I was taking a bite of pasta when Julie leaned slightly closer and asked me in a low voice, her hand sliding under the table to rest on my thigh. She gave it a gentle but firm squeeze, as if trying to coax the truth out of me without anyone else in the dining room noticing.
"Who's Autumn, Alex?"
"Oh, she's no one," I said quickly, taking another bite to avoid elaborating.
"Hey, don't be so humble, Alex," David chimed in from across the table. He was clearly focused on getting the truth out, wanting my cousins to know that I was dating a mature woman who lived in our apartment complex. Even though the whole dating story had been a quick lie Autumn had told him earlier, David seemed eager to expose it. "Alex is dating Autumn. He didn't tell his sisters?"
"Oh, who is that? We want to meet her!" Lucy said excitedly, leaning forward with genuine interest.
"Yeah, what is she like?" Julie asked, now clearly curious about what kind of woman I was into.
