Page 41 of The Fake Out

“But how did you meet?” Dinah asked.

“His dad.”

“His dad? Hal?” Max asked.

“I’m a regular at Eileen’s. Last summer, Hal insisted Blaise drive me home.”

“But you live all the way out in the suburbs,” Dinah protested.

I gave her a look. And then I paused. Why did Hal insist Blaise take me home that night? It was a far drive for Blaise. I knew Hal saw me as a surrogate daughter, and he was protective, but it was odd.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Max laughed to herself.

“What?” I asked.

“He was setting you up,” she explained.

I furrowed my brow. “I don’t think so. He told Ayden I was off-limits.”

“That’s because Ayden goes through women like I go through tissues,” Max explained.

I laughed because that was true. But people could also say the same about me. Why would Hal care about that?

“He didn’t seem happy to see me this morning,” I blurted.

Dinah poked me. “Explain.”

I cringed. “I stayed at Blaise’s last night.”

“Okay…” Dinah said slowly, not piecing it together.

“He lives at home.”

“Oh!” Maxine exclaimed. “Oh, that makes sense.”

Dinah swiveled her head at Max and looked to me for an explanation.

Max sighed. “Blaise’s mom died when he was a kid, and their dad kind of…lost himself. Pretty sure his brothers Eli and Brendan raised the twins more than their dad did.”

“How do you know all of this?” I asked, which I probably shouldn’t have.

Those names sounded familiar, but I felt like I needed a family tree to remember all of Blaise’s siblings. If I was supposed to be Blaise’s girl, I should have known this stuff about his family. I needed him to write this down for me. I needed a cheat sheet of all the Holmstrom siblings so it looked like I actually was his girlfriend.

Max shrugged. “We were friends in high school. Sometimes he’d talk about not feeling like he would ever live up to his dad’s expectations.”

“It’s hard to stand out in a big family,” Dinah said. Dinah was one of four, so she was uniquely qualified to understand.

“Why did you think his dad was mad?” Max asked curiously.

“Uh…that’s a story for another time.”

Dinah’s eyes got wide, which meant now she was interested. “Okay, explain!”

“Um…his dad didn’t know we were there last night.”

“Okay…” Dinah conceded.