Page 11 of One Pucking Destiny

“Sounds like you have an amazing mom.”

“She’s the best.”

He holds my side, his hand over my tattoo. “Our matching tattoos are just another sign.”

“Sign for what?” I chuckle.

“That we were meant to meet.”

I throw my head back onto the pillow. “Stop. You have to stop, Bash.”

“Fine.” He changes the subject. “Why were you in the mood to cry earlier?”

Missing his warmth, I resume our cuddling position. Scooting into his side, I wrap my arm around his middle and rest my chin against his chest. “I wasn’t.”

“In the bookstore, you said you wanted an ugly cry book.”

Oh, that.“I don’t know. Sometimes a good cry is therapeutic. Don’t you ever just want to cry?”

He hugs my body against his. “What’s going on in your life? Are you okay?”

The crazy thing is I know his question is sincere. I haven’t even known the guy for a day, but I believe that he truly wants me to be happy.

“It’s nothing, really. I’m actually a very happy person. I just… had a moment. You know? It was nothing serious.”

“What was the catalyst for this moment?”

“Um…” I have a hard time wrapping my thoughts around my feelings enough to vocalize them.

The truth is, it was my mom. It was just her and me growing up—no family or friends. Not really, anyway. Just the two of us. We’re as close as a mother and daughter can be, and I love her dearly. She sacrificed so much to make sure I never had to go without. All my life, she’s worked so hard to put herself through school. Money was tight, but she did everything in her power to make sure I never knew that it was. Of course I knew. I pretended I didn’t, but I did. It was never an issue because I always had everything I needed. I had her.

She never dated when I was younger. It wasn’t her priority. She finally gets her dream job, and what feels like weeks later, she’s married to a much younger playboy hockey player. What hurts is that she didn’t tell me as it developed. We’ve always shared everything, and she didn’t share this new occurrence in her life until they were getting married. I’m happy for her, but the way it all played out hurt, and some days, I can’t shake that feeling of betrayal.

Yet this is a lot to unload on a casual hookup. So instead, I state, “It’s nothing. Just a misunderstanding with my mom.”

“Oh, I assumed you had a good relationship.”

“We do.” I nod. “We have a wonderful relationship. She’s my favorite person in the world. Recently, we’ve had some… communication issues, I guess, that resulted in hurt feelings. I’ll get over it. It just hit me hard today because I didn’t get to see her on my birthday. She had an obligation with her new job.”

He traces light circles against my back. “I see. Have you told her how you’re feeling?”

“Somewhat. She’s in a really good place. I don’t want to upset her.”

“Well, if she’s an incredible mom like you say?—”

“She is. Truly.”

“Then talk to her. If you’re hurting, I’m sure she’d want to talk it out.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

He kisses the top of my head again.

It’s silent for a moment as I gather my thoughts. “I’m probably making more out of it than necessary.” I rub my thumb back and forth over Bash’s chest. “Sometimes I get all up in my feels, you know? I’m fine.”

“I know all about girls and their feels,” he says. “I grew up with Hattie. But look, your feelings are valid, and I think you should share them with your mom.”

“It’s just she’s sacrificed so much for me over the years, and she’s finally living for herself. It feels selfish of me to rain on her parade. As I said, I was feelingextra emotional today. It passed.” I release a half-suppressed laugh.

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