*Chapter 3: Awkward Family Dinner*
528 Words
The next morning the house felt normal. Too normal.
Ethan was already in the kitchen at 8am, flipping pancakes like nothing happened. Music playing. Coffee going.
“Lil! Adrian! Food’s hot!” he yelled up the stairs.
Adrian came down first. Dark circles. Jeans and a hoodie.
“Morning, kid,” Ethan said, sliding a plate to him. “Sleep okay?”
“Yeah.”
Lily came down 10 minutes later. Hair up. Sweatpants. No makeup.
She didn’t look at Adrian.
“Morning,” she said to Ethan, and kissed his cheek. “Pancakes?”
“Your favorite.”
They sat. All three of them. Like a family.
Ethan talked the whole time. About the market. About golf Saturday. About how he and Lily were thinking of renovating the guest rooms.
“Make it feel new,” he said. “Fresh start.”
Adrian nodded and cut his pancakes.
Under the table, he felt it.
Lily’s foot. Bare. Sliding up against his ankle.
He didn’t move. Neither did she.
“Lily, you’re quiet,” Ethan said.
“Hmm? Oh. Bad sleep,” she said, smiling at him. Her foot pressed harder against Adrian’s. Then pulled away.
After breakfast Ethan left for the course. “Be back by 6. Don’t burn the house down.”
The door shut.
Silence.
Lily was at the sink. Adrian was by the table.
Neither moved for a full minute.
Then her phone buzzed on the counter.
She picked it up. Looked at it. Looked at him.
*Lily: 1am. Your room.*
She didn’t wait for a reply. Just walked upstairs.
Adrian stayed in the kitchen. Heart pounding like he’d been caught doing something.
Which he had.
That night dragged. Dinner was takeout. Ethan watched a game. Lily laughed at the right parts. Adrian pretended to watch.
10pm. 11pm. Midnight.
12:45am.
Adrian was in bed, lights off, staring at the ceiling.
1:00am.
Soft knock.
He opened the door.
Lily. Black tank top. Sweatpants. No wine this time.
She slipped in and closed the door behind her.
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered.
“I know.”
She looked at him. “Then tell me to leave.”
Adrian didn’t.
She crossed the room and kissed him.
It was faster this time. Angrier. Like they were both trying to get it over with and make it last forever at the same time.
After, she sat on the floor with her back against his bed. He sat in the chair.
“You think he suspects?” she asked.
“No.”
“He does,” she said. “Men like Ethan always do. They just pretend they don’t until they have proof.”
Adrian rubbed his face. “So we stop.”
Lily laughed. Quiet. Bitter. “We’re really bad at that.”
Footsteps in the hall again.
Both of them went still.
The footsteps passed. Ethan’s door closed.
Lily stood up. “I should go.”
“Yeah.”
At the door she turned. “1am again?”
Adrian swallowed. “Don’t.”
She smiled. Sad. “See you tomorrow, Adrian.”
She left.
Adrian locked the door.
And sat there until the sun came up.
- Writer
