The Way to Game the Walk of Shame(29)

“Yes.”

And just like that, his nauseating, charming facade fell into place. Urgh. The wide phony grin that snared my mom was fixated on his face as he shook Taylor’s hand, tugging her closer to his side. “I met him a few times at the Hope for Cancer fund-raisers. He’s a brilliant man. Absolutely brilliant. I should have known you were his daughter. You’re his spitting image.”

“Thanks. He’s my stepfather.”

I snorted and had to play it off as a cough. That’s my girl. I shot Taylor a proud smile that she returned with a small wink.

“Of course. Cole and your mother met after your father ran off with that—” Mom broke off her sentence. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up the, well, the incident.”

The expression on Taylor’s face didn’t change. “That’s all right, Mrs. McKinley. It happened a long time ago.”

“Of course.” Mom shot a glance at Brandon. “And I’m actually Mrs. Willard.”

Taylor blinked. “But Evan’s—”

“My mom changed her name after she remarried, but I kept my name.” I crossed my arms and nodded toward Brandon, who seemed to be trying his best to ignore me. His finger kept scratching at his leg, like I was an itch he couldn’t get rid of. “I wouldn’t want to contaminate the Willard name in any way.”

Brandon didn’t let that faze him. “So, Taylor, what’s a smart girl like you doing with Evan?” He laughed as though it were the funniest thing in the world. “Don’t you have enough sense to stay away? Some of us don’t have a choice, but at least you do.”

Mom laughed, too, but her eyes nervously flickered to me. My hands clenched together into tight fists at my sides. I was about to tell him where he could shove it when Taylor spoke up.

“That’s true. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I met Evan.” She gave me a genuinely sweet smile that made me automatically step toward her. I could feel my anger slowly fade as she reached out to take my right hand, gripping it tightly. “Or rather, what I was missing.”

“That’s … nice.” The disgust on his face was evident. Probably couldn’t believe how a deadbeat like me was able to get a girl like Taylor. Thank god he didn’t know it was fake.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I must have brainwashed her or something. But hey, I guess I learned something from you after all, right?” Unable to help myself, I nodded toward my mom, who was studying the beige carpet beneath our feet, always conveniently turning deaf whenever Brandon and I fought. She was a pro at ignoring the truth.

Brandon’s nose flared, and he turned an ugly shade of purple before stomping away. “I need to call the hospital to check on some patients. Let me know when you want me to help you with dinner, Eva.”

Mom didn’t look up or even respond until his study door slammed shut with a bang. She let out a deep breath and smiled at us as though the past three minutes hadn’t happened. “I’m so glad to meet you. Evan never lets me meet any of his girlfriends.”

“I’m sure he was just worried about bringing them home.”

“Oh, I’m sure he brings plenty of girls home. I’m just saying he never let me meet any of them before.”

This time Taylor’s laugh was genuine. It got louder when I sat down on the arm of the couch and dropped my head to my knees with a loud smack. Taylor patted my shoulder in sympathy.

“Did you eat yet?” Mom asked. “I can whip up a quick batch of chocolate-chip cookies. Or maybe you could even stay for dinner?” Her eagerness was obvious to everyone.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Willard, but I should go home to eat dinner with my parents soon. I wouldn’t mind taking those cookies home, though,” Taylor quickly added when Mom’s face fell. “My dad has a major sweet tooth.”

“Wonderful! I’ll make them right now. It won’t take any time at all.”

Unable to take Mom’s fawning anymore, I grabbed Taylor’s hand and pulled her toward the stairs. “Come on. We’ll be back in a bit.”

“Sure thing, sweetheart.” Mom practically floated into the kitchen. If I didn’t know that Brandon was an uptight ass, I would have thought they had stopped at a bar or something.

I shook my head. “You better run while you still can. If she could, she’d probably stuff you with cookies and food until you’re too full to leave and will be forced to marry me.”

Taylor stumbled and fell forward against my back, almost making me trip on the steps. I steadied myself against the wall and whipped around to hold her arm so she wouldn’t topple over and hurt herself. Her cheeks were a bit pink as she moved a few steps down so I was no longer touching her. With one hand firmly on the banister, she waved her other hand for me to keep moving. I gave her a funny look before turning back toward the stairs.

“Your mom’s not that bad,” she continued as though we both hadn’t almost fallen off the stairs. “She actually reminds me a lot of my mom. Minus the baking. My mom can’t bake to save the world.” She stopped laughing when we reached the top and I headed toward my room. “Wait, where are we going?”

“Where do you think?”

“But … but we agreed that we wouldn’t go into your room.”