Silent, unforgiving and strikingly gorgeous, Rylan Parker is a cold-hearted businessman. An intimidating CEO, perfectly fitted in tailored suits and with a soft side reserved only for his little daughter.
He can't afford to fall for anyone and defin...
"Girl, I still can't believe you bagged that God-like man." Liv's eyes sparkled with excitement as she loudly whispered to me.
I chuckled. Me neither!
"Such a cliché! The hotshot billionaire falls in love with the beautiful little waitress." I resisted the urge to scoff at her dreamy expression. Love! Right! She couldn't have been farther away from the truth!
A week back, Liv wasn't this ecstatic about the whole affair when I first broke it to her. First on the list was suspicion. Can't blame her! You just don't one day out of a sudden announce your boyfriend to your best friend. They know from the very first eye contact. So this abrupt relationship was a bit much for her to stomach.
It took a whole lot of convincing and when we were finally past that phase, she felt betrayed. She said that I had curbed her rights as my best friend and it was an absolute breach of best friend policy. Yep, she could be a bit dramatic. It made me feel even worse about lying to her.
When she saw Rylan's picture she said that she could justify why it all happened so fast. She said and I quote 'a face that sexy can bring anyone to their knees'. It was offensive. He didn't bring me to my anything. Far from it!
Dean on the other hand had been a lot more skeptical. He didn't say much but I knew he was having a hard time believing this story.
And my parents? They were disheartened that I was in a relationship so serious that I was considering marriage and yet I hadn't thought of telling them earlier, much less bringing Rylan home to meet them. On top of that was my decision to join Parker Realty. I felt like all I had done the past few days was disappoint the people who really mattered to me.
"Tell me, how good is he? Is he big?" Liv nudged me with her elbow, pulling me back from the tiny guilt trip. Dean could clearly hear her, the shake of head gave it away.
"I'm not telling you that." I dismissed… or tried to. She dragged her chair closer to mine with unyielding enthusiasm shining in her eyes.
"Come on, he oozes sex appeal! You can smell it in the air. I need to know if he lives up to it." I knew she wouldn't relent unless I gave her something but the thing is I myself was, you know, slightly less aware about the thing we were discussing. It's however an easy assumption that Rylan promised a good time in bed. It's in everything, from his rather sharp features to the way he carries himself in an Armani tailored suit.
I pushed the thought away as soon as it came to me. Earlier tonight when we were outside, a part of me had for the tiniest second thought that he would kiss me and the scary part was that I wasn't repulsed by the thought. The last thing I needed was to think about his erotic potential.
"He's good." I added in a little coy smile to make it believable and get Liv off my back. She opened her mouth to say something when Mom cut in.
"One of you, help me with the dishes." She called from the kitchen.
"I'll do it." Dean volunteered.
"Look at him! Doesn't leave a chance to impress Talia." I nodded, agreeing to Liv's statement. Liv and Dean used to date back in mid school but then they broke up. They got over it pretty soon though.
My house has mostly been the hangout spot for us. While one reason could be all the snacks Mom loved to prepare for us, the split between Dean's parents was potentially the other one. He was very young when his mother remarried and never looked back. He wasn't in the best place with his Dad either. The only thing that mattered to Mr. Baxter was his business.
As for Liv, she had lost her Mom freshman year. Speeding car, a terrible road accident. I saw her get through it, her and Dean both and it just made me feel so lucky to have my parents with me in every step of my life. Except this time, I was keeping them out of it, lying to their faces.
I sighed.
"Oh he doesn't need to. I am already impressed with him." He side-hugged Mom and poked his tongue at us.
"Of course! He is your favourite child!" I muttered staring at my phone.
"He might be!" Our head snapped towards Mom who patted Dean's cheek.
"Mom!?"
"How can you say that!?" Me and Liv exclaimed at the same time.
"Stop whining you two and help me clean up the table." We pulled our asses up and engaged in the work assigned to us. I was putting the leftovers in the fridge when Liv loudly cleared her throat.
"So….I approve of your boyfriend." She declared like she hadn't told me already. It was her way of getting a word out of everyone.
Mom smiled. "So do I."
"I don't." Dad was sitting at the end of the table.
Mom's lips flattened into a thin line. "We don't want your inputs here. You would never approve of any potential man for your daughter." Her accusation was true. Dad never liked any of my boyfriends. I chuckled at the face Dad had pulled.
"Well I don't want to lose my daughter so soon." He grumbled.
"Dad, you're never losing me." He returned my smile.
"Dean?" I looked up too, curious about his answer. He glanced at me for a second before thrusting his hands in his pocket.
"I don't know what I think about him." Did he not buy our act? Why was he staring at me like he was trying to figure out a puzzle?
"That was enlightening!" Liv chirped, slicing through the tension between us and I realized something.
I needed to be more careful.
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