Page 44 of Hate To Love You

I sigh. My mom calls every once in a while to complain about how lonely she is, and how my father isn’t paying enough attention to her.

I mean, I do feel bad for the woman. She married a heartless bastard without a family bone in his body. One that would rather be at work and away from home than spending time with his wife and kids. Honestly, I think he only got married to have heirs for The Steele Corporation.

I know Logan is okay with taking over the company one day. He has absolutely no problem working for our father, but that seems like the worst thing that could possibly happen to me. I can’t stand my father, and being forced to work with him every day would lead to me killing him.

I let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry, mom. I’ll come and visit soon,” I lie. I won’t be going home until Thanksgiving break. I need my time away from that place. Next year, when I’m fully graduated, I’ll be getting my own place, but for now, I’m stuck at home.

Mom goes out of her way to smother us while we’re there. Making sure we’re eating, making sure we have everything we want or need, making us play games with her, and she only does it because my fathers not there.

That’s the only time she’s ever a real mother.

I hear her small sigh of relief on the other end of the phone.

“Oh, good. I’ll have Tatia make those cookies you like. The ones with the cream cheese and the frosting,” she coos.

Tatia, our home chef makes the best desserts, and when I was little, she’d make these ricotta cookies that were absolute heaven. She’d make them for me when I was upset over my father, when I was scared, or just to surprise me.

One night when I was eleven, my father had screamed at me for getting a low grade on a math quiz. He was so angry that I didn’t do a better job.

He’d said, “I didn’t raise you to be fucking stupid, Ryker. You’re a disappointment to me, and your mother.”

My mother just sat there, not even saying a fucking word. She watched as my father made me feel like a failure of a son, and she didn’t try to stop him.

I ran to my room and cried for hours. Eventually, Tatia showed up with a tray of those cookies, and I was hooked ever since. She’d make them every time I cried.

“Okay, mom. Thanks. I have to go now, okay? I’ll call soon.”

“Okay, sweet boy. I love you.”

I hang up the phone without another word, shoving it in my pocket. I do love my mother, but I’m so disappointed that she couldn’t step in and defend us against our father.

I just can’t seem to forgive her for that.

Instead of thinking about that, I turn my attention over to yet another thing that’s been bugging me lately.

Logan hasn’t spoken to me since the Halloween party when he made that dramatic exit after being questioned about Adrianna. I went to go find him, but I got a bit distracted, what, with throwing Ashton Davis to the ground for touching my rebel.

She’s not yours, Ryker.

Anyway, now that I have nothing to pull my attention away, I need to figure out what’s going on with my little brother. We don’t talk about girls or feelings, or even our father. But he seemed really upset the other night, and he is my brother after all.

I sit outside of Café Grind, waiting for Logan to show up and hoping he isn’t ditching me. I pull out my phone to send him another text asking where he is, but before I hit send, he’s walking up to me with his backpack slung over his shoulder and an unreadable expression on his face.

He pulls out the chair across from me and sits down, setting his bag on the ground. I push the coffee I bought him across the table, and he grabs it, taking a sip. He doesn’t make a face, so I assume I got it right this time.

“So, why’d you want to meet?” he asks cautiously. Honestly, I hate that we’ve let it get this bad between us.

“What, I can’t just want to hang out with my brother?” I ask in mock offense. Logan’s eyes narrow suspiciously.

“No,” he says flatly. Okay, then. This is going to be harder than I thought.

Taking another sip of my coffee, I clear my throat and make eye contact with Logan.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” I tell him honestly. No need to beat around the bush. I guess this is a bit uncomfortable for both of us. Logan grimaces.

“Never been better. Can I go now?” he goes to stand but I grab his wrist, forcing him to sit back down. Christ, he’s just as stubborn as Gwen.

“Logan, come on. What’s going on with you and Adrianna?” I ask. Logan looks down at his coffee cup, swirling it around a few times before setting it back down on the table.

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