Pretend (72 page)

             
Anthony watched with an amused grin on his face as me and Aiden were stood with the most confused looks on our faces
.

             
"No
,
I'm afraid that he is not available as he is in a committed relationship at present and is no longer offering his services for free. However if you'd like to leave a message then I'd be happy to pass it along?" She asked as Anthony burst out laughing.

             
"Oh dear, she hung up," Jess said with an evil grin on her face.

             
"That
British
accent that you do is so sexy, you should talk like that more often," Anthony said as he smirked at Jess.

             
"Whatever player.
How many more calls are you anticipating?" She asked eagerly.

             
"Not sure but I'll be sure to pass them along," he said as he smiled at her.

             
"Good, I want to try out my
Australian
accent next time, this really is fun," she beamed.

             
"See I told you and to think that you didn't want to do it the first time," he said as he scoffed at her.

             
"Ok
,
so you were right for once in your life,
anywho
I'm off. Bye," she said as she winked at him and walked back
 
towards the bedroom.

             
"Hey, no kiss?" He asked as he pouted and pretended to be hurt.

             
"Nope, you'll get a kiss when your fan club diminishes," she said with a smirk on her face.

             
"Baby, I thought that you had forgiven me. I can't control who calls me, plus it gives you a chance to try out all of your crazy accents," he said with a smile on his face.

             
"So what I'm still making you suffer. It teaches you for being such a player," she said as she let out a small laugh.

             
"I used to be a player
,
remember? I'm a changed man baby," He said as he laughed.

             
"Yeah well I'm doing it for all the innocent hearts that you ever broke, now get lost lover boy," she said as she patted his cheek with the palm of her hand and laughed.

             
"You're lucky that I lo-like you so much," he said as he smiled at her.

             
"Yeah, yeah.
Bye," she said as she giggled and walked back into the bedroom.

             
"Yeah bye," he said as he stood and stared at the door that she had just walked through with a smile on his face before
disappearing
into Murphy's room.

             
It was as if neither of them even noticed us standing there.

             
"You will tell me if we ever get that weird
,
right?" I asked as I looked up at Aiden.

             
"That level of weirdness is way out of our league, believe me," he said as we both burst out laughing.

             
"Thank God for that," I finally said.

* * *

             
After spending half of the day having fun at Murphy's
,
we were finally on our way back to the Daniels' to welcome Mrs Daniels home. I should probably
stop calling her 'Mrs Daniels
since she's no longer married to Crystal and Aiden's father but it's a habit that I struggle to shake. She did tell me to call her Susan so I should probably try to do that, I have known her practically my entire life after all.

"So
,
how come you managed to tear yourself away from Jess then?" Crystal said to Anthony who was sat in the passenger seat of Aiden's car.

             
"I couldn't be here and not say hey to Mrs D now, could I?" He said with a cocky grin on his face.

             
"
Mmmm
,
I'm sure she'll be delighted," Crystal said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

             
"Whatever you say Queen of Sarcasm," he said with a smirk on his face.

             
"Mom sounded weird on the phone anyway, like she had something to tell us," Crystal said to Aiden.

             
"Yeah
,
there was definitely something up," Aiden said as he made eye contact with Crystal in the rear view mirror.

             
"Chill out man, maybe she's just picked up a new guy on her travels and is trying to break it to you gently," Anthony said with a smile on his face.

             
"My mom is not the female version of you, you know," Crystal said
,
sarcastically, making me, Anthony
 
and Aiden laugh.

             
"
It
s
true dude that's not her style, she was away for work, that's practically her life. Men don't stand a chance against that," Aiden said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

             
It was very rare that their mom was around. She was working so hard to provide a good life for them that she kind of forgot to actually just be there for them, as a mother. That's why I wasn't shocked when she had invited me for dinner at Crystal's party and then had
 
just not been there, she does it all the time, that's why I never asked any questions when I don't see her.

             
"True," Anthony finally agreed.

             
After that conversation the atmosphere was a little less comfortable and so we spent the rest of the journey in silence until we pulled up outside of their house.

             
"Mom?"
Crystal shouted as we all walked through the door.

             
"Is that my babies
?" I heard Susan shout before running into the hallway and throwing her arms around the four of us.

Susan was quite an attractive woman. She was very slim and quite petite, well compared to Anthony and Aiden anyway. She had short brown hair which used to be blonde like Crystal's when we were younger, if my memory serves me correct. Strangely enough the light brown colour suits her much better than her natural colour. She also has the same green eyes as Crystal, which were now open wide and staring at us all with so much love.

             
"Hey M
om," Aiden said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and then walked into the living room, followed by the rest of us.

             
"So
,
how have you all been?" She asked with a big smile on her face as
 
me, Aiden and Anthony
 
all took a seat on the sofa since we all knew that the arm chair was Crystal's favourite seat. Susan took a seat on the arm of Crystal's chair as she continued smiling at us all.

             
"We've been great, thanks M
om. Oh and guess what?" Crystal said with a mischievous grin on her face.

             
"What, sweetheart?" Her mom asked with a slight smile on her face.

             
"King
player
over there has an actual real life girlfriend," she said as she pointed towards Anthony.

             
"You know I could have broken the news to Mrs D myself, tunnel mouth," he said as he turned to face Susan.
We really did act like her kids, bickering away like children. It remi
nds me of the good old days when
we all
used to be at this
house.

             
"That
is fantastic Anthony! You've finally settled down. Is this the real deal then?" She asked with excitement in her eyes.

             
"Yeah
,
I guess it is," he said as he cheeks flushed a deep colour of red.

             
Anthony,
embarrassed
was a priceless moment.

             
"
Ohhhh
this is wonderful! So who is the lucky girl?" She beamed.

             
"Oh please
,
he's the lucky one," Crystal scoffed.

             
"Be nice young lady," Susan said as she threw Crystal a small smile.

             
"It's Jess," Anthony said.

             
"Jess?"
Susan asked in a confused tone.

             
"Yes M
om
,
Jess as in my friend Jess," Crystal answered as she rolled her eyes and laughed.

             
"Oh wow
,
how did you manage to get such a lovely girl to take you in?" Susan asked as we all burst out laughing.

             
"Hey
,
Mrs D, I'm a changed man now and I'm not that bad," he said with a grin on his face.

             
"Of course you
’
r
e
not, I'm happy
for you. It would seem my babie
s are growing up," she said as she looked at us all with love again.

             
"Oh and he's not the only one that has chosen to take a liking to one of my friends," Crystal said as she stared at Aiden.

             
"Aiden, do you have a girlfriend as well?" Susan asked as she immediately snapped her head in his direction.
I could feel the heat taking over my cheeks.

             
"Yeah I do," he said as he smiled.

             
"Oh yes mother he is completely whipped," Crystal said as she began to laugh at her brother's
embarrassed
face.

             
"Whipped?"

             
"It means
that
he's
 
in love Mrs D," Anthony quickly cleared up.

             
"Aiden is actually in love?
Oh gosh
,
I never thought that I'd see the day," she said as she clapped her hands
together
in excitement.

Oh gosh this was possibly one of the most awkward moments in history.

             
"So, who is she?" Susan beamed as she searched Aiden's face for answers.

             
"She's in this room M
om," Crystal said as I nudged her in the arm, making her burst out laughing.

             
"In this room?"
She asked in confusion.

             
"Well
,
it's not me is it?" Crystal said sarcastically.

             
"April? April's your girlfriend? You
’
r
e
his girlfriend?" She said in a shocked tone as she flicked her eyes from me to Aiden and back again.

             
"Yes," Aiden finally answered.

             
"Oh
my gosh
! This is wonderful! Do you know how long Kelsey and I have wanted this!
Ahhhh
! Does your mother know yet?" She asked in excitement.

             
"
Erm
no not yet," I said in an
embarrassed
tone.

             
"Oh, I'm g
oing to have to call her later."

             
"Mom," Aiden protested.

             
"Oh be quiet boy, d
o you know how exciting this is?
You and April! I already see April as my daughter anyway. Oh this is
perfectly wonderful," she said as she jumped up and gave me hug
,
much to my surprise.

             
"Thank you," I finally said as I managed to slip free of her grasp.

             
"Ok M
om, I think you can calm down now," Aiden said.

             
"So is it true?" She asked no one in particular.

             
"Is what true?" Aiden asked.

             
"Do you two love each other?" She asked excitedly as her eyes flicked between us.