Page 21 of Make Me Yours

“I’m not, I’m logical.”

“And how am I supposed to find out what happened with my mom?” I ask. “Call her up at that number she hasn’t given me? Track her down in New York with her new husband?”

Elaina’s nose wrinkles. “Ew, of course, not. Fuck her, she’s the worst. And we couldn’t trust anything she said anyway. Mothers who abandon their children can’t be trusted.” She bobs a shoulder. “But maybe Weaver can be. It would at least be interesting to get his perspective on everything that went down back in the day.”

I snort. “Yeah, right. I’m not asking him about any of that.”

“Why not? You’ve already been naked with him. Might as well bare a little of your soul, too. We can figure out a way to phrase things so they’re as chill as possible.” Her hand settles on my forearm, giving it a squeeze. “And this might be a blessing in disguise, Gertie. We were so young, and all the grown-ups did their best to sweep the scandal under the rug and pretend it didn’t happen. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what really went down? I mean, it was a major event for you. It changed your whole life.”

I’m quiet for a moment, thinking about the girl I was before Weaver Tripp got caught making out with my mother and how radically everything fell apart afterward. I suppose I should be angry with Weaver, but…I’m not. After all, he hadn’t made anyone any promises.

My mom and dad are the ones who swore to love each other for better or for worse. They’re the ones who made the decision to bring a child into the world together. Weaver was just a kid home from college, and probably younger than I am now. His frontal lobe wasn’t even fully developed and there’s a chance he didn’t know my mom was married. I doubt she wore her wedding ring out to the bars when she was looking for a good time.

“It would at least be interesting to hear his side of the story,” Elaina prods after a moment.

I bite my lip, anxiety making my skin crawl.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” she asks. “He says he doesn’t want to talk about it? So what? Then you just thank him for the orgasms and walk away.” She frowns before squeezing my arm again. “You did get orgasms, right? At least one?”

I nod numbly. “Two. And they were way better than my rabbit. Or my fancy Christmas vibrator.”

Elaina sighs, her hand slipping from my arm. “Lucky girl. My lady parts are so lonely. I think I felt a tumbleweed blow through my vagina last night. No adult human should be expected to go without sex for this long.”

My lips curve. “What’s it been? Two months?”

“Three,” she says, doubling down when I laugh. “That’s a long time! And there’s no end to the dry spell in sight. I’ve already banged all the decently cute and clever men around here, and I don’t have time to drive into the city. I have a café to run. Scones don’t make themselves, and I can’t stay out until midnight and get up to bake at five a.m. I’m horny, but I’m also human. I need more than five hours of sleep to function.”

“I’m sure you’ll find another victim soon,” I assure her.

Her lips purse. “They’re not victims. They’re failed experiments. It’s not my fault none of the boys around here can handle a successful woman with a high sex drive. And I tell them I’m not looking for anything serious until I’m at least thirty. It’s not my fault they choose not to believe me. When people tell you who they are, you really should listen.”

Her words give me pause…

Weaver told me who he was last night. He made it perfectly clear that he was a man out for pleasure and nothing more. He wasveryhonest with me about that. So, maybe he’d be honest with me about the past, too…

I guess there’s only one way to find out.

Pulling in a deep breath, I let it out in a rush. “Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll ask him.” Elaina claps her hands and starts to squeal, but I stop her with a hand in the air. “But not right now. I’m sure he’s busy. He has the visitation tonight and the funeral tomorrow morning. If he hasn’t run back to wherever he came from by tomorrow afternoon, then I’ll make a trip out to the yacht.”

Elaina nods. “That sounds smart. He’ll definitely be in the mood to fuck all night by then. Funerals are inspirational thatway. I always leave wanting to prove that I’m still alive and making the most of my one, precious life.”

I frown. “Really? I just leave feeling sad.”

“That’s because you’ve only been to the funerals of people you truly loved. I don’t think Weaver loved his brother, do you?”

I shake my head, feeling a little sad for him. But it’s not his fault. The Tripp family has more than its fair share of bad eggs, and Rodger was the worst of the batch. “I doubt he even liked him,” I say. “No one else did. Not even Mark. He was scared of him and maybe wanted to be like him a little bit, when it came to the money and power, but he didn’t like his dad.”

We have that in common, I add silently to myself.

Ilovemy dad—I can’t seem to help it, no matter how much he’s hurt me or let me down—but I don’t like him very much.

Which reminds me…

“I have to head back to town,” I say, my bones feeling heavier now that I’ve remembered the task ahead. I can’t believe I forgot today was the third Saturday of the month, but then…I’ve been a little busy. “I have to run groceries by my dad’s place and grab his trash to add to ours before Gramps makes the dump run tomorrow.”

Elaina puts her arm around my shoulders. “You’re a good daughter. And a good friend. Don’t feel bad about lying about Felix, okay? Seriously, I get it. I lied about my first time, too. It wasn’t actually good. Not at all, really. It hurt, and I ended up with a bruised ovary.”

“Wow,” I say. “How does that happen?”

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