Page 111 of Love Medley
The dinner goes about as well as one might expect. There is a lot of yelling from my dad and crying from my mom, and Sterling is unperturbed. He just sits there eating, like he might as well get a nice steak dinner out of it. I half expected Sam to be there, butSterling rarely brings his significant others to family dinners. I’m sure Sam didn’t react well to that.
But when my father turns his rage towards me and starts blaming me for all of Wyatt’s sudden terrible life decisions, Wyatt steps in.
“Dad, you can yell at me, but this has nothing to do with Jake. He’s only here because I asked him to. It’s sad that I need support to attend a goddamned family dinner. Let’s go, Jake.”
My father booms out one more threat. “If you two leave out that door, don’t come back. You are both dead to me.”
There is a suffocating silence in which even Sterling stops eating, his fork halfway to his open mouth. My mom has a stricken look on her face. I’m sure she’s remembering a similar scene with her own parents. How ironic is it that my father is just repeating his past?
If I’m really that similar to him, I refuse to take the path he did. I’m going to take the one that my heart knows is the right one.
And that’s towards home.
Towards places I belong like TNT and Bill’s. Towards my friends Luke, Trix, and Ian. Towards my brother Wyatt.
And Lucy.
Wyatt and I glance at each other, and as if we are communicating by telepathy, we leave together.
As we loiter in the driveway next to my trusty Camry, Wyatt and I stand in silence for a moment, contemplating the decimation of our family.
“I knew it would be bad, but not this bad. I didn’t realize we’d both be disowned. You don’t deserve that.”
“I was basically disowned already,” I say with a shrug. “I didn’t really need the formal words.”
“Still.”
“It’s not like we don’t have family.We’rehanging out again, and that means more to me than these fucked-up family dinners.”
“That’s true. Thanks, Jake. Seriously. For everything.”
We give each other an awkward bro hug. It’s a start.
I clear my throat. “I’m going to go talk to Lucy.”
Wyatt puts his hands on my shoulders. “Go get your girl.”
Chapter thirty-seven
Lucy
After Jake leaves my apartment, I sob so hard I can’t breathe. Why did I say the things I did? I wish I could take those words back. Jake must have felt like I was saying he wasn’t good enough.
He is more than good enough. He’s…incredible.
And I don’t deserve him.
Grief weighs me down. Did I feel like this after Weston and I brokeup?
The answer is…no.
What I felt after that breakup was extreme loneliness. Sadly, Weston was such a domineering presence in my life that he took up all the empty spaces.
But Jake?
I miss everything about him: his twinkling, teasing gray eyes, his adorable dimples, his strong arms wrapped around me. And all the memories of him: calming me down after my first panic attack, singing duets with me, staring into my eyes. That ridiculous car alarm the time we almost kissed. Silly texts about cotton ball dogs. Snuggles on the couch. Late night talks. The sushi date where he admitted that he liked me, that his feelings were real. How he encouraged me to work on the ER project. The dinner and movie date at his apartment, watchingArmageddon. Sex in the call room. Making dinner for me. Karaoke with his friends. And the way he has sparked a flame of passion inside of me that I’ve never felt before.
But more than that, I just miss how he makes me feel. His steady, constant warmth was everything. The hyperalertness, the buzzing like I need to be on guard all the time, relaxed when he was around.
