Falling for My Mother's Fiancé

The safer choice

Selene POV

The backyard was unusually quiet that morning as most of the noise coming from inside the house barely reached the pool area.

I drifted my feet lazily through the water, staring at nothing in particular.

The cold should've bothered me, unfortunately it didn't.

My mind was too busy replaying every embarrassing thing I'd done since arriving in Milwaukee.

The staircase.

The orange juice incident.

Kissing Louis.

The bathroom.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands.

"Having a rough day?" A voice called out from behind me.

I looked up.

Louis was standing a few feet away holding two cups of steamy coffee.

For some reason, that immediately made me smile.

"Trying to sneak up on people now?"

"No way." He walked over. "You were just deeply committed to whatever crisis happening in your head."

I sighed.

"Fair enough,” he said and sat beside me before offering me one of the cups.

"Thank you.” I took it from him and immediately took a sip. "Mhm… This is perfect."

"That's because I made it."

I laughed.

"There you go again."

"What?"

"Being overly confident about everything."

His brows pulled together, more like he was confused. "What confidence again?"

"That one."

"I just made you a cup of coffee." He shuddered. “A compliment won't be so bad.”

"Exactly." I said pointing my index finger at him. "You make it sound like it's a difficult achievement."

"It is for some people."

I shook my head in defeat. “I give up.”

Louis only smiled. We both have gotten used to always picking at each other for no reason and somehow that was a part of Louis that makes me feel comfortable around him.

A brief silence settled between us. The kind that didn't feel awkward.

Eventually he glanced toward me. "So…"

Uh-oh. That tone never leads to anywhere good.

"So?"

"Why are you here all by yourself?"

I looked away.

"Nothing serious."

"Selene."

"What?"

"You've spent most of the afternoon avoiding everyone."

I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again.

Unfortunately… He wasn't wrong. I just felt like disassociating myself from everyone else would help me avoid that one person.

God! I don't even want to mention his name.

Louis waited patiently.

"I've just been in a weird mood." I finally managed to say.

His expression softened. "Want to talk about it?"

Not even a little.

I wanted to tell him everything.

How confused and guilty I felt.

How every time Edward walked into a room my brain seemed to stop functioning properly.

But I couldn't.

Instead, I stared into my coffee. "It's nothing serious."

Louis studied me for a moment and nodded. "Okay."

That acceptance somehow made me feel worse.

I sighed.

"Actually..."

His attention shifted back to me.

"There's something I should apologize for."

A small crease appeared between his brows.

"What's wrong?"

I laughed awkwardly.

"Really? You don't know?"

"Selene."

I stopped laughing and turned serious. "It's about the kiss."

"Oh,” he exclaimed, finally understanding what I meant.

Heat crawled into my cheeks as I never planned any apology speech until that moment. "I am so sorry," I continued. “I never meant to drag you into my mess.”

"It's fine. There's nothing to apologise for."

"Louis."

"I'm serious."

I stared at him.

He shrugged. "Your mom and your aunt were basically planning your wedding downstairs, probably that was what triggered you."

I groaned. "Please don't remind me."

"I'm just saying."

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"You looked tired of the whole thing."

"That's because I was."

"I noticed."

I shook my head. "Still. That doesn't justify me tackling you in front of everyone."

"Tackling?"

"Yeah."

Louis laughed quietly.

The sound made me relax a little.

"It wasn't exactly a tackle."

"It felt like one afterward."

He shook his head. "You're just overthinking it."

Maybe.

If only he knew how much I was overthinking everything.

"So we're cool, right?" I asked.

He smiled.

"Of course, we're." He held out his fist and I bumped it with mine. "Crisis resolved."

"I wish all my problems were that easy." I said immediately we pulled our hands away.

His expression turned thoughtful. "Speaking of problems..."

"What?"

"That's never a good way to start a sentence."

Louis ignored me. "My company is hosting something next week."

I narrowed my eyes. "Okay..."

"It's our annual New Year's Gala."

"And?"

He pursed his lips and said nothing.

I pointed at him. “Louis…?”

"The point is..." He hesitated slightly again.

That was unusual.

Louis rarely seemed unsure of himself.

"The event is for employees and their guests."

"Oh." Realization slowly dawned on me.

"Yeah."

"Oh."

He nodded.

"Would you maybe want to go with me?" The hopeful look on his face caught me completely off guard.

I stared at him.

Then smiled. "Louis."

His shoulders immediately tensed, more like he was preparing for rejection.

And honestly? That was ridiculous. Because more than any friend I've ever had, Louis remains the one person I feel comfortable with hanging around with. His cool vibes are absolutely unmatched.

"Of course I'll go with you." I replied with a smile.

The relief on his face was instant. "Really?"

"Yes."

“Thanks.”

I smirked. "You know, for someone who works around numbers all day, you're surprisingly bad at talking to women."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse you?"

"I'm serious."

"I asked one question."

"You looked terrified asking it."

"I was not terrified."

"You absolutely were."

"I wasn't."

"You were."

"I wasn't."

I laughed.

Louis shook his head. "You're impossible."

"And yet you invited me."

Before he could answer, I scooped water with my foot and splashed him.

The water hit his jean shorts.

He stared down at it, then slowly looked back at me.

The look on his face immediately made me regret every life decision that led me to doing that as I already knew what would follow next.

"Please don't."

I pointed at him.

"Don't what?"

"Whatever you're thinking."

Louis calmly set his coffee cup down. "Oh, you're done for."

I gasped. Before I even got a chance to say anything else, he shoved a wave of water directly at me.

I shrieked. "Louis!"

"Oops. I'm sorry ma'am."

"That wasn't an accident."

"Maybe."

I splashed him again with my foot.

He splashed me back.

Within seconds we were both laughing like idiots with water flying everywhere.

Neither of us cared.

At one point Louis grabbed my wrist, and I immediately lost my balance.

"Wait—"

Too late.

He dragged me down. Straight into the pool.

Water soaked my whole body immediately.

Then Louis burst out laughing.

I stared at him.

"You did that on purpose."

"I absolutely did."

I narrowed my eyes and immediately grabbed his arm. "If I'm drowning, you're drowning too."

"Selene—"

I yanked him hard. So hard.

He fell into the pool beside me.

The splash was enormous.

For a few seconds neither of us could stop laughing.

And as I floated there, watching Louis wipe water from his face while still trying not to laugh...

Something occurred to me.

Being with him felt easy.

Comfortable.

Safe.

Louis never made me feel confused or made me question my own judgment.

He simply made me happy.

So why was it different with Edward?

Why did one conversation with him leave me thinking about it for hours afterward?

Why did every accidental touch feel significant?

Why did every look seem to linger longer than it should?

I didn't understand it.

And honestly...

That scared me.

Because if my feelings were starting to move in a direction they had no business moving...

I needed to stop them.

Fast.

Before I would make a mistake I can't take back.