Piper and I are the last ones to arrive. We’re told to go straight to the function room, where everybody else is already waiting.

“Wait, shouldn’t I change first?” Piper asks. She looks fine—perfect, even—in her green floral skirt and white shirt. She looks like she belongs on an island.

“No, you look great,” I say. “It’s not a formal dress code. Don’t worry about it.”

We stay at this private island every year to celebrate my parents’ anniversary. Diana, her parents, her husband, and her kids are always present, as well as a few family friends.

But I’m surprised to see Miranda sitting at one of the tables arranged neatly in the function room. I shoot Diana a questioning look, but she just shrugs her shoulder. What is that girl doing here?

I ignore her for now. I have way more important things to take care of. I’m here on a fucking mission.

I put my hand around Piper’s shoulders and lead her to my parents’ table. Her muscles are tense, so I squeeze her arm and give her a smile.

“All you have to do is look pretty,” I say. “And you already do.”

She blushes, but she can’t hide the smile playing on her lips. Good. Now she’s a little more relaxed.

“Happy anniversary, Mom, Dad,” I say as I hand them the present.

“Thank you,” Mom says. She takes the present, puts it on the table, and pulls me into a hug. She notices Piper immediately. Shooting me a meaningful smile, she asks, “And who’s this?”

I introduce Piper to my parents, then my mom whisks her away to meet everyone else, since she’s practically a part of the family now.

I take the opportunity to sit down with Dad. Let’s see if I can persuade him to give me back my old position at the bank. I was doing really well, after all, until I got arrested by the cops. That wasn’t really part of my career plan.

“Wow, thirty-five years, huh? This is one of the big milestones, right?” I ask as I take a seat on the chair Mom left.

“It doesn’t feel like it has been that long,” Dad says with a faraway look in his green eyes.

I always get told how much I resemble him. I never used to see it before, but I look more and more like him the older I get.

“When it’s the right person, time just flies by.” Turning to look at me, he says, “Looks like things are going well with your new fiancée. How did you propose? Did you do a big gesture? Ladies love that.”

“Oh, yeah. Piper, she deserves the biggest gesture.”

“Sounds like you’re smitten, son,” he says approvingly. “I didn’t think I’d see the day. You know, I never got my act together until I met your mom.”

I’ve heard the story a thousand times before, but I let him tell me once again about how he used to be some junkie and how he beat his addiction with sheer will because he wanted to be with Mom so much.

He’s in a good mood, and I’m not going to ruin it by cutting him off. What good would that do?

“Oh, sorry, I got carried away again,” Dad says. “So, tell me all about the proposal.”

I put on my poker face and tell him the story of a picture-perfect proposal that would never fly in the real world. It involves a full moon, jazz in the background, and me getting on one knee.

Dad being the hopeless romantic, he buys it hook, line, and sinker.

“Hey, I’ll go get some oysters and greet some people.”

“Oh, I thought we were going to, like, chat a little. You’re always so busy at the office.” And I was really hoping to seal the deal right away.

“Oh, there’s no rush. We’ll still be here tomorrow. I hope you’re ready for the toast,” Dad says as he gets up from his chair.

“Of course.” I only do it every single year—not counting the years I was in prison.

I scan the room for Piper and find her sitting at a table with my mom and a bunch of her shopping buddies, probably talking about the latest collection released by some European designer whose name I can’t pronounce.

She looks bored, or lost, and definitely uncomfortable. So I walk over to their table.

“Excuse me, ladies. I’m going to need my fiancée,” I announce. That earns me some oohs and ahhs from Mom’s friends.

“Doesn’t it feel great to finally call her your fiancée?” One woman comments. “I remember when…” She continues talking, but I’m not paying attention. I gesture at Piper to get out of there so I can whisk her away to freedom.

“That’s a great story,” I say to the woman. I don’t remember her name, to be honest. Or the story she’s just told two minutes ago.

I take Piper by the hand and pull her away, but not before taking my leave from the table. My mom would have no qualms about scolding me in front of all these people if I forgot my manners.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you get stuck there,” I say to Piper on our way to the buffet table.

“No, it’s okay. Technically, I’m working, since you’re paying me to be here, in a way,” she says as she grabs a plate. “Your mom seems like she’s doing well. They’re talking about going on a shopping trip to Paris together.”

“Yeah. They do that sometimes,” I say.

“Doesn’t she have to attend treatments?” Piper asks, reminding me about the breast cancer story I told her.

“I’m sure she’ll talk to her doctors before leaving. Either way, she doesn’t like to talk about it with her friends,” I say.

We finish getting food and finally find our seats. Piper is quiet as she eats. Poor thing, she’s probably starving. I don’t even know if she’s had breakfast.

At some point during the festivities, the musicians on stage stop playing. The singer grabs the mic and announces, “Someone told me Raphael is going to make a toast. Raphael, are you here?”

I make my way up to the stage and take the mic from the guy. I clear my throat and begin my speech.

“You all know my parents as a loving couple. Sure, they have their share of problems, but in the end they’re on the same team.

“I remember as a kid, I was a little jealous of my friend, Brad—Mom, you may remember him as the kid who broke your blue vase while we were rollerblading inside the house.

“Anyway, Brad’s parents were divorced. I was jealous because he could always count on at least one parent to give him what he wanted.” I grin as the guests laugh.

“I couldn’t do that, obviously, because my parents were always such a united front. I see now what a good thing that is, and I’m grateful for the privilege of growing up watching that kind of a relationship as an example,” I say, looking straight at Mom and Dad.

“Thank you for welcoming Piper, my fiancée, into the family. I hope we’ll be half as happy as you are on our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary.”

“Get her up there so we can all say hi!” One of Dad’s cousins shouts from a corner of the room, making the other guests turn their heads to find Piper, murmuring amongst themselves about which girl she is.

Both Mom and Dad maintain close relationships with their extended families, but it’s common for the younger generations to not even be able to recognize one another by sight.

I guess in that light, it’s not such a strange request. Besides, there’s no getting out of it, now that everybody’s basically playing Where’s Waldo with my fake fiancée.

“Piper, come up here for a minute, baby.” People follow my gaze and turn to stare. It makes me feel bad to see her discomfort, but it’s not like these people mean her harm. They just want to get to know her. I smile at her and say, “Don’t worry. These people look weird, I know, but they’re not going to bite.”

That does the trick. I manage to steal the audience’s attention away from Piper as she weaves between the tables and chairs to get to the stage.

“Say hi to everyone.” I hold the mic up to her mouth.

“Hi,” Piper says with a sweet, shy smile, lifting her hand to wave to the audience.

She looks so fucking adorable. It makes me want to pull her into my arms and claim those full lips, maybe even make her pant a little. I can almost imagine her breathing getting heavier and more erratic, the warm exhalation landing on my own lips.

Then I think… Hey, why not?

It’s a good stunt to pull in front of an audience, it’s a good way to show my parents how good this “serious relationship” is, and I won’t have a better opportunity than this. I have a good excuse to do it, and she’s not going anywhere.

There’s a small risk of her getting angry and slapping me instead of returning the kiss. But based on how she’s been behaving around me so far, that’s not likely at all. I can tell she wants me too.

I just have to give her a small taste, show her how good it could be...