge smile. Dave gapes at me like I’ve announced I’m quitting my job to become a professional hang glider. Max and Jack both squeal “Eeeeeeeeew, girlfriend!”
Only Clara seems to have her wits about her. “Hey, Molly,” she says pleasantly.
Molly smiles at my assembled family members. “Hi.”
Clara gathers her sons and corrals them out onto the lanai, from which their shrill protests of disgust are less deafening. I walk over to the refrigerator and fill two glasses of water.
“Sorry,” I say, handing one to Molly. “We were looking at old yearbooks and lost track of time.”
Dave snorts. “Sounds like they were pretty good yearbooks.”
“Very good,” Molly agrees.
“Did I hear you say ‘girlfriend’?” my mother asks, glancing across the kitchen at my father as if to say is this really happening?
“Yep,” I say.
