Page 88 of Blush Crush

A heads-up from Nora or Blake would’ve been nice.

The room quiets when they notice us.

Leanne Ledger moves first. She smiles at us warmly—at Ariana specifically—and comes forward with her arms open.

Ariana reluctantly lets go of my hand to step into the hug.

“I thought this would be a fun surprise,” Leanne says, pulling back to look at her daughter, “but based on the deer-in-the-headlights look on both your faces, I think I got that wrong.”

Ariana laughs, shaky but genuine. “Just a little.”

Then Leanne turns to me, and before I can prepare for it she pulls me in too. It’s brief—warm and unhesitating. Definitely a mom hug. When she moves back her eyes find mine and hold them.

“I always knew she’d be the one to rock the boat a little,” she says, quiet enough that it’s just for me. “But I think you can handle it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I put on my best smile and try to ignore the wave of guilt rolling through me.

“What are you guys doing here?” Ariana asks Leanne, unable to hide the alarm in her voice.

Leanne puts on a grin, her eyes cutting to my mom before returning to us. “Well I heard about you two becoming an item so then I called up Cristina to see if she had heard and then we got to talking and thought it would be so fun to all get together. Especially when neither of us could seem to pull any information out of you two.”

She’s got that right. Ariana already told me she’d been avoiding her mother, and I was doing the same. I didn’t imagineit would lead to them teaming up against us. I didn’t even know our moms talked beyond polite pleasantries in public.

It’s kind of a mindfuck, and I hate the lack of control I feel right now.

My mother descends on Ariana next, fussing over her, telling her how pretty she is, touching her hair. I can feel Ariana tensing from three feet away.

“Mom.” I step in and tug Ariana gently toward me. “Give her some breathing room.”

My mother’s eyes narrow—not offended, just delighted. “So protective,” she says, her tone teasing.

I put my arm around Ariana and keep it there. “Yeah. I am.”

My mother and Leanne exchange a look over our heads. I get the feeling they’ve been talking about us since the news broke.

Across the room Jack Ledger hasn’t moved. He’s smiling, but it’s guarded and strained—eyes moving between me and Ariana and the arm I have around her. I would imagine his thoughts mirror Ethan’s. Ariana is his baby and I’m probably not who he would’ve chosen for her.

And it doesn’t matter that this isn’t real and I’m not the man she ends up with—it still feels like shit.

My dad, to his credit, has been hanging back through all of this. Reading the room. Letting the mothers run the greeting while he waits for the noise to settle.

Ariana slips out from under my arm and crosses to her dad first. She goes up on her toes to hug him and kiss his cheek and something in Jack’s whole body relaxes the moment she’s in his arms.

He says something into her hair I can’t hear and she laughs quietly against his shoulder.

Then she turns and gives my dad a briefer hug, easy and warm, and my dad—who is not a demonstrative man, who shakes hands and nods—hugs her back with both arms.

I shouldn’t be surprised Ariana managed to soften him up.

“Dinner is ready,” Wela announces, poking her head out from the kitchen. “Everyone find a seat.”

The dining table is extended to its full length to accommodate everyone.

I pull out Ariana’s chair before she can do it herself and she rewards me with a small, shy smile.

While we all get settled around the table, Wela emerges from the kitchen carrying a serving dish, her eyes scanning the room. “¿Y dónde está la muñequita?”

Ariana leans into me. “What did she say? The only other language I speak is French, which is useless right now.”