Page 65 of Here In Your Arms

She sighs. “He scares me.”

“I know, me too. I’m sorry you had to see him again. I didn’t want you to.”

“It’s okay, Aunt Rory. I know you didn’t invite him. Plus, you don’t love him anymore; you love Kyle and Wes.”

“Well, I mean, I wouldn’t say I love them yet.”

“You do, I can tell. They’re nicer than Nathan. And they’re funny.”

“They like you too. They told me they like having you around.”

“Good, I like them too. Let’s keep them.”

I laugh. “Good plan.”

We pull into the driveway, and I walk her up to the door. Once inside, I call out to let my mom know I’ve dropped Claire off. She comes around the corner a few moments later and raises an eyebrow at the two of us. I look at Claire and nod my head toward her bedroom; she nods in agreement and heads off.

“Don’t worry about feeding her. We went to the food trucks this afternoon with Kyle and Wes, so she’s good.”

“You took her out with two men?” My mom sounds horrified.

“Yeah, they’re the guys I’ve been seeing. I told you about them.”

“Well, I didn’t think you were serious!”

I frown at her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You and Nathan should be together, obviously. I don’t know why you’re still resisting this.”

“Oh here we fucking go again.”

I turn to leave as she yells at me. “Don’t you walk away from me!”

I stop and turn, giving her the bitchiest look I can. “You are my mom, and Claire lives with you. Those are literally the only two reasons I still talk to you. Let me make something very fucking clear. I will never, NEVER go back to Nathan. He’s an abusive asshole that I entertained for way too long. He fooled me and he’s still fooling you.”

“Rory, these outbursts are quite unnecessary. That man was wonderful to you. He doted on you, gave you nice things, and let you stay at his condo, which is much nicer than your apartment. Stop accusing him of things he didn’t do.”

“Yeah, take his side. Again. Fuck your daughter, listen to the abuser.”

“You need to show me some respect.”

“No, I really don’t.”

I leave at that point, completely done with this conversation. She’s still sputtering at me as I leave the house, and my good mood is completely gone. Part of me wants to go home, but I know the guys were really looking forward to me coming back over. Indecision paralyzes me briefly as I sit behind the wheel of my car, still sitting in my mom’s driveway. My phone dings and I pull it out of my purse on reflex.

Whes!: Hey pretty girl, we know you’re probably exhausted, but we’d still love to see you. No pressure. We can just sit and cuddle.

Pool God: Like he said, no pressure, honey.

I smile and realize maybe being with someone is exactly what I need. I respond to let them know I’m on the way, and head to two men who want nothing more than to love me.

Chapter 24

Kyle

Somehow Baldie found us at the food trucks the other day and I’m not sure how that happened. I’m starting to worry that he’s really stalking Rory, but I have no proof and she won’t talk about it. I’m not going to pressure her, but the worry sits heavily in my mind. When she came back from dropping Claire off the other day, she was quiet, but Wes and I kept our promise to just hold her and exist with her.

Now that Wes understands her depression a bit better, he’s been good about just ensuring that we can exist together, with no pressure on her. It was nice to all just exist together. She’s coming over again today and while I want to see if I can get her to talk, I’m not going to force it. The doorbell finally rings, and Wes jumps to answer it. Rory’s standing on the other side with a small smile.

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