Witness

27. Chelsea

"Chelsea?" The tone of my mothers voice is pure shock.

Which is to be expected, really. I don't bring men back to the house, much less hover over them in bed. Almost kissing. 

...At least what I thought was almost kissing. Kaiden is unreadable at the best of times; he could've been on the verge of pushing me off him. 

"Mum," I say, because it's the first thing that pops into my head. 

Oh my God, I'm still leaning over him. Our faces are still inches apart, only we're both looking at the woman in the doorway. My back clicks because I sit up so quickly.

"That was..." I try to begin some sort of explanation, but nothing comes. 

Not what it looked like. 

(Or was it?)

"Mrs Jones," Kaiden greets, standing up. "I'm Kaiden. Chelsea's... friend." 

To his credit, the word friend used in association with me doesn't make him grimace. That's got to be progress. 

"Kaiden from the date?" My mum asks, a smile beginning to blossom over her face as she takes his hand into the two of hers. 

Fuck. 

"Yes!" I cut in. "From the date, exactly." 

"You didn't pick her up at the door," she immediately starts. 

Oh my God. I swear I murmur the words under my breath. 

Obsessive. Always. Ever since our father died. 

It's always marriage and babies and finding someone to devote your life too. I'm too old - she's desperate to couple me off with someone. She thinks surpassing teenage years without a least one long term relationship is a failure. 

I'll never hear the end of this with Kaiden, even when he's long gone. 

"We were about to miss our reservation. I'm so sorry." 

My eyes are wider than his. His composure is so solid it's a wonder he doesn't do this all the time - but hey, maybe he does. I don't know how often he dates. I don't even know if he's single. 

(Of course he's single. His mostly empty, undecorated bachelor pad screams single.)

"And my Chelsea would just hide you away..." She grins, peering around him. "How tall are you, Kaiden? You must be at least six foot, no? And that lovely, dark hair - not thinning at all-" 

"Mum," I cry.

"Well, love, you expect with men of a certain age..." She peers up at him, waiting for him to cut in. 

"I'm twenty nine," he answers coolly, left side of his smile rising higher than the right. "And not bald at all." 

"And the height?" She presses. 

"Six foot two." 

Throwing an even bigger grin back at me, she links her arm through his and begins leading him out of the room. He looks back at me with eyes so wide his eyebrows are practically off him face. 

"So, Kaiden, what do you do? Because, you know..." 

Her voice fades as they descend the stairs. 

As soon as she's out of earshot, I groan. Loudly. 

Only my mother. Only she could be so insane as to walk in on me almost kissing a man, and steal him away to assess his worthiness with a cheshire cat grin plastered over her face.