How to Survive a Reckless Boy

Chapter 2 - Live Through An Awkward Dinner

"Girls! Dinner is ready!"

The soft voice calling for us from downstairs belonged to Eliana's mom and my stomach happily cheered at the mention of food. My own mother could cook fairly well, but she didn't quite reach up to Valeria Cortez-Jameson's level. She often let her Spanish roots influence her cooking and I loved the aroma and flavors it provided.

"Thank god, I'm starving," Eliana huffed while putting the final touch to her makeup.

We had spent the last hour getting ready for the party I somehow ended up agreeing to go to. She made me put on one of the tiniest dresses in her wardrobe; a cream-colored piece of fabric that clung to my body in places I wasn't used to showing off. It ended right in the middle of my thighs and let's say I was happy to at least have my butt covered.

I strongly disliked dresses like this one but Eliana had threatened to stab my eye out if I wore jeans or one of my cute, flowery sundresses.

"Are you done admiring my work so that we can eat?" She came up behind me where I stood checking myself out in the mirror on her bedroom wall.

She had done good, I'd give her that. She truly knew what she was doing when it came to makeup. My otherwise rather dull eyes looked intense with the discreet smoky eyeshadow around them and the highlighter brushed across my cheekbones gave my skin a healthy glow.

"Let's go," I said and walked after her downstairs with a nervous flutter in the pit of my stomach. I was pretty sure Miles would join us for dinner and it made me uneasy for reasons I had yet to figure out.

We entered the dining room and I let out a relieved breath as I saw no signs of him. It was just their stepfather Gavin Jameson who sat by the table.

He smiled warmly at us from his seat. "Don't you girls look all dolled up and pretty. Going somewhere special tonight?"

"Miles is taking us to a thing," Eliana nonchalantly confirmed and sat down beside him while I picked the chair next to hers.

"Really? That's wonderful," he said without further questions. Instead, he took a sip from his glass of red wine and continued to scroll through his iPad.

Miles entered the room then, looking freshly showered. He had changed from his previous clothes and wore a plaid red shirt instead of the white tee. I hastily looked away when his gaze landed on me.

Mrs. Cortez came breezing in, setting down various dishes on the table and signaled for Miles to sit down with her hands. Slowly walking up to the seat facing me, he pulled out the chair and plopped down with a frown.

"So, Miles, does it feel good being back in America?" Mr. Jameson asked as he started piling up food on his plate, the iPad thankfully resting on the empty seat next to him.

Miles scoffed and narrowed his eyes at him. "It certainly would be more exciting if I didn't find out my mother remarried while I was away without mentioning a thing to me about it."

Mrs. Cortez cleared her throat awkwardly, putting a gentle hand on top of her son's. "Miles, we already talked about this. Please just leave it."

I peeked up to see him roll his eyes and shove a fork full of paella into his mouth. I briefly wondered why Mrs. Cortez hadn't told Miles sooner. I would be furious if I found out my mom had been married to another guy for years without letting me know. Hell, I would even be furious simply because I wasn't invited to the wedding to begin with.

"Mom, can Faye and I have some wine?" Eliana asked out of the blue and it was a miracle to me that no one seemed to react strongly to her request. My dad would probably go into sudden cardiac arrest if I asked that at the dining table.