Page 219 of Unhinged

Still, I hope happiness fills his life, and he lives his dream of becoming an attorney. Greg will kick ass just with how he arches his eyebrow when he hears bullshit. So fucking sexy.

I lie on the bed until the room grows darker, and a knock falls upon the bedroom door. But facing away from the door, I ignore it even when it creaks open. Finn or Hadley is most likely checking to see if I changed my mind about dinner.

When the door closes, and I hear the garage door humming a short time later, I sit up and dry my face. Moving off the bed, I go to my suitcase and pull out a pen and a school notebook. Sitting down, I stare at a blank page that is now my life.

Chapter 32

“Sweetheart, can I come in?”

“No.”

I drop the books into the bottom drawer of my desk in my room and close it. I sit back, crossing my arms. I’m very mechanical these days. The door opens before I say more, and my mother walks into the room, I assume since I don’t turn away from watching nothing outside.

“You have mail.” She drops an envelope with pretty handwriting I recognize, and it stops my unconscious heart. “I checked the mail after I thought I heard the doorbell.”

“You did,” I stammer, staring at the envelope burning a hole into my desk.

“Do you think that letter is from…?”

“No.”

Mom sighs in exasperation. “Well? Who was it at the door?”

Without taking my eyes off the damning envelope, I whip the loose papers laying at the corner of my desk, and she takes them. Her gasp of air is close to a shriek. “Greg!”

“That’s my name. Don’t…” The joke runs flat as I blink away and swallow the agonizing burn while watching two squirrels running around a tree. Though pain is a constant for me now, I’ve bypassed it with alcohol and reading, which don’t mix well.

Shuffling the paperwork, my mom gasps again, probably from my indifference that is fucking anything but. Her accusing tone is annoying. “An annulment decree? What? How? This fast?”

“Apparently, she has plans. At least it’s not a divorce, right? This won’t stain my life, which is a bonus since she stained my sheets.”

“I’m serious, Gregory! On the grounds of fraud?” I wait for her to read more, and when she inhales like it’s the last of the weed, Mom squeals, “She entered the marriage under duress?”

I clench my jaw to fight the onslaught of shit I haven’t had time to process yet. “Yeah. I didn’t even touch her dress. The nerve.”

“Damn it, no! I don’t understand! Simone loves you!”

Through my teeth, I snarl, “Bullshit, Mom.”

She moves more to my side, so I can’t avoid her. When I glance at my mother, she purses her lips, evaluating me. I know she’s dying to fit me for a particular jacket. I return to watching one squirrel run up the tree while the other dipshit looks for it. “Greg! It’s only been a little over a month since she went back to Richmond! How is this possible?” She waves the papers like my white flag of surrender.

“Annulments ‘R Us?”

I cross my arms again, either shielding myself from the outside forces stirring the pain or forcing myself to hold on to the pain, so I never forget how badly I fucked up. Her rant continues. “Simone ended your marriage, but you won’t tell me why! I’m surprised you told me that Simone isn’t pregnant!”

Shrugging, I shift so I don’t see her face. “It was a false alarm. Not preggo. Your son shoots blanks or has a bad aim, It’s not a problem you can fix, so can you drop it?”

She sighs impatiently and lowers her voice. “I know that despite CF, you wanted so much to be a father someday.” That’s not entirely true. I wasn’t jumping for joy with Shasta. Or, to be fair, with Simone. But each was a different circumstance. I knew Simone was telling me the truth, yet I still eviscerated her. Instead of supporting her or being a tad happy, I dumped my shitload of anger dedicated to Shasta at Simone’s feet. And maybe anger toward me for letting Shasta lie to me.

“Damn, doc. I bet you’d trip someone with crutches and laugh as they fall too.”

Clutching my marriage’s swan song, she says, “I’m sorry. I only want answers. I’m confused. You were so happy.”

“I’m happy as all hell.” I wince at the wall as my mother clears her throat.

“What happened with you and Simone? The truth.”

I laugh, but it’s the kind that masks breaking down in an embarrassing display that will undoubtedly lead to staging a puppet show to express my goddamn feelings. “Turns out, I don’t know what love is, but unlike Foreigner, the only thing she showed me was the door. I didn’t contest the annulment. Now, I need to move the hell on to someone who won’t marry me because she has daddy issues or dump me because I’m in a bad mood.”

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