Page 57 of Destined To Fall

“Yes. It can’t be so long since you’ve had it that you’ve forgotten how good it is.”

“That’s not something you forget, right?”

“Well, you clearly have. I don’t understand why.”

Jeremy shrugs.“Sex complicates everything.”

“Nope, not buying it. Sex doesn’t have to complicate anything. I want the story.”

“What story?”

“Oh, come on, Jer. You wanted to talk, to hang out. So talk.”

I settle back against the propped-up pillows, making myself comfortable, and Jeremy sighs.

“Okay.” He scrunches up his features, rubbing a hand across his forehead before trailing it down his face.“So, you know about Marti and her‘I’m not really a virgin and will sleep with anything that moves’story?”

“Wait, she wasn’t a virgin and had been fucking around?”

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t get to that part of the story.” I scowl, thinking about how someone could do that to Jeremy. I may have been overly promiscuous in high school and college, but I never cheated on anyone.“That’s rough.”

“Yeah. My trust in women went out the window after that.” He shrugs, as if it’s no big deal.“My…mom had cancer at the time. My father worked nonstop to pay for all her medical bills, and my sister and I looked after her. It didn’t leave a lot of room for dating, and I didn’t really want to let anyone else in. So, after Marti, there wasn’t anything…long term.”

Max had explained about his wife, and the ramifications it had on his family, but it still hits just as hard coming from Jeremy. I have no words to offer in comfort. My chest tightens, and instead of rubbing the uncomfortable feeling away, I take Jeremy’s hand in mine, squeezing. He squeezes back, but releases my hand shortly after.

“Wait. Is that what you meant by babysitting? You were looking after your mom?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t going to abandon her to go to some stupid party. Anyway, my sister, she went off the deep end after Mom died, and it wasn’t long after that she got pregnant. My father was furious. It went against all of my parents’beliefs. He kicked her out of the house.”

“What? While she was pregnant?” Jeremy gives a sharp nod, his jaw working.“That…I didn’t see that coming.” That doesn’t sound like Max at all, and he conveniently left it out at his confessional dinner.

“He became hard after…” He trails off.“Anyway, Lydia left. Dropped out in her final year of high school. Notthat she’d been going to class anyway. She got a crappy job and tried to clean up her life. She stayed with a friend for a while until we found her a place, but once my nephew was born, she couldn’t work. I got an extra part-time job to cover the costs. It was hard to schedule them around school hours, but I managed.”

“That’s what happened between you and your father?”

He nods.

“Okay, I get it. But where does the celibacy come in?”

“College, more or less. I still worked two jobs supporting my sister, and with the course load, I barely had enough time for sleep, let alone women.”

“Hold up. You haven’t had sex since college?”

“Something like that. Women become too clingy, and I didn’t have time for any more drama in my life.”

“Yeah, okay, that I can somewhat understand. Not the no sex. I’ll never understand that. But what about now? You don’t work twenty-four-seven; there’s plenty of time for sexing.”

“True.”

“But?” I hedge.

“I haven’t met the right woman.”

I roll my eyes at that.“There are plenty of women who all think they’re right.” I snicker.“It’s just sex, Jer. We don’t need a ring on our finger anymore to put out. Hell, you can go to any bar and there will be some inebriated woman throwing herself at anything with a pulse.”

“Gee, thanks.”

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