Drop Dead.

“Relax, Char,” Melanie comforted, placing her hand over mine on the armrest. “David’s famileh is gonna love yeh.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I told her honestly as the plane started down the runway. My eyes snapped shut and my grip on the armrest tightened considerably. Melanie chuckled from beside me.

“I didn’t know yeh were scared o’flyin’,” she said. I opened my eyes to briefly send her a look, and then they were closed again.

“That’s because yeh’ve never flown with me.” I felt the wheels lift off the ground and soon we were safely in the air. I reopened my eyes and blew out a breath of air. “And it’s not so much the flying I hate. It’s just the take-off.”

David had left a few days before the three of us did just to give his parents a heads-up/reminder that I would be visiting with two guests. Apparently they were preparing some huge meal for the three of us and I blushed when David had told me. His family really didn’t need to go to such lengths.

Oliver was quiet the entire flight – probably because he didn’t want to be on it in the first place. But Melanie had already signed his death warrant and he’d had no choice but to pack his bags and join us on our voyage to Ireland. He seemed to be quite used to flying and only got up to use the bathroom.

The flight didn’t seem so long, but that was probably because I spent most of it sleeping. The hum of the plane engine just lulled me to sleep and I couldn’t stay awake. Melanie was shaking my shoulder telling me that we’d landed. I blinked a few times to clear my sleepy vision and leaned back to stretch.

I followed Oliver and Melanie off the plane and out into the airport. David was waiting for us and he waved us over, generously taking my suitcase from my hands. He leaned down and pecked my lips as Melanie cooed not so quietly. I blushed when David pulled away and he smiled adoringly down at me.

He led us out to the parking lot where a forest green SUV sat parked by the curb. David climbed into the driver’s seat and I rode shotgun. Melanie asked David about his family as we drove and he answered every one honestly. I was elated with the fact that Melanie and David got along so well – not that they wouldn’t because David was, after all, a friend of Oliver’s.

Speak of the devil, he’d been silent the entire ride, only grunting when someone spoke to him. I guessed that his cramps were bothering him and when I turned around to talk to Melanie, my eyes flickered to him for a moment. He was staring back at me with a set jaw. Ignoring him and his problems, I turned back around and let Melanie and David talk for the rest of the ride.

David’s family’s house was a small one, and if David’s sisters weren’t already grown up and living on their own, I would have wondered if they even had enough room for six people to live. The house was a fading blue with black shutters. It had a stone walkway up to the white front door.

As we walked up it, the door opened and an older woman, who I guessed to be David’s mother, cried out to us. She burst through the screen door and jogged down the walkway. I was immediately wrapped in a hug by Mrs. Murphy. I hugged her back and sent David a questioning glance. He was too busy laughing to help me at all.

“You must be Charlotte! David’s told us so much about you,” she said excitedly when she pulled away. I blushed as David took my hand. Mrs. Murphy looked back at Melanie and Oliver. “And you must be Melanie and Oliver. David’s told me about you two as well.”

We shared a chuckle and David’s mother herded us into the house, where his father was setting the table for dinner. He looked up when the five of us walked in and a bright smile – that David inherited, I noted – stretched across his aging face. He, too, hugged me tightly as if I was part of his family.

Unlike my own, David’s family made me feel welcome, treating me as if I were one of their own. They treated Melanie and Oliver just the same, choosing to brush off Oliver’s attitude as some personal issue. But he did just as I prayed and stayed on his best behavior, even going as far to join in the conversation as we sat at the table waiting for dinner.

David’s mother was an excellent cook and I wouldn’t be surprised if she had taught him a thing or two. She made a roast turkey with all the Thanksgiving dressings, despite it being months before the holiday, but none of us complained as we filled our plates and bellies. After a little too much wine, I excused myself to use the bathroom and set my napkin on the table. I tried to ignore Oliver’s gaze on me as I walked by him.

I did my business and washed my hands, drying them on the olive green towel on the rack. I found it funny that much of the home décor in the Murphies’ house was green. Unlocking the door, I swung it open and jumped when I saw Oliver in the doorway.

“Oliv –” my voice was cut off by him pressing a hand to my stomach, pushing me backwards into the bathroom. He closed the door behind us, locking it, and stared down at me. “What are you –”

Once again, I was cut off, but this time it was by Oliver’s lips. His hands reached up to cup my face and pull it closer to his as his mouth moved over mine. I grabbed onto his arms – although, I wasn’t sure if it was out of shock or the fact that my knees were threatening to give out – and my nails dug into his tattooed skin. What made this whole situation worse was that I was both enjoying his kiss and I was kissing back. Oliver’s tongue touched my bottom lip, and when our tongues met, that was when I snapped out of it and shoved Oliver away from me.

I threw a hand over my mouth in shock and refused to look Oliver in the eyes. But I could hear his breathing – it mimicked mine – and my heart was pounding in my ears. What had I just done?

Not only had I kissed my best friend’s boyfriend, I had kissed him at my boyfriend’s parents’ house. That was a severely fucked up situation.

Oliver straightened himself out. Ignoring him and refusing to meet his eyes, I brushed by him and left the bathroom, trying to calm my racing heart at the same time. I had composed myself by the time I sat back down at the table. Mrs. Murphy asked if I was all right and I politely nodded and complained of slight cramps, immediately shunning the males away from the conversation.

David’s hand on my leg made me jump and when I looked at him, all I could feel was the guilt bubbling in my stomach.