Page 189 of Wreck Me

“Sweetie,” she said, reaching out and taking my hand. “I was disgusted by the despicable invasion of privacy, the extreme violation.” She shook her head. “I would never be disgusted by you following your heart. And that’s what it was. Something the media and that ridiculous woman failed to recognize. The way you were looking at Sebastian… you love him.”

“I… I’ve grown close to him, yes.” In love, though? Was that how I felt about him? About Caleb too? And Caspian?

Things had been so wild and rapid-fire, I hadn’t had much time to take stock of any of it. And these last few days hadn’t been conducive to that because I’d been focused on trying to find a way forward there that didn’t take so much from me in the process, like it had been doing thus far.

“As much as it complicates things by it being Sebastian Thorn who’s won your heart, I would never deny you that, Skylar. It’s very rare to find a connection like that.”

I couldn’t tell her that it was more than just Sebastian, that I was with three men. Having her accept this was a big enough deal, I really didn’t want to push it.

“Thank you, Mom.”

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into her.

I held her back and breathed in the comfort.

When we finally pulled apart, she said, “About the rest that you heard… about Wayne…”

“You were with Sebastian’s father?”

She held up her hand. “Before your dad. That was actually how I met him. Wayne had acquired a military contract to design one of their bases. I went with him… it was how we spent time together, because it was difficult to do that inside the city.”

“Because he was married to Vivian at the time?”

She winced. “Yes. I was young and foolish. He was a very charming man. He and Vivian weren’t doing so well. But it’s no excuse. It shouldn’t have happened. All my anger toward her from our time in high school when she’d been my bully… I guess it factored into me doing that.”

“Does Dad know?”

“He knows all about it, yes.”

“It’s a lot, Mom.”

“I know and I never wanted you to find out. I didn’t want you to see that awful part of me.”

“We all have bad parts of ourselves. We all make mistakes. It’s okay.”

“You see now why I would never judge you in this sort of situation?”

“Yeah, I do. I’m sorry she came here like that.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Any excuse will do for her. It’s not about you, so don’t take that on along with everything else you’re already dealing with. Every now and then she shows up here with a bone to pick. This was just her latest.”

I shoved a hand through my hair. “Are we… good now? You were freezing me out for a while because of Luxe.”

“I’m sorry. What I said… I know you’re just going back to where you were always supposed to be. But, I guess, I was just disappointed in the sense that I let myself believe that there was finally something you and I would have in common. Everything else is just with you and your father. I just wanted something to be about me. I wanted us to share something, for there to be a part of you that’s actually like me. I should’ve supported you, but I let that get in the way.”

Oh. “Mom, those things you defended me with to Vivian, those parts of me come from you.”

She frowned. “What? No.”

“Of course they do. My fortitude and my determination to follow my passions, that’s you with your career path. It might not be the same as yours, but those traits come from you.”

Her eyes lit up as I saw it actually sink in.

“Those are some of the most important parts of me, Mom.”

Emotion welled in her eyes, and she threw her arms around me again, holding me even tighter to her than before.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

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