All I've Never Wanted(74)

“So, we have to figure out how we’re going to tell everyone else we’re not really dating,” Parker said, breaking through my thoughts. “I don’t think they’ll be too happy to find out we’ve been lying to them.”

“Well, Carlo already knows,” I mused. “That’s one less angry person we’ll have on our heels.”

Parker shook his head. “He’s too smart for his own good. I’m not too worried about Zack. Adri…well, I have no idea how she’ll take it. I’m most worried about Roman though. I feel like he’s going to flip a shit when he finds out we’ve been lying to him about our relationship.”


I nodded in agreement, shuddering a bit as I imagined Roman’s reaction.

Turns out, I didn’t need to imagine it, because a second later, a very familiar voice roared, “What do you mean you’ve been lying about your relationship?!”

Parker and I froze, staring at each other with wide eyes before turning slowly around.

I gulped when I saw Roman standing there, sparks flying from his stormy violet eyes as he glared at us. He looked very, very angry.

I whipped my head around. “Parker! Did you forget to close the door?” I hissed.

Parker ran a hand nervously through his hair. “Haha, um…oops?”

Oops. That’s what he had to say. Oops.

I turned back to Roman with my sweetest, brightest smile, hoping that’ll calm him down. It didn’t work.

We are so dead.

CHAPTER 18

“Stop! You’ll kill him!”

I frantically grabbed a fistful of Roman’s shirt and gave it a hearty yank. He didn’t budge, but my hands slipped on the smooth cotton so I ended up falling backwards, right on my butt.

“Oof!” I groaned, glad the floor was carpeted. However, the pain dissipated in the wake of my fear as I stared, wide-eyed, at the scene before me.

Roman had slammed Parker up against the wall and was huffing and puffing like an angry dragon. I was surprised I didn’t see steam pouring out of his ears. Meanwhile, Parker looked a bit scared—though not scared enough, in my opinion.

“It’s alright, Maya,” he said rather calmly, not seeming at all fazed by the fact that Roman looked like he was about to punch him in the face. “He won’t kill me. He’s supposed to stay in my family’s house in Oahu next summer.”

Roman let out a low growl, and I groaned. “Parker! Now’s not the time to be making jokes!”

I scrambled to my feet and attempted to pull Roman off once again. It didn’t work; he shrugged me off as easily as if I were a

feather.

However, after a moment, he finally let go and took a step back to glare at us, sparks practically flying from his violet eyes.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” he roared, his voice loud enough to shatter glass. If all the glass in the room hadn’t been shatterproof, that is.

I instinctively whimpered and stepped behind Parker.

“Er…well, we did plan on telling you, sooner or later.” Parker cleared his throat as he straightened his shirt.

“I can’t believe it,” Roman muttered furiously. “All this time, I thought you two were dating. I even tried to get along with her!”

He jabbed a finger in my direction. “I even went to her house! With lollipops!”

Parker’s eyes widened, swiveling his head between Roman and myself. “You went to her house? With lollipops?”

“That’s not the point!” Roman bit out, but his face had turned pink. Inanely, I wondered what ever did happen to those lollipops. “The point is, I would never have had to—to be so nice if you two hadn’t lied to me!

Parker sighed. “Oh, calm down.”

I couldn’t help but stifle a giggle as Roman’s eyes almost popped out of his head. A vein pulsed dangerously in his forehead. “YOU’RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN?!”

Oh boy. I immediately covered my ears with my hands to protect my eardrums, but I could still hear him loud and clear.

“How can I calm down when I just found out one of my best friends has been lying to be for weeks?!”

“It’s not necessarily lying,” my big mouth piped up of its own accord. “It’s more like—like acting.”

Roman shot me a don’t-you-start-with-me look and I immediately shrunk back, wondering when I’d started fearing Roman Fiori.

“And why exactly were you two ‘acting’?”

That, I can answer. Eagerly, frantically, I launched into an explanation about my grandmother’s matchmaking schemes and how Parker just so happened to show up at the right time. “I mean, you’ve met my grandmother, you know how scary she is,” I babbled almost incoherently.

Parker’s loud guffaw interrupted me. “You met her grandmother?” he chuckled. “How did that go?”

I winced. Oh. Maybe now hadn’t been the best time to bring that little incident up…

Roman’s face turned purple. “I. Don’t. Want. To. Talk. About. It,” he hissed, glaring at me like it’d been my fault. The venom in his voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Nevertheless, I huffed indignantly. Well, I never told him to wear the darn Mickey Mouse shirt, and I certainly never told him to come to my house in the first place. He had only himself to blame.