"I'm so embarrassed, I had no idea that you had company, Jared." His mother said, her face reddening as she avoided my eyes completely. I unlocked my arms from around his neck and slid off of his lap onto the cushion next to him, mortified and struggling to read his facial expressions. The last thing I wanted was step on his toes and do something he didn't approve of. God only knows how many women she's met from his past. I decided to keep quiet and let him handle the situation.
"Well, uh.." he laughed nervously and I could tell he was not counting on me meeting her. I started to feel sick. This wasn't just his mother, but Shannon's as well. I was about to awkwardly become acquainted with the most important woman in their lives and I wasn't exactly sure how to react. I mean, it's not that I didn't want to meet her, I'm sure she's a wonderful person and all, but when you're in love with both of her sons, at the same time, it can make things a little uncomfortable. "Yeah, mom, this is Carrie." He glanced in my direction, raising his brows and making my face heat up.
"Hi, it's so nice to meet you." I instantly began smoothing out my clothes before holding a shake hand out for her to shake. She walked closer, taking my hand in hers as she eyed me up and down.
At that moment all of the uneasy feelings came rushing back, full force. I was in love with both of her boys and the fact that this whole thing could one day blow up in my face and break all of our hearts, had me once again questioning my decisions.
"I'm happy to finally get the opportunity to meet you, even if by accident, because who knows when my son would have finally brought you around." My shorts were way too short and had very little makeup on. All of my flaws were suddenly magnified. Shifting my eyes to look at both of them, standing side by side, I instantly recognized the unmistakable resemblance. "Jared, maybe you can bring her to dinner one night, you know, so I can get to know her a little better." Her friendly tone and genuine smile would have certainly put me at ease if this situation were normal, but it wasn't.
Jared stared down at the floor and I wondered what was going on in his head. "Yeah, we can do that, right babe?" His palm slid against mine, but I knew he was uncomfortable.
"Of course, I'd love that." And I would, under normal circumstances.
"I'm looking forward to it. Jared call me and we'll set it up." She sighed, picking up her phone and turning to walk toward the door. "Carrie, it was very nice to meet you, but I've got to run." He let go of my hand and followed her.
Jared returned seconds later, pulling me into a hug. "Sorry about that, I had no idea she was coming back in, but she is very interested in getting to know you. It's been a while since I've brought a woman to meet her and considering the circumstances of our relationship, I'm not sure how I feel about it. This isn't really fair to Shannon."
"Yeah. Jared, I'm sorry." This would certainly complicate things. "I really should go, I need to get home and go over my schedule." I was lying right through my teeth and by the look on his face, he knew it.
"Really, because I recall you saying how you couldn't focus on anything when you first got here. You couldn't stop thinking about me and just before my mother walked in, I'm pretty sure you were about to fuck me right there on that couch." He stood in front of me, blocking the path to the door. I had to go back up the stairs and retrieve my shoes and phone anyway.
"Meeting your mother was great, but you and I both know that it will only cause issues in the future. She thinks I'm dating you and is completely clueless about my relationship with Shannon." I sat all the way back on the couch. "And what if, God forbid, she happens to see Shannon and me together? Trust me, I will do everything I can to prevent that, but just like what happened a few minutes ago, strange things happen. How would it look if she happened to walk in on Shannon and me? I keep thinking to myself about how fucked up this whole situation is. What if it backfires on us all? Then what?"
He stayed quiet and paced for a few minutes, finally sitting down next to me. "I'm glad you have such faith in us. Look, I don't have answers to your questions okay. I think everything will be fine. You just have to trust us like we trust you." Without another word, he stood and walked off, leaving me alone. He returned within seconds and plopped down, phone in his hand.
"What are you doing?" I asked, watching his fingers fly across the screen. Jesus, he could text much faster than me.
"Shhh," he insisted, pressing the call button amd holding the phone out and turning on the speaker. Shannon's voice came through loud and clear on the other end. "Hey, I need you to get over here as soon as possible. Carrie's here and the three of us need to have a talk."
"Funny, I just got off the phone with mom and was wondering when you'd call."
"News travels fast, huh?" Jared frowned, sliding his fingers against mine. "Okay, see you soon."
"Yep, be there in ten minutes." Shannon hung up and Jared dropped the phone down next to him.
We sat in silence until the door opened and closed. Shannon entered the room holding an iced coffee and sat on the opposite side of me. Removing his sunglasses, he stared down at his plastic cup and slipped his hand around mine. "Sup, lovebirds?"
I have no idea why, but Shannon's presence always made me feel like everything would be okay and I bit back a laugh at his sarcasm. Jared on the other hand, didn't find the comment funny at all and leaned forward, to stare at his brother. "Very funny, you know it wasn't on purpose."
