Chase's eyes wander up and down my body, analyzing the black of the jumpsuit against my skin. I take a quick glance down at it myself, making sure he's not trying to point out something that may be wrong with it.

Suddenly, he lifts himself off of the couch and pounces towards me, his hands grabbing at my waist. I lean the opposite way to avoid getting pushed too far into his vicinity, but his hands pull me closer to his chest. A mischievous glint shimmers in his toothy grin as he stares into my eyes, emitting his usual cocky energy.

"What are you doing?" I almost whisper, backing my face away from his as far as possible. My hands are pushing against his chest to set some distance between us.

"We should kiss." His eyes sparkle hungrily as the words escape his mouth so casually. As if that's something people just say out of nowhere. He must be crazy.

"Yeah, no," I say, pushing his face away with my hand.

"Michelle, don't play hard to get." He releases me from his grip and wipes his face off with his hand. "We still have to kiss some more, like you said."

"Yeah, but I just kissed you yesterday. I need a break from your lips." And a break from him in general would be nice too.

"Exactly! You did kiss me yesterday! So, there's nothing to worry about now!" He grabs an apple from the fruit bowl that sits on top of the island, and he bites into it, continuing to talk with his mouth full. Seriously, was he ever taught manners?

"Besides, it's not like you're a bad kisser," he reveals with a mouthful of apple, "I think you're pretty good for a first-timer."

"I am not-" I think about correcting him, but when I realize it's none of his business and I don't actually care enough to tell him, I forget about it.

"Whatever. Just give me some time, okay?"

"That's what you said last time and you kissed me in a matter of days."

I start to hear my parents' bedroom door open and that's when I realize I shouldn't say anything back to him. The entire time Chase and I had been talking, I almost forgot my parents had gotten home a few minutes before he arrived, keeping to themselves in their room for the past hour. And considering we were just talking about kissing, I'm grateful for the sudden feeling of my mouth being stitched shut.

Mom walks out of the room first, trying to push a large hoop through the hole in her ear while Dad follows after her, adjusting the tie on his suit. They're both dressed nicely, cocktail-party type of nice. Mom's form-fitting, royal blue dress compliments the dark tint of her skin beautifully—that color has always looked phenomenal on her. And Dad's suit is simple, just like him. Most of the time.

"Michelle, come help me with this?" Dad asks me, the frustration cutting through his voice as he fails his knot for the third time. I make my way over to him and fix his tie like he asked, deciding to omit the teasing I would usually throw at him. Lately, he hasn't been in the mood for jokes.

"Who's this, sweetheart?" I hear Mom ask from behind me as I finish up Dad's tie. I don't even have to look back to know who she's talking about.

"Mom, that's my boyfriend, Chase. I told you guys about him, remember?"

"Ah, the boyfriend," Dad says, crossing his arms the way he always does whenever I mention a boy around my age. I'm an adult, for God's sake. At this point, it's just sad.

Except now, I'm starting to realize this is the perfect opportunity to set my master plan in motion. First step, introduce Chase to my father face-to-face. Next, watch Dad say some crazy dad shit to him. Lastly, Chase gets uncomfortable and starts making excuses to see me less and less, and bam. I get to enjoy a life where I see Chase a maximum of once a week, and we still win this game. This stupid game that I'm playing just to prove a point at this rate.

"Hello, sir," I hear Chase's voice from behind me as I turn around to introduce him. Sir? Is Chase actually being... proper?

"Hey, young man. Listen up," Dad says, kicking off the perfect start to my little scheme. "If you do anything to hurt my daughter, I'll chop your balls right off. Got it?"

My own eyes widen at his dramatic threat. I expected someone a bit more PG, but I guess my dad has absolutely zero chill nowadays.

I'm even more surprised that Chase hasn't started letting out a ridiculous chuckle by now either. I feel like just the mention of a human private part would set him off like the child he always seems to act as, though I suppose I don't know him as well as I did when he was just a kid.

"Yes, sir. I promise I won't hurt Michelle," Chase says calmly as he reaches for my hand. Why is he not freaking out? All my other boyfriends that met my dad have freaked out after he says something stupid and macho like that. He's ruining my plan.

"She means a lot to me."

"That's good to hear, son." Dad's tone loosens up, and so do his shoulders as he meets my mom to secure a necklace around her neck. No! No, no, no, what happened to all that dad talk?

"You two are so cute together!" My mom starts to coo at us, making me want to vomit right then and there.

"Yeah, well, we're going on a date now!" I say, walking to the front door to avoid any more of my parents completely ignoring my plan. I drag Chase along with me by pulling at his wrist.

"See you when I get home!"

"Uh, no!" Mom says behind me, stopping me dead in my tracks without another word. "You're not."

"What? We planned this a few days ago. We can't just ditch our date, Mom."

"Well your father and I are going to a business dinner right now and you need to watch your sister."

"Watch Naomi? No way, Mom. Remember what happened last time I had to watch her? I still have a scar," I say, gesturing to my hip where the bite marks still remain. I can almost feel the pain through the black cotton.

"No backing out. If you want to spend time with your boyfriend that badly, the two of you can watch her together," Mom says as she walks over to the door to leave. This is absurd! She can't just ruin my plans and drop a babysitting gig on me out of nowhere. I'm not her built-in caregiver for the child she birthed.

"Mom, that's not fair at all," I try to continue, but her face won't budge.

"Well, honey, life's not fair sometimes." I roll my eyes at the comment she always gives me whenever I tell her something isn't fair. "Like I said, if you still want to spend time with your boy, you can watch Naomi together."

Spend even more time with Chase who I'm only temporarily dating for an unknown prize? And watch my five-year-old sister at the same time? I could not imagine anything that would be more of a living hell for me.

"Oh, no... I wouldn't want to waste Chase's time by making him watch my little sister!" I say, trying to figure out an excuse. Being around him alone is frustrating enough—staying with him now would be like taking care of two kids.

"Actually, I don't mind," Chase cuts in. "I'd love to spend time with my beautiful girlfriend and her sister. It gives me a chance to meet her. Right, Michelle?"

"Aw, he's so caring! He's a keeper, Michelle," Mom says as she opens the front door. If only she knew that this whole relationship is a lie.

"Figure it out. And don't do anything stupid!" My dad sends a glare deep into Chase's eyes as he closes the door behind them when they leave. I cock my head over at Chase with my lips pursed in dangerous anger.

"Chase!" I smack his arm with the back of my hand. "Why would you do that?"

He flinches as a quick response. "Do what?"

"Telling my mom you're okay to watch my sister? I don't want to spend more time with you!"

"Well, we need to have a date anyway! We might as well make the best of the situation!"

After a second of consideration, I let out one long sigh, allowing myself to come to the conclusion that he may actually be right. We need to have two dates by the end of the month, and if we count this whole babysitting session, then the standard for the next date shouldn't be too high and we can just get it over with. Maybe he's not as absent-minded as he seems.

I place myself on the couch in the living room, settling into the comforting silence that surrounds Chase and me. It takes him absolutely no time to slide in next to me, shooting me his million-dollar smile when I glance over at him. Damn that stupid smile. Damn Chase and his stupid everything. He makes it hard to stay completely repulsed by him when he looks like he should be on the cover of Vogue. I guess his distasteful personality makes up for his good looks, though.

"Michelle?" Chase says and I realize I had been staring at him this whole time. I shake my head and avert my eyes to try and remedy the situation, but I can't help feeling like it just makes it worse.

"What?" My voice is made of pure irritation.

He doesn't say anything back. Instead, he points his thumb toward the hallway behind him, gesturing to the sleepy preschooler stumbling clumsily into the living room.

"Mickey, I'm hungry," Naomi complains as she rubs her eyes.