The Game Changer

Chapter 17

Chapter 17 

Ian grabbed the car keys and was ready to go. I, on the other hand, took my sweet time picking out an outfit to wear. I was still pissed at him for what happened the other day. Noah is just a friend. If anything, he's one of the few friends I have. I hardly trust anyone to begin with - I'm more of a quality over quantity kind of girl. I keep my friends close, and people who drag me down as far away as possible. For some reason, Ian made my list. It was hard to believe, but our circumstances have brought us together. We literally needed each other to get what we wanted. Him his ex-fiancee and me my birthmother. Speaking of which, I haven't told him about her. I haven't told him about Olivia, who isn't my birthmom but was best friends with her. To be completely honest, I feel like I was too close for comfort. What if I had gone the the real Olivia's house? Would I be ready to meet the person on the other side of the door?

"Earth to Clarisse!" Ian was standing at the door, his impatience evidenced by his furrowed brows. "Are we getting macarons or not?" I realized I've been staring into space for god knows how long.

"Just five more minutes."

He sighed and walked back into the room, leaving me alone in the bathroom with my thoughts. I grabbed the first top I saw and a pair of jeans to match. After I was done getting ready, I found Ian sat on the ottoman at the foot of his bed. He was on his phone.

"Well, I think that great! I'm not sure about Tanya, though." he said to the person on the other end of the call. "I think you should ask her. But my girlfriend and I would be more than happy to meet up for lunch tomorrow."

"Who's that?" I mouthed. He raised his hand, telling me "later."

I made faces at him, mocking his "later." He laughed and threw a pillow at me.

"What? No, man. It's just Rissey being silly. Rissey? Yeah, Rissey. My girlfriend. Yeah, yeah you'll meet her tomorrow. Yes. Uhuh. Alright, see you." He hung up, stood up, and slipped his phone in his pocket. "Ready to go?" he asked. I nodded and grabbed my phone. We walked towards the door and stopped right before opening it. "Ready?" he asked again.

"As I'll ever be," I said, smiling to reassure him. I stretched out my hand and he locked his fingers with mine. He took a deep breath and opened the door. We walked to his car like that - in silence, our fingers intertwined. I had become accustomed to our little ruse. I was no longer the eternally-and-internally-freaking-out state that I was in when we first got here.

As we descended their grand staircase, we saw that everyone had gathered downstairs. Alessi and Rob were seated, watching as the rest of the Radkes, Summers, and a group of people I could guess were Rob's family were being measured. There was cloth in every possible color scattered around the room.

"Hey, mom! I told you you were losing weight," Ian teased. He jogged towards Sylvia. She stood on a circular platform, a woman was measuring her body. "Oh, Ian, stop it." She opened her arms and hugged her son.

"Rissey!" Alessi called. "Where are you off to? We need to get you fitted for your dress!"

"We're just off for some macarons. I figured she needed some air after spending the entire day in bed yesterday," Ian answered for me. He was now beside me, his arm loosely wrapped around my shoulders.

Alessi gave Ian a look. "Stop stealing away my bridesmaid, Ian!"

"It wasn't my fault she got sick yesterday!" Ian replied defensively. I laughed and reassured Alessi that I would drop by her room tonight.

"We need all the measurements now, miss," one of the seamstresses said.

"Ian, do you mind if we got ourselves measured before we leave?" I said.