Page 51 of Break: Vol. 2

Dex snatched my hand up as I passed him and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “I’m not worried in the least, Baby. I love you.”

I smiled, curling my fingers against his briefly before I tugged them away. “I love you, too.” I looked back over my shoulder. “And you, too, tattletale.”

Cody blushed. “Sorry,” he muttered.

I laughed quietly. “I’m just teasing. I love you both. Why don’t you go to bed? I’ll let my mom out when we’re done talking.”

“Come find me when you’re done?” Dex asked.

I shook my head. “Hell no, you’re not supposed to see me the night before the wedding, much less sleep with me.”

His nostrils flared and he stepped forward, causing me to quickly scramble back as a deliciously wicked glint entered his eyes.

Before he could say anything else, I took a step towards the living room. “I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight!”

I rounded the corner and found my mom sitting in the living room, dressed in the same clothes she’d been wearing for dinner, despite how many hours had passed. She sat with her purse clutched in her hands. I glanced around, half expecting my father to be with her, but my scan came up empty. She was alone.

“Mom?”

Her head jerked up as I entered. She stood quickly. “Jamie, I was hoping I could talk with you.”

“Yeah,” I said, gesturing for her to take a seat again as I moved through the room and sat across from her, “I see that.”

She hesitated for a moment, but finally, she sat once more. Silence stretched between us and I raised my brows.

“Well…” I started, “you wanted to talk, so…”

She cleared her throat. “I was very shocked by the announcement you made at dinner tonight.”

“Yeah,” I reached up to curl a strand of my hair around my fingertip, “I’m not surprised to hear you say that.”

“Your father and I came up here with the idea that you would be marrying one man, not four.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

She swallowed, her fingers clutching at the top of her purse as though she needed something to grab onto. “We want you to know that we still love you.”

I stopped tugging on my hair, untangling my fingers, and setting my hands in my lap. “I’m glad to hear that,” I said slowly. “I mean, to be honest, I didn’t think this would make you stop loving me. Was there ever a chance of that?”

My heart pounded against my ribcage, so loud in my ears, I was afraid she could hear it from across the room. But she didn’t seem to notice as she turned her gaze downward. In a quiet, barely there voice, she answered, “No.”

“Okay, then, why are you really here?” I asked. “Is it because you want to tell me not to do this? Because if that’s the case, Mom, it’s kinda too late.”

I waited for her to speak, but nothing came. The quiet crawled under my skin, shredding me from the inside. I hated it. It made me itchy. So, I kept talking. Anything to bring sound to the room.

“I love them,” I professed, “and I’m sorry I never told you and Dad the truth. I’m sure it’s shocked everyone, but we didn’t want to start our life together with all of our families in the dark. I’m not going to leave them. We—”

“I’m not going to ask you to,” she finally said, stopping me.

“You’re not?” I sucked in a breath.

She shook her head as she looked back at me and smiled—albeit, a bit sadly. I frowned, confused. If she wasn’t here to talk me out of this then why was she sad?

“I’m so worried for you,” she admitted, her voice thick with emotion. She sniffed hard before she began digging into her purse, bringing out a wad of tissues. Instead of using them, however, she merely clutched them in her grasp as she moved her purse to the side and leaned forward, pressing her forearms to her legs. “The world is not as accepting as I wish it was,” she said.

Though my throat had mysteriously dried out, I managed to croak back a response. “I know that.”

“People are going to judge you. They’re going to call you horrible names.” She gasped as a tear escaped and slid down her cheek and she quickly pressed the wad of tissues to her cheek, soaking it up before it could make it to her chin. “You’re my baby. My little girl. I don’t want that for you. It breaks my heart.”

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