Page 47 of Finding Home with You

“And I also needed to get away from Anthony,” she adds, almost as though it’s an afterthought.

But it’s way more than that and knowing we are only a couple of minutes from my parent’s house now, I indicate to pull over so we can have this conversation before I lose the opportunity.

“Why are you stopping?” Erin asks, looking around at the empty fields.

“What happened with Anthony?” I ask, ignoring her question as I turn in my seat to face her.

Erin shrugs. “I just wasn’t the girlfriend he wanted me to be,” she says.

“In what way?” I ask, my heart thudding in my chest.

She turns to me, offers a small smile as she says, “Compliant.”

“Did he hurt you?” I push, knowing I already want to kill this motherfucker, but if I find out he’s hurt her, I’m gonna make it slow and painful.

Erin shakes her head. “Not physically, no.”

“You sure?” I ask, knowing domestic violence victims don’t always realize that the things being done to them are abuse.

Erin exhales as though she’s exhausted and not just by the long day and the late hour. “Can we take a time out from all this, Ryan. Please?”

I watch her, see the hurt and pain and anguish in her eyes as she looks back at me, silently begging for a reprieve from all the questioning. This is the most she’s ever talked about her past with me and I know that if I want her to keep talking to me, I have to be careful about how hard I push her. She isn’t a suspect and this isn’t an interview.

I nod. “Yeah,” I say, giving in for now. “And thank you for talking to me, babe,” I add, pulling her toward me. “I’m really glad you talked to me.” Erin buries her face in my neck, but I feel the nod as she acknowledges what I’ve said to her.

“I still love you, you know that, right?” I whisper, my mouth at her ear. “Nothing I learn about you or your family is ever going to change that.” I pull back, cupping her face in my hands as I stare into her eyes, willing her to believe me. Eventually she nods and I smile before leaning in to kiss her.

Five minutes later, we are pulling into the drive of my parent’s house. It’s late, after midnight, and the house is half in darkness as though everyone has gone to bed.

“Will they still be up?” Erin asks.

I turn off the car and stare up at the house. “Maybe my mom, yeah. She usually waits for everyone to arrive.”

“Not your dad or sister?”

“Probably not,” I say as I get out of the car. “Don’t worry, you’ll get to meet them in the morning.”

“Hmmm,” is all she says as she undoes her seat belt but stays in her seat.

I walk around to her side and open the door. “Can’t spend the whole trip in the car, babe,” I say, as I hold out my hand to her. “It gets pretty cold out up here.” She turns and gives me a filthy look, which only makes me laugh. “Come on you sexy minx, get out of the car,” I add, pulling her out of her seat and into a quick embrace.

The front door is unlocked when we reach it and I don’t miss the look Erin gives me, the raised eyebrow as though she finds it slightly ironic that I’m somehow okay with my parent’s house being unlocked in the middle of the night, but not with her keeping a key under her mat. A key that is no longer there because it’s now on my keyring.

I gesture for her to walk in, gently smacking her on the ass as she does. She flicks me a look over her shoulder and I can’t help but laugh as I direct her into the living room.

“Hey, Ma,” I say to the figure on the couch watching some crime show on TV.

“Ryan,” she says, getting up and walking over to us. “You’re finally here.”

“Yeah, sorry, traffic was a bitch,” I say, pulling her in for a hug. “Ma, this is my girlfriend, Erin. Babe, this is my mom, Mary.”

I watch as Erin holds out her hand, only for my mom to ignore it and pull her in for a hug as well. “So nice to finally meet you, Erin,” she says. “Ryan’s told us so much about you.”

“He has?” she asks, glancing at me.

“Hasn’t shut up about you actually,” Sarah says from the shadows of the couch.

“Shit, Sarah,” I say. “I didn’t even realize you were here.”

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