Page 86 of Bittersweet Revenge
She shakes her head but smiles. “Is it the same boy you mentioned?”
“It is.”
“Tell me about him.”
“He’s an asshole,” I reply, and she laughs.
“They usually are.”
“But he’s…kinda great too. He reads. I can actually talk to him about books, and he gets it. He’s smart. Good with computers. Loves his parents, but he’s lost both… He…gets me. He’s also an artist. Ash loves him. They’re basically best friends. He would protect her if I needed him to.” I look away, trace circles on the couch.
“That’s good. She’s strong, your sister. Sometimes we forget that. I want more for her.”
More than what Mom has, she means. More than being married to someone like Sloan O’Shea.
“She’s a badass. She’ll be okay.”
Mom nods, watching me for a moment. “You love him…this boy.” It’s a statement, not a question, and while part of me wants to blow it off, I can’t.
“I think so…but how do I know? And what if it’s a mistake? What if he’s hurt because of me?”
Mom wraps an arm around me, pulling me to her side, and I let her. I can’t remember the last time I sat with my mom this way. It’s not something a man in my position usually does, but I don’t let that stop me from enjoying it now.
“You love him,” she says again. “Just…be good to him. Treat him the way he deserves to be treated. Can he handle it? This life?”
“Yes.” I’m confident about that.
“That eases a huge part of the concern right there, because I know you. When you love someone, they’re the luckiest person in the world. You would move heaven and earth for them. Just be who you are, Tiernan…the real you.”
I nod against her, let her words soak in, appreciating her more than I can say. “His name is Dean.”
“Dean.”
“But I call him little fighter.”
“Oh great. Sounds like we’re in trouble with him.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.”
“Soon.” First I must figure out how to make it all work.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Dean
I’m in Tiernan’sbed, staring at my phone. He’s been gone two full days now, and we talked every night. He still hasn’t had to do anything for his dad. It’s like the motherfucker just wants to torture him by making him come home, like it’s his way of asserting his power over Tiernan, and all it does is make me hate him more.
I loathe the man. Want to rip Tiernan away from him and show him Tiernan’s mine. He can’t have him or hurt him or force him to do fuckinganything.
Tiernan is better than Sloan could ever be. Better than I am too, and…I miss him. It’s a strange feeling. I must’ve missed my father after he died, and I missed my mom when I lost her, but like everything else in my fucked-up life, I’ve never had this experience of missing someone I care about this way. Everything with him is so fuckingnewthat it scrambles my brains. Being with Tiernan has altered my chemistry, my DNA, made me evolve in ways that wouldn’t be possible without him.
When I can’t hold back anymore, I text him.
Hey…what are you doing?
What are you doing?That feels like a dumb fucking text. I don’t even have anything specific to say to him. There’s no reason I should have even messaged.
