Page 109 of I Blame the Club

-so, at the end of the day my insecurities came from a place in here.” I tap my chest, “When I ran away, I wasn’t thinking. I was feeling.”

Maurice closes his eyes with a sigh, “Wes told me you were searching for validation and reassurance from me.”

My best friend is a dead man.

“And he was right. I haven’t been open and although I haven’t done anything to be of concern, I haven’t confirmed anything either.”

My mouth drops open, the sincerity in his tone making me want to pinch myself.

He opens his eyes, “My mother died in a car accident five years ago. Stella was in the car and they were driven off the road by a drunk driver.”

He swallows, “The morning after my sister got discharged from the hospital, my father woke us up at 4:30AM and took us to the gym. Stella wasn’t cleared to do anything beyond her physio exercises but that didn’t matter. Jonathan kept us there for hours, telling us that the only way to change yourself is to challenge yourself.”

I stare at him in shock, horrified that anyone would put their children through that, never mind after losing a loved one.

“That routine went on for two weeks until I had to come back to school and finish the semester. By then, my priorities and perspective of the world had flipped upside down with only one thing staying the same. My father’s expectations.”

He lets out an empty laugh, “You said I was too perfect? Let me reassure you, Nico, perfection was always the one thing I could never attain.”

Blinking back tears, I step forward and wrap my arms around him. His strong frame melds against mine, the hard edges of his muscles cutting into me as the barriers between us start to fall.

“Perfection is an illusion, mi amor. Keep chasing it and nothing will ever be enough.”

He smiles against my neck, “Losing me with the Spanish there, Montez.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

Maurice sighs against me, his broad shoulders collapsing against mine.

“You remind me a lot of her, you know.”

I let my hand trail down his back, offering the comfort he should have received a long time ago.

“Who?”

“My mother.”

My hand stills and I pull back to look at him, “I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not.”

He smirks, “Well you certainly don’t have her class. Butyou have her uncanny tendency to make me throw logic out the window and do stupid shit like sleep on a makeshift bed on the ground.”

I burst out laughing, “You had so much fun that night, admit it.”

“My back still hasn’t recovered.”

“Old man.”

He rolls his eyes, “The point is, I heard what you said the other night and this is me trying to make it right.”

“By comparing me to your dead mother?”

He glares but I catch his lips twitching, “I forgot how infuriating you are. I’m starting to think asking you to be my boyfriend was a bad idea.”

My brain screeches to a halt.

“You want me to be your boyfriend?!” I shriek the last word as adrenalin, excitement, and a little bit of fear pumps through my body.

He shrugs, “Unless you’d prefer to be called something else.”

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