“Good. Then that's all I want to say about any of it. It's just like I said – we were kicking around places to go for a weekend, and Liam wanted to surf, so we all decided to come here,” she repeated their reasons for driving down. Her mother smiled and sat up straight.
“Of course, and we are so excited. I told your father about how much fun we had last time you were here, so we're going to have another barbecue. I've talked everything over with Wulf's mother, it's going to be a great time.”
“Oh god,” Katya groaned. The last barbecue was also a somewhat sore memory. Her ridiculous jealousy at Wulf talking to a pretty girl, then Wulf sneaking in through her bedroom window. At least she knew that couldn't happen this time – at least not without Liam following behind him.
Talk about awkward.
“Oh hush,” her mother slapped her on the knee. “It's going to be fun, and everyone is eager to see you again. So you will slap on a happy face and make nice with Wulfric for one afternoon, even if it kills you.”
Whoa. Katya swallowed thickly and nodded. When she'd gotten her compliance, her mother smiled and stood up, smoothing her hands over her skirt. Then she informed her daughter that she and Mr. Tocci had dinner plans, so the “kids” would have to fend for themselves.
Katya jaunted over to the house next door and rang the doorbell. She stood up straight and smiled as Ms. Imelda Stone opened the door.
“Dear, I was hoping you'd come stop by!” the older woman exclaimed, then she pulled Katya into a quick hug.
“Of course. How are you?” she asked.
“Oh, ticking along, like always. The boys are outside, if that's who you're looking for.”
After exchanging a couple more pleasantries, Katya headed through the house. As she approached the glass door, she could see Liam standing in front of the pool. When she got next to him, she saw that he was looking down into the water.
“This thing is huge,” he mumbled, not bothering to look at her.
“Yup,” she replied, sliding her hands into her back pockets.
“I mean, I knew he used to swim. That he was like an actual swimmer. But this is kinda insane,” he continued.
“Hey, some people have parents who cry out of pure joy every time they see them. Others have parents who try to buy their love,” she told him. He chuckled and looked over at her.
“Explains a lot about our pal Wulf. And what about you? What kind of weird stuff is normal for your parents?” he asked. She shrugged.
“They used to measure my skirts before I left the house,” she threw out there.
“Holy shit. Your rebellion makes so much more sense now.”
She biffed him in the arm.
“Where's Wulf?” she asked, looking around. He gestured over his shoulder.
“Some office or something,” he explained.
“Uh huh. So. How do you feel about being roommates?” she asked, not resisting the shit eating grin that took over her face.
“Like it sucks. But his mom is super nice, and the room is downstairs, far away from him. Which room is yours, again?” he asked, glancing at her house.
“The one on the … wait, why?” she was suddenly suspicious.
“So I know which room to sneak into later,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She looked away, praying her face wasn't turning completely red.
“My room is closed this weekend, sorry. My parents have planned a big backyard party thing for tomorrow, so looks like today is our only chance for the beach,” she changed the subject.
“Sounds good, I'm good to go. His mom offered to roast a lamb shank. Roast a lamb shank. Do you just keep lamb shank in your freezer on the off chance family comes to town? You would think the fucking king of England was visiting, the way she treats him. She said she ironed his sheets this morning,” he told her.
“I know. I think she's never stopped being amazed by him. I'm gonna go tell him the plans, then head back home and get some stuff. Fifteen, twenty minutes?”
“Okay, meet you out front.”
Katya entered the house and slowly made her way to the office. She felt a little nervous. The last time she'd been in that office, they'd been getting ready for a date. The last time her and Wulf had been alone, they'd kissed. They hadn't really spoken much since the incident. So when she got to the office door, she took a deep breath and knocked once before walking inside.
“What did I say?” he snapped, not bothering to turn away from the desk. “Not to fucking bother me unless it involved you going home or dying of something, so please -”
“Are you five?” she laughed. “You seriously told Liam he couldn't speak to you while he's here?”
Wulf spun around in his desk chair, coolly eyeing her while he moved.
“No. I thought you were my mother.”
It took her a second to realize he was joking.
“Liam said your mother wanted to defrost lamb for you,” she said. He nodded.
“Yes. She put it back in the freezer when I told her we had other plans,” he said, spinning back around and scribbling away at something on a piece of paper.
“I didn't think about that – I feel kinda bad, maybe we should stay and eat here or something,” Katya said, walking up to the desk.
“No, bad would be telling her we're not going and making her feel like she does have to cook dinner for all of us. My mother doesn't particularly enjoy cooking, and she doesn't even like lamb,” he replied.
“Wow. You're actually a pretty good son,” she teased.
“Why are you bothering me?” he asked, flipping over the page he'd been working on and grabbing another one.
“Because it's so fun.”
“I think you just like being in my presence,” he said.
“You think wrong, then.”
“Seriously. I was supposed to be in Malibu this weekend, closing on a property. I'm now trying to do it via e-mail and phone calls. So unless you have something important to stay, I'd appreciate it if you made yourself scarce.”
“Malibu ...” she let her voice trail off as something about that struck a chord. Then she remembered when she'd invited him. “That's why you wanted to take me to Malibu! You didn't want a romantic beach weekend, you wanted to close a deal.”
“I didn't see why I couldn't do both,” he murmured, concentrating on what he was writing.
Katya glared down at him. This was supposed to be her chance to mess with them. Make them feel awkward and embarrassed and just plain awful. Instead, Wulf was being pampered by his mother and continuing on with work as normal, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
“Nice, Wulf. Nice to see you putting in a real effort,” she said snidely, crossing her arms in front of her chest. He snorted.
“I'll put in a real effort when you stop playing games.”
She was glad he was looking down, so he couldn't watch her face turn red as anger bubbled up in her veins. She sputtered for a moment, trying to think of a suitable comeback. Then she remembered what her roommate had told her.
You have the power here, not him. He can only get to you if you let him. Take a deep breath and let it go.
“You're no fun now,” she sighed. “Liam and I are going to the beach, so have fun hiding in here, letting work run your life.”