Page 54 of Possess Me! (I Want You To)

“Come eat breakfast,” I called, unable to look at her as I gathered the cereal boxes and poured the last of the Fruit Loops into our bowls. I needed to focus. I needed to fix this. I needed to stop thinking about Prudence. Except, I couldn’t help it, because looking at the Fruit Loops only made me want to laugh—for obvious reasons—and like my eyes were magnetized to him my attention was pulled back toward my bedroom.

Prudence was in there.

Snooping through my painting supplies like he didn’t know I knew.

I could feel his curiosity, bright silver in the air.

Violet sat in her chair across from me, ankles tucked together as she shoveled cereal into her mouth and smiled. It was a bit stiff, but hey. She was trying. To her credit she didn’t bring Prudence up again for the entirety of the meal. I asked about her family, her brother, Avery—the wooded recluse who recently decided to open an occult spell shop—and her mother’s herbal tea business she ran on the side.

Violet chatted away, her raven-colored bob tucked behind her ears as she explained what exactly “intention” tea was. Then spent five minutes complaining about Avery’s bleeding heart and his colorful menagerie of random ass pets. By the time she’d finished her rant, I’d almost forgotten why we’d been fighting in the first place.

Unfortunately, I was reminded again when her dark gaze dragged over my collarbone and she stared a little too long at the hickeys that were purpling along my throat. I swallowed, suddenly a little sick to my stomach all over again.

My phone buzzed, saving me from whatever awkward conversation we would’ve been forced to have if I stayed. Excellent timing, telemarketer my friend. Cheerily, I leapt to my feet, interrupting what I was sure was about to be another fight as I cocked my head toward the back of the apartment with a put upon grimace.

“Sorry! Gotta take this.” Distracted, I didn’t actually check the caller ID as I fled down the hallway toward my bedroom for privacy to answer. Buzz, buzz. I stumbled to a halt right outside the door with a grimace. Prudence. Right. He was still inside—and I wasn’t really in the mood to be spied on right then—so I popped into the shared bathroom instead, shut the door, and answered.

“Hello!” I chirped, extra loud, in case Violet thought I was lying about the call. I cocked my head, listening for her response. But nothing came.

To my horror, Mom’s voice filled my ear and immediately the sickness festering beneath my skin multiplied. The tiny bathroom grew even smaller, as the walls closed in. My breath stuttered out, and I gripped the counter tight with my free hand, reflection staring back at me, horror-stricken.

How long had it been since the last time I’d talked to her?

Right.

I’d been ignoring her calls since the car accident and…well.

Clearly, she could tell.

“Have I done something wrong?” Her voice wobbled. No “hello.” No “hi, baby.” Not for me. Not this time. I swallowed bile, dropped my head, and leaned my body heavily against the cool counter. My arm shook from the weight of holding myself up. I’d never felt so heavy.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Luca.”

“No. You haven’t done anything wrong.” Jesus-god. Luca-this, Luca-that. That was all I was hearing today. Did everyone think I was a basket case? My skin itched, ants biting their way through my carefully collected control. There were lies on lies on lies, fogged like glass, between me and the rest of the people in my life.

I couldn’t breathe—

I couldn’t—

I—

“Then why have you been ignoring my calls?”

Jesus. Fuck. Fucking. Fucking. Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

“I’ve been busy.” More lies, more lies, lies, lies, lies, lies. Trailed like corpses behind me.

“I know you’re busy, baby. But I’m your mom. I want to know what’s going on with you. You don’t call, you don’t text. Adam says you left him ‘on read’ or something last week. I don’t know what that means, but it can’t be good.” She inhaled, and more words poured out. “We’re all concerned. You didn’t even reply when Paul texted you the stats for the Bears game! You love talking baseball with him—I just…don’t understand what’s been going on with you lately. This isn’t like you.” Her voice was wobbling again and I felt my heart begin to shred itself into a million tiny pieces. “I get that something must be happening, that you’re busy—like you said—” We both knew that was an excuse. “We used to talk all the time…I miss that. I don’t need anything else. I don’t know what I’ve done to cut myself out of your life but, Luca, please. Please give me a chance to fix it.”

Mom.

Mom and her bleeding heart.

Acid burned its way up my throat and I made a hurt little noise. “I’m sorry, Mom.” God. I was so fucking sorry. She had no idea how sorry I was. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—I just…”

“You’ve always been my most sensitive baby. I know breaking up with Hunter was hard for you. But I hope you know my negative reaction to him had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. I felt…something was off. I’ve wondered…”

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