Page 41 of Finding Our Reality

He was mine. He was supposed to be all mine, forever.

And then, he threw us away. Threw me away. Threw Reality away.

I’m engrossed in my own thoughts when the driver-side door opens. It scares the crap out of me, and the condom flies from my hand, landing somewhere on the floorboard. I slam the glove box closed and stare out the window, pretending like I wasn’t snooping through his truck.

He climbs in without saying a word. I wait for him to drive off, but nothing happens. I’m too chicken to turn around and face him, so I just keep staring out the window.

He leans over, picks up the condom, and holds it underneath my nose. “Need to borrow something? You could’ve just asked.” The edge of the foil wrapper tickles my nostril, making me squirm and sniffle.

I tsk through my teeth. “You don’t need to worry about me. I can make my own purchases. Besides, from what I’ve seen over the past few weeks, you need every little packet in your glove box arsenal.”

“Me? I’m not the one who went home with a stranger Friday night.”

Now,thathas me turning around. “That’s what’s wrong? Your piss-poor attitude today? It’s because I left the bar with a guy on Friday night?”

He grunts, not saying anything.

“That’s rich coming from you. I’m surprised your dick hasn’t rotted off over the past twelve years. And I’m not even talking about disease. I’m simply talking about over-use. A twig can only bend so many times before it breaks.”

His jaw clenches. He does not like that analogy.

I forge forward, hot in anger. “I’m thirty years old, Ry. If I wanna leave the bar with ten men at one time, I can do that. It’s nobody’s business but mine. Why do you even care?”

“First of all, you’re not thirty yet. Second of all,why do I even care? That’s like asking someone why the sky is blue. You know why I care.”

“Do I?” He doesn’t say anything. He just scowls. So, I turn the spotlight on him instead. “Tell me, when’s the last time you had sex?”

He shakes his head. “I’m not answering that.”

“Oh yes, you are. You’re the one who started this conversation. When is the last time you had sex?”

His eyes flicker down my body, from my mouth to my legs and back again. I don’t like the way he looks at me when I say the word sex, like he’s thinking of me. Because I know he’s not.

“So help me, Ryland Joseph Crutchfield, youwillanswer this question. Tell me. Now.”

His eyes soften, the fire in them dying. “New Year’s Day.”

Of course. Of course, it was. That’s just great. “So, while my parents were dying in a plane crash, you were sticking your cock in some perky teenager?” I snort in sarcastic disgust. “And you wanna chastise me for trying to connect with someone? Trying to feel something?”

I fold my arms across my chest. “You gave up the right to monitor what happens to my crotch twelve years ago when you left. Now, start this truck and drive, or else I’m going back inside and asking Trash for a ride.”

He starts the truck and drives.

Chapter 16

ELLA

I crawl across the floor on my hands and knees. Grazing my nose across the bare skin of his torso, I playfully nibble on his stomach.

He squeals in delight, pumping his hands and feet in the air.

Anna bends over her baby brother, tickling his nose with her hair. “Ty, is Smelly Ellie tickling you?” He immediately wraps a tiny fist around her damp hair and tries to pull it into his mouth. “No, no.” She gingerly pulls her hair from his grasp and runs back over to Uncle Ray, crawling onto his lap and secretly stealing a sip of his soda. Ray and Teresa already gave her a bath and had her brush her teeth, so Raylee would reprimand them if she saw her daughter drinking a Coke.

Raylee rounds the corner. “Mom, I threw Ty’s onesie in the washer. I have no idea how that kid manages to pee on everything he wears. No one told me that changing a little boy’s diaper is like a fireman trying to wrangle a hose.”

Holt props his feet on the coffee table. “Just wait until he’s a teenager.”

Raylee smacks her brother upside the head. “Shut up.”

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