Page 16 of Restrictions

They both stand up from the table, and on instinct, I stand as well. My mother continues to stare at me. I hate all the help I’ve accepted from them over the years. “I don’t expect you to.”

“Good. You can keep the house and your trust fund, but we won’t be helping you with your son anymore. You won’t listen to us anyway, so do not ask. We won’t be there to watch him, and if you decide to make another one,” her eyes land on Asher, “we will cut you off completely. Do not make the situation worse.”

I feel Asher stand next to me as I hold my hand up, praying he will take the hint and not say a word.

“I understand.”

I can hear Asher stewing, dying to say something, but thankfully he doesn’t. My mother nods, and I walk my parents to the door.

“Are you going to say goodbye to Sebastian?”

“Give him a kiss for me,” my mother says, brushing my hair over my shoulder. She was never good with affection. “We love you, but it’s extremely hard to watch you make mistake after mistake.”

I cringe, feeling the bile rise in my throat thinking about the last four years, really my whole life, of never being able to make them happy.

Always a disappointment in their cold, steely eyes.

8

ASHER

Holy fucking shit.Viv’s parents.

Okay, I get it now. Jesus, it’s a wonder the girl isn’t wound tighter than she is.

What the fuck was that?

Vivienne wouldn’t talk much after they left. We just cleaned up in silence, and then she went upstairs to put Baz to sleep and I went downstairs. I took a shower to wash that fucking dinner off me, but I can’t shake it.

I guess I get why she puts up with them. I mean, the kickass house and trust fund. It ain’t easy to do it all on your own, especially without any money, but holy fuck.

Lying on my bed and looking up at the ceiling, I can’t stop thinking about her face, falling with each blow from her parents.

I hear a loud noise coming from down the hall and sit up and then hear a scream. I rush out into the dark hall and see a light coming from the theater room.

I race in and see the screen is lit up with a dude in a hockey mask chasing some half-naked chick on the screen and Viv cuddled up with a blanket in one of the chairs. “Vivienne?”

She looks back at me, more surprised by me than the killer on the screen. “Asher? Did I wake you up?”

I shake my head and look back at the screen. “Friday the 13th?”

She nods happily and pops a piece of popcorn in her mouth. “The original. The new one is shit.”

Who is this girl?“I haven’t seen the new one.”

“Don’t waste your time.”

“You okay?” I stand in the doorway and watch as she pulls the white blanket up to her chin and reaches into the bowl of popcorn again.

“I’m fine. I told you they were a lot.”

“Yeah, I feel like you undersold them. Like, a lot.”

She laughs at that and eats another piece of popcorn. “Yeah. Sorry about that, but at least they’re moving and want nothing to do with us anymore.”

I’m sure she’s conflicted about that, although for the life of me, I don’t understand why. “Can I join you?” She nods her head, and I walk in, sitting in the chair next to her. “Surprising. It seems like they like to have their thumb over everything.”

“Yeah.” Her sad eyes are on the screen. “I think they’ve finally given up.”

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