Page 31 of The Bad Boyfriend Curse
He glances at Mom, whose poker face isn’t as good. I can see her face go from surprise to anger before she finally fakes a smile at Noah’s bad-boy look. Her eyes then go to my purple sneakers, and she scowls briefly at me before turning to smile at this Stuart man. The man shakes Mom’s hand, but not mine or Noah’s.
“Pleased to meet you,” Stuart says. “Nina, is it?”
“Neelam,”Mom says, enunciating the syllables in her name.
The man nods. “Just a tip—you should go by ‘Nina.’ Rolls off the tongue better. If you want to fit in here, that is.”
I frown, about to tell this racist man that there is nothing wrong with my mother’s name, when Jason speaks. “Thank you for your concern, Stuart,” Jason says. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like a moment with my family.”
The Stuart guy glares at Jason and walks away. He doesn’t even look at Mom again. Or, you know, congratulate her on her recent marriage. I may be mad at Mom, but she didn’t deserve to be snubbed by that dusty old man.
But the moment Stuart leaves, Mom gives me her most disappointed glare. “What is the meaning of this, Meera?”
I straighten my spine. “You said I could bring someone,” I say. “So I brought a date. I met Noah at the CROP program… you know, the Cherrybridge program youforcedme to do? Noah, this is my mom and stepfather, Jason.”
Jason smiles at Noah. “Of course, any friend of Meera’sis welcome.” He reaches out to shake Noah’s hand, and that’s when I realize that Noah’s nails are painted black. I squeeze my lips together, trying not to laugh. I freaking love the attention to detail on this guy.
“You didn’t tell us you were actually going to bring someone!” my mother snaps, less able to hide her anger. “Instead you embarrass—” Jason puts his hand on Mom’s arm, stopping her.
“I think Stuart embarrassed himself,” Jason says. He turns to Noah again. As the host of this private party, he actuallycankick Noah out. “Have we met before?” Jason’s eyes suddenly widen with recognition. “You’re Mike Jacobs’s son.”
Wait, does Jason actuallyknowNoah’s father? He emphasizedMikeJacobs, instead of saying “one of those Jacobs boys” like everyone else in town says.
Noah stands straighter and smiles in an almost sinister way. “In the flesh. Been a while, hasn’t it, Uncle Jason?”
What?Uncle Jason?
Jason manages not to lose his politician’s smile, but I can see tension in his jaw. Mom seems as confused as I am. Jason glances around the room. Most people are talking in their little groupings, but there are quite a few guests staring at us.
Jason exhales. Then nods to Noah. “Good to see you again, Noah. Please enjoy the party.” He puts a hand to Mom’s elbow. “Come, Neelam. The Westons are waiting for me to introduce you.”
Jason leads my mother away from us into the crowd. My mother glances back at me, and even though she clearly doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, she’s definitely still mad.
I blink at Noah, who has the biggest, most mischievous grin on his face. “That went better than expected, don’t you think, Noorani?”
I raise my brows. Yeah, if the goal was to make Jason and my mother mad, thatdidgo well. But why did Noah call my stepfather “Uncle Jason”?
My fake date has a lot of explaining to do.
CHAPTER TWELVEI Hate Country Clubs
I don’t know what part is more shocking to me, the fact that Jason and Noah have clearly met before and no one thought to tell me, or that Noah called Jason “Uncle Jason.” Is Jason really Noah’s uncle? That would make Noah my cousin… sort of. The way that Sadie is my cousin, at least.
Do I have a major crush on my cousin? If so, the curse really outdid itself.
A waiter comes to us offering something called chateaubriand, which looks like little chunks of beef on toast. We unlink our arms to take one each.
“It’s roast beef,” Noah says. “Why don’t they just call it roast beef?”
I eat my admittedly delicious roast beef. “You want to tell me what that was all about?”
“What?”
“You calling Jason your uncle? Don’t tell me you’re my long-lost stepcousin?”
Noah chuckles, wiping his fingers on his napkin. “No, I’m not your cousin, Noorani. Step or otherwise. But yeah, my dad and yours go way, way back, and he once told me to call him ‘Uncle Jason.’?”
“And you didn’t tell me this because…” I frown, thinking back to when he agreed to come to this party. He only said yesafterI told him who my stepfather was. “Does your family have some feud with my family, and is that the only reason why you agreed to come tonight?”
