Page 57 of Twisted Truth

“Come in.”

“Hi,” I say, finishing untying my tie and unbuttoning my collar. “Dinner’s ready. And sorry I didn’t warn you that Declan would be here, I totally forgot we had planned to watch the game tonight.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to feel bad about spending time with your brother.”

“I just don’t want you to feel out of place. Since you live here now, I want it to feel comfortable for you.”

“I’m good. Honestly, I’m going to eat quickly and just come back up here and relax. I’m really tired. It’s been a long week, and it isn’t even Friday.”

I nod, agreeing. This has been a fucking long week. I don’t often burn out, but this week has put me there. And that’s just my load. It’s not half as bad as Ella’s world being completely turned upside down since Monday. I want to make it up to her, however I can.

“Do you want to take tomorrow off?”

“I basically have it off. I’ll be shopping for my new wardrobe all morning, and then we’re finalizing all the things for the gala Saturday night since it’s our first official public appearance.”

“Are you excited about shopping?” Hopefully that’s a perk to all this that can brighten her night.

“Kind of. I’m not a huge shopper, so I tire of it quickly. And this is going to be a long haul of trying on and analyzing clothes in front of a team of people. So, I’m a little nervous.”

“You’ll do great. And you’ll look amazing in everything, so it should be easy.”

“Tell that to Matthew. He’s excruciatingly picky with what he thinks looks good on me.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” I say with a laugh. “The only person I’m afraid of is Matthew.”

Ella chuckles, but then begins to fidget with the hem of her shirt.

“What’s up?” I ask.

She looks at me, almost sheepishly. “I know we never finished our conversation this morning about the intimacy aspects of this arrangement, but I think I need to take a pause on the subject, at least for tonight. I’m too tired to argue about it.”

Same here, I think, relieved.

“I’ll pencil you in for a fight tomorrow night.” I wink.

She laughs. “Sounds like a date.”

With that, we head downstairs to dinner.

Declan shouts at the TV, then yells at me to get into the living room; I’m missing it all, apparently. I try to whip up some enthusiasm. Normally, I love watching a game and hanging out with Declan, but like Ella, I’m just so tired tonight.

“Do you want to eat in the living room with us?” I ask her as she dishes up her plate.

“Um,”

“Come on, I don’t want you to eat alone.”

“Okay,” she acquiesces, following me.

We sit down on the massive gray couch, setting our plates on the oversized coffee table. I dig into a slice of homemade, gourmet, chef prepared pizza and try to get into the game. But it holds little interest for me.

“Come on!” Declan shouts as he paces, pizza in one hand and a beer in the other. “That was a foul!”

Ella eats and sips her wine with a half amused expression as she vacillates between watching the game and watching Declan watch the game.

“Is he always like this?” She smirks in Declan’s direction.

“This is toned down. You should have seen him when we were younger. He once broke a coffee table from jumping on it during a playoff game.”