Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Shit.
I’d been smart enough to silence all the sounds and notifications so nothing like that would give me away, but if I wasn’t careful it was going to blow my cover.
Ha.
Not family.
Subtly turning away, I answered the call where Bastian couldn’t see what I was doing and just kept going. “No, it’s going to be fine. I know it.”
“What are you doing? Are you ordering food? Do I need to give you the same lecture I had to give my dad? Don’t answer the phone on the toilet.”
Marius could’ve just kept going, so I ignored him and chuckled. “No, I’m just going to enjoy it and see what turns up…but yeah…one or two more and then I think we’re going to move into real-world fun instead of just cute toys and teasing.”
As I chuckled again, pretending Marius had said something naughty, I headed back toward the house and smiled as he sighed. “What did you do? I’ve ended up in the middle of shenanigans again. Is your mother there? You need to learn to set better boundaries. Tell her you’re not going to talk about women with her. It’s weird.”
Snickering honestly that time, I made sure I was inside with the door shut before I started laughing. “He was listening. It was perfect. I’m a genius.”
Well, Terrence was a genius and I was just doing what he would do.
Marius sighed again and I knew he’d flopped back dramatically on his bed. “What did you do? Wait. Did you actually do it? Was this that harebrained scheme about faking having a Secret Santa?”
Snorting, I headed into the kitchen and started poking through my cabinets for what I should eat for dinner. “It’s brilliant, not harebrained.”
“You’re crazy.” Marius sounded like he was firmly convinced he was right, but he thought my cousin Sergio was the hottest guy he’d ever seen…so his judgment was questionable.
Enzo was hotter or our second cousin Nico, but he was so taken no one looked twice at him.
“Crazy smart.” And I was smart enough not to go to the window and peek out to see what Bastian was doing. “You’ll see.”
“Yeah, I’ll see insanity explode everywhere and have to go bail you out like we did your aunt Gabby.” Marius’ understanding of my family’s insanity was probably the only reason he hadn’t actually tried to get Sergio’s attention.
“No bail necessary with this plan.” Worst-case scenario Bastian would think I was ridiculous and too young to date, and he already thought that, so I had very little to lose.
“What did you do?” Finally sounding relaxed and like he was ready to hear how brilliant I was, I pulled out a box of cereal and sighed. The best thing about getting a Daddy was going to be having someone to make me dinner.
“I gave myself a pretend Secret Santa and might’ve been pacing around the backyard like I was talking to you about it.” And really oversharing compared to what I’d usually tell Marius.
He was kind of nervous about that kind of stuff.
“I told imaginary you about the gifts I’d been getting and about the notes he’d sent me.” Being able to just talk about the stuff Enzo had done for Terrence made the whole thing much more believable. “I pretended not to notice that Bastian was sneaking around his backyard, and I stayed very engaged in our conversation, so it was perfectly believable.”
I was amazing.
“We weren’t having a conversation, so it shouldn’t have been believable.” Marius was just a bit of a pessimist, so I didn’t take his drama personally.
Hmm. He really might’ve been my Leander.
“You were amazing too and asked very good questions.” Writing out the script hadn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. “I was cute and sounded believably excited.”
“Really?”
So much drama in such a boring-looking body.
“Yep, Bastian didn’t say anything or even do that snorty kind of sigh that means he thinks I’m being ridiculous. He can’t help himself with that, so it means I was amazing.” Bastian said a lot without actually using words, so I knew I’d have heard if he thought I was faking the whole thing.
“You’d better hope he doesn’t think it’s real because he’s the worry and tattle type. What if he tells your mother that you’re doing something dangerous?” Marius knew my family well enough to know what direction chaos could take.
“Then I’m going to play dumb and steer her toward Cousin Amy. She’s been dating that Hell’s Angel type and I’ve got good ammo on them.” They’d eloped to Vegas and thought no one knew. “But it’s not something I’m going to pull out unless absolutely necessary.”
I had a few other tiny revelations I could try first, but everyone was still so focused on Enzo and Terrence that I was pretty sure my life could explode with omegas and aliens and they wouldn’t notice. “They’re all still trying to find a way to bug Enzo’s house to see what type of CIA agent Terrence is.”