Page 64 of The Boyfriend List
"Really? Because she seemed like she couldn't wait for us to break up with how she was interrogating me just now," I hiss as we near the MC's stand.
"Oh, that's just her way of showing affection," Gloria says airily.
We pass by Giorgio and Sasha, who are getting off the stage.
Sasha holds a fruity drink and waves it at Giorgio. “If you flirt with me one more time, I will dump this drink over your head.”
“You’re sweet enough, I don’t need any more sugar.” He winks at her.
Sasha flushes and makes to throw the drink at him, but he dodges and it splashes onto the floor instead. Fortunately, I already got out of the way soit didn’t land on my shoes. She chugs the remainder of her glass and slams it on the bar before storming off.
"Up next, Gloria and London, singing Adele's Rolling in the Deep!" the MC announces.
The music plays, and as I sing the line,we almost had it all, I hope and pray that this song won't be about us. But Raina's words about Gloria's hesitation to tell me about her alleged experiences with my mother… I don't know if I can be certain about us.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Gloria
As we leave the karaoke bar hand-in-hand, walking back to London's car, London stops halfway to the parking lot, and spins me around to face him. I look up at him quizzically, tilting my chin back.
"What's up?" He's seemed off since we sang the Adele duet, but I assumed it was just because he hates karaoke.
"I…" He sucks in a deep breath, like he's about to dive into deep, murky waters. "Raina told me you hid your feelings from me for a long time, because of something my mom said or did."
My stomach drops. "London…"
I never intended for him to know about that incident at Thanksgiving so many years ago, not wanting to force him to choose between me and his family. I was so caught up in the rush of the honeymoon phase of our relationship, I let myself believe it didn’t mean anything. But it does.
"What did she do or say to you?" His voice is hard.
"It's not a big deal," I insist. "She's your mom."
She's hismom. No matter what he says, we only recently starteddating.
How could I expect to compare to his family when his family is everything to him? When he's the kind of guy who wakes up early on a Saturday morning to take his nieces horseback riding? Who would attend family dinners every week no matter how busy his life gets? Who would do his best to hold things together even when no one else in his family cares?
How could I tell him that something his family did hurt me?
And even if I told him, what would he do about it?
"No. Tell me, Gloria."
I cross my arms over my chest, and his hand drops from my elbow. "It was a long time ago. Can we change the subject, please?"
"What did she do?" His dark eyes are fiery, his jaw tight.
"She basically told me I'd never be good enough to date you," I say in a rush. “She raved about how amazing you are and about how no woman would ever live up to her standards for her favourite son.”
"Ria," he says. In the dim glow of the streetlights, he looks indignant that his mom would say such a thing to me. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."
I shrug, rubbing my hands over my arms even though I'm not cold. I'm just trying to keep from letting him touch me—because if he does, I'll break my carefully crafted self-control. "She raised you. Doesn't she know what she's talking about?"
"She didn't know anything about you. Shedoesn'tknow anything about you."
"But she knowsyou," I say. I don't know why I'm insisting that his mom is right.
Maybe because deep down, I want her to be. Part of me wants that to be the reason things don't work out between us—that we can say we tried but his family got in the way. Because he might discover that I'm imperfect,unworthy of him checking off every box on my list, and leave instead. And that would break me.
"She thinks she does." He runs a hand through his hair, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "She thinks she knows what's best for me."
