Page 124 of Kingmakers, Year Three

I wring the next towel in my hands, glaring at Snow. It’s just like him to take her side for no fucking reason.

“How do you figure that?” I demand.

“It’s called intimacy, Dean. You let someone in your life, and they’re in your life. She’s not a doll you can put on a shelf until you want to play with her again. She’s gonna have her own ideas of how to do things.”

“It’s my fucking mother! It’s my choice if I want to find her or not.”

“Cat didn’t fly her to the island. It’s still your choice if you want to see her, isn’t it?”

My blood pressure is rising, thudding in my temples and behind my eyes. I don’t know why the fuck I come to Snow for advice when he’s just as infuriating as Cat. Maybe even more so.

“She had the balls to try to break up with me!” I say.

Snow chuckles, and I’d like to chuck this towel right in his face.

“Sounds like shedidbreak up with you,” he says.

I fling the towel into the hamper, biting back the torrent of angry words that want to spill out of me. I regret how I spoke to Cat. I don’t need to set another relationship on fire—even if Snow is seriously pissing me off.

“Well?” I demand.

“Well what?”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Have you considered apologizing?”

“Why the fuck should I apologize? She’s the one who should beg me for forgiveness.”

Snow sighs, picking up the last of the pads and carrying them over to the storage cabinet.

“Dean,” he says. “I don’t think this is the first time you’ve blown up your own life. Have you ever tried fixing it instead?”

“What do you mean?”

“You want connection, don’t you? Stop pushing away the people who will give it to you.”

“I don’t want to see my mother.”

“Then don’t. But Cat is right here.”

I look down at the mats, my guts churning.

“I don’t think she is. I really fucked up.”

Snow closes the cabinet and locks it.

“No relationship is built without mistakes,” he says.

I cast a quick look at his stony scowl. “You think she’ll forgive me?”

“Maybe. If you learn how to say sorry and actually mean it.”

“What does that look like?”

Snow folds his arms across his substantial chest. “Only you can figure that out,” he says.

I think about that while I gather up my duffle bag and prepare to leave.

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