Page 184 of Edge of Unbroken

“You assume that I spend any time at all thinking about what my mother deserves or doesn’t. I honestly try not to think about her at all because usually when I do, it doesn’t end well for me. I’d much rather spend my energy thinking about Cat,” he said in a husky voice, pulling me more tightly against him.

Vada giggled. “Are those thoughts dirty by any chance?”

“Uh, I’d say it’s about an eighty-twenty ratio,” Ronan said with my favorite mischievous half smile, a naughty little gleam in his beautiful green eyes.

“With the eighty being dirty?” Shane asked.

“Extremely,” Ronan said, making me blush.

“What are the other twenty percent?” Tori asked.

Ronan’s face softened. “How fucking lucky I am to have her, how much I love her, how perfect she is…” Ronan trailed off with a deep exhale and a smile on his lips. I suddenly very desperately needed to kiss those lips.

“Aww,” Summer swooned.

“Jesus, man, stop. You’re making me look bad,” Zack said, causing the rest of us to dissolve into fits of laughter.

“Alright, alright, let’s make a toast,” Shane shouted over us as he raised his glass of whiskey.

Steve did like Shane and raised his bottle of beer in the air. “What are we toasting to? The graduates?”

“Well, yeah, but I’ve been thinking about what Ran said the other night. About how he called himself broken. And, I mean, I think we’re all kind of fucked up in some way. It’s been a hell of a year; we’ve all tried to figure this out somehow, and even before then…” He trailed off, becoming contemplative as he looked around at us.

I realized he was right. All of us tried to cope as best we could these past few months, not just with what happened to Ronan, but our own struggles as well. My past with Adam and my desire to assert myself against my dad, Steve and Shane with their guilt, Vada with her breakup from Steve.

Ronan nodded. “I’m definitely not the only fucked up one here,” he said. “So… maybe we toast to all of us? To the broken ones?” Ronan raised his own glass.

Steve studied his little brother for a moment, then raised his bottle higher. “To the broken ones.”

Everyone else raised their glasses, too. “To the broken ones.”

We clinked our glasses and drank.

Ronan, Vada, Tori, Zack, Summer, and I finally graduated high school on May 21st. It was such an exciting and interesting day.

My dad and siblings had flown in the night before to see me walk the stage, and that morning my parents broke the news that they had had enough of their long-distance marriage. Starting now, my dad and siblings would live in New York. My mom disclosed to me in secret that a few months ago, my dad tried to convince her to move back to North Carolina with me, probably because he still wasn’t a fan of my relationship, so I could attend Duke close to home. All that changed when I informed my parents of my decision to attend NYU come this fall, and that I had absolutely no intention of being anywhere but in New York.

My dad finally met Ronan that afternoon, and to say it was an awkward first encounter would be an understatement. Even after our heartfelt talk back in March, my dad was a total ass.

Our families met just outside the convention center where the ceremony took place. I bounded toward Ronan and threw myself into his arms while my mom and Penny hugged. I startled for a second when I saw Penny and my dad hug, until I remembered that they’ve known each other since high school. My parents were high school sweethearts, and Penny and my mom were best friends. Naturally, the three of them had spent a lot of time together when they were mine and Ronan’s age.

“Bobby, this is Penny’s boyfriend, Frank,” my mom said to my dad, and he and Frank shook hands. At only about four inches taller than my dad, Frank didn’t exactly tower over him, but Frank’s wide, muscular frame obviously made an impression on my dad, who’s most definitelynotwide or particularly muscular. My dad looks like… a math teacher.

After Steve introduced himself, I stepped back from Ronan. “Dad, this is Ran,” I said, my fingers interlaced with Ronan’s as he reached his free hand out to my dad.

“Good to finally meet my daughter’s boyfriend,” my dad said, and I wondered if he purposely deepened his voice as he said that. He took Ronan’s hand firmly into his own.

“Good to meet you, too, sir,” Ronan said politely.

My dad very obviously analyzed Ronan, who was wearing a nice pair of dark-wash jeans and a fitted white short-sleeved Henley that showed off his sculpted arms, shoulders, and chest. There was no denying how handsome all three of the Soult guys are.

My dad eyed Ronan for a long, uncomfortable moment, purposely dragging out the awkward silence. He gripped Ronan’s hand tightly as he took note of Ronan’s height and muscular frame, then scanned his face. My dad’s gaze lingered on the prominent scar cutting through Ronan’s left eyebrow and continuing underneath his left eye. I know Ronan noticed; I saw the discomfort in his eyes as my dad continued to squeeze Ronan’s hand, obviously signaling that my dad had an eye on him and me, and that he didn’t approve of my relationship with Ronan just yet.

I rolled my eyes and huffed loudly. “I think Ran and I probably need to get going.”

My dad finally let go of Ronan’s hand.

“Yes, we should find our seats,” my mom said tersely, giving my dad a disapproving look for his idiotic behavior and his weak attempt at intimidating Ronan, who has done absolutely nothing to deserve such a cool reception.

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