Page 83 of The Summer I Destroyed You

It’s going to be an absolute shitshow, but I’m smiling as I walk inside.

* * *

My mother’s excitement about seeing the son who lives less than thirty minutes away is palpable. It would be easier to bear her hatred if she adored Jeff slightly less.

Was I always so unlovable? I don’t know. My father didn’t seem to hate me, but look at how he left. And he must not have been much of a judge of character anyway. He married her after all.

She hands me a shopping list. There’s not a single item on here she wouldn’t judge me for eating, but she’s more than happy to serve them all up to her beloved son, which leaves me increasingly okay with the fact that I haven’t told her I’m bringing a guest.

I drop off the groceries and spend the day in town simply to avoid her, arriving at the house just as Jeff and Jordan are walking in.

I take after my dad, but Jeff is an Atwell, through and through. He came out of the womb looking like a mid-level manager and that’s still how he looks. “Hey,” I say, nodding at him as I kneel to greet Snowflake.

Jordan enters the room a moment later.

“Hiiiiiiiiii!” she cries. “Oh my God it’s so good to seeeee you!” She throws her arms around me and I respond tentatively—I’m really not much of one for hugs, obviously, but it’s more that I now know she’s the kind of girl who’d abandon her dog with my mother, a woman no one should even entrust with a plant.

My mother tells me to set the table while Jeff and Jordan take a seat on the couch, like fucking royalty.

“You’ve got to start dusting those figurines, Mom,” Jeff says as I cross to the kitchen for the flatware. “They’re disgusting.”

It’s the kind of comment that would leave her not speaking to me for a week, but when Jeff says it, she just shrugs. “I ought to just throw them out.”

“You collected them for so long, though,” he argues.

She shakes her head. “That was your father’s doing. I wanted one and he just kept buying them because he didn’t know what else to get me.”

I sort of doubt this, especially given the way she collects everything. “Then why’d you get us angels the Christmas after Dad left?” I ask.

Her lips purse. “I have never bought you angels.”

“You did. I remember it.”

Jeff frowns. “Em’s right. I got one too. I didn’t know what the hell you were thinking.”

“They weren’t from me. Someone left them for you at the front door—everyone was treating us like a charity case after your father took off.” My mother turns from Jeff to glare at me. “Why are you setting five places?” she demands just as the doorbell rings.

I smile. Relief is whipping through me and he’s not even in the room yet. “Oh, didn’t I mention? I invited Liam.”

“You did what?” she snaps, but I keep moving toward the door.

She will be awful to me all night, and she’ll be awful to Liam, but once he’s within hearing distance, she won’t actively protest his presence.

I open the door and the hit of relief is instantaneous. I don’t ever want to look at anyone but him. It’s a ridiculous thought and I dismiss it fast, but I’ve never seen Liam in anything but sweats or shorts or jeans, and the sight of him in khakis and a button-down is making my brain short-circuit.

I’d like to maul him right here, in full view of my family.

“Do you own a suit?” I ask as he steps inside.

His mouth falls open. “Was I supposed to wear a suit?”

I go on my toes to press a kiss to his cheek, right beside his ear. “No. It just occurred to me how much I’d enjoy taking you out of one.”

His hand lands on my ass, which he pinches hard. “Do not start with that shit right before you introduce me,” he growls.

We walk around the corner. “Guys, this is Liam. Liam, you’ve met my mom, of course. And this is my brother Jeff and his fiancée, Jordan.”

My mother lets the pan she’s holding slam down on the counter. “Liam. What an unexpected surprise.”

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