Page 21 of Love in Unexpected Places

It did now.He’d been lucky to meet Chance and to become a pack member.He wanted his sister to have that, even if she wanted nothing to do with him.

“You’ll be fine,” Sullivan murmured.“You don’t have to talk to your parents if you don’t want to.”

Matty wished he could believe that, but he knew better.His parents might have never cared about him, but they would care that he was here to help his sister.It was ridiculous since they were kicking her out, but they’d always liked putting him and Sabrina up against each other.She’d been the favorite, which was why Matty had thought they would keep her, but it was obvious now that she hadn’t actually been.It had just been their parents pitting them against each other again.

Matty should have known.

He swallowed and forced himself to let go of the steering wheel.When he reached for the door, Sullivan did the same, and they opened them at the same time.Matty slipped outside, and for the first time in years, he stood in front of the house where he’d grown up.

Nothing had changed.The house was still the same color and still looked pretty outside, like a happy family lived there.That couldn’t be further from the truth.Their family had never been happy, not even when Matty was a child.He’d always known there was something strange about the way his parents took care of him, and now, he knew what that something was.

They’d never really loved him.

He squared his shoulders, set his chin, and strode forward.There was no avoiding this, which meant he needed to face it head-on.No matter what his parents said and how they reacted to him, he wasn’t there for them.He didn’t want their approval, and he had never forgiven them.

He never would.

Sullivan was a reassuring presence as they both walked to the front door.Matty hesitated only slightly before raising his hand and ringing the bell.It rang loudly in the emptiness of the house.He doubted anything had changed inside, which meant that the house looked like no one lived there.His mother had always wanted things that way, and she’d gotten angry when Matty and Sabrina had left toys or anything else lying around.

He held his breath as he waited.He could hear noises inside, the sound of a door opening and closing, then heels on the cold marble floor.He took a step back, colliding with Sullivan.He started apologizing, but Sullivan didn’t seem to mind.He hooked a hand around Matty’s hip and squeezed as the door opened.

Matty stood in front of his mother for the first time in years.

There was a flicker of recognition in her gaze.She looked him up and down, clearly not liking what she was seeing.He didn’t care.When he’d been a teenager, she’d wanted him to wear sweaters and button-down shirts.Right now, he had on jeans and an oversized hoodie.He’d wanted to be comfortable for the long drive, and he hadn’t once thought about what his mother would think when she saw him.

“You’re here for Sabrina?”she asked.There was no warmth in her voice.He might as well have been a stranger, and he supposed that, in a way, he was.She’d never really known him, and she still didn’t.

“She called me.She told me that you were kicking her out.”

“She’s eighteen.”

Matty squeezed his hands into fists.He’d never been a violent person, and he wasn’t about to start now, but he was angry.“She’s still your daughter.She doesn’t have a job or an apartment.When you have kids, you’re supposed to look after them until they’re self-sufficient, not to kick them out as soon as they turn eighteen because you want to be free of them.”

“You and your sister need to learn responsibilities.”She looked him up and down again.“I’m not sure you have.”She glanced at Sullivan and frowned.“Who is this?”

For a moment, Matty worried about what was about to happen.He shouldn’t have.

“I’m a friend of Matty’s, and I’m here to support him,” Sullivan said in a voice that was so cold it could have frozen the air.

Maybe that was something Sullivan could do.Matty didn’t know a lot about his magic.

“Something you clearly never did, even though he’s your son,” Sullivan continued.

Matty wasn’t surprised when his mother bristled.She’d never taken it well when people expressed bad opinions of her.

Maybe she shouldn’t have abandoned her children as soon as they turned eighteen, then.

“Who are you to say that to me?You have no idea what it was like to raise these two.”

Sullivan shrugged and squeezed Matty’s hip harder.“You’re right.I don’t have any idea what it was like, and I don’t have children, so maybe I shouldn’t have an opinion on the way you raised yours, but it’s clear that they’re good people despite you, not because of you.Frankly, I think it’s a good thing that you kicked them out at eighteen.You don’t deserve to spend any length of time with them, and they deserve to be free of you.”

Matty’s mother opened her mouth, and while Matty didn’t know what she was about to say, he could imagine it all too well.He’d felt her anger on his skin too often.He wasn’t going to allow her to do the same to Sullivan, even though Sullivan could defend himself.

“You were an awful mother,” he said before she could speak.“You should never have had children, but Sullivan is right.It’s a good thing that you kicked us out at eighteen.We’re free of you now.I’ll never have to see you again after today, and neither will Sabrina.That’s what you want, isn’t it?To be free of us.To not have to deal with us anymore.Well, this is it.”

“Matty?”

Matty’s gaze snapped to his sister.She was standing on the stairs, staring at him with wide eyes.Suddenly, their mother didn’t exist anymore.Matty pushed past her and rushed to his sister, opening his arms as she ran down the stairs and threw herself at him.She knocked the breath out of him, but he caught her and hugged her tightly.

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