Page 115 of Home Town Advantage
I can feel him shaking again, but in laughter this time. “She has a bit of an…addiction. It’s an expensive addiction.”
“Expensive? There’s so much free porn out there.”
He sighs. “I’ve tried to explain that to her, but she insists there are advantages to paid porn.”
I giggle. “You’ve had porn conversations with your grandmother.”
He lets out a laugh. “Yep. My poor mother. She deals with it all the time.”
VANCE
Sulley left. I have no idea where we stand. She said to reach out when I get back so we can talk more. I miss her already, but right now my head is spinning over how to handle things with Maddie now that everything is out in the open.
It’s very early in the morning, and the door to my bedroom opens. My mother pokes her head in and whispers, “You up?”
I whisper back, “Yes.”
She smiles and walks in wearing her pink robe with two mugs of coffee in hand. I have flashes of my youth. I was always an early riser. My father wakes up super early to deal with the ranch and his employees. He would wake her on his way out. She and I would then sit and drink our morning coffee together and talk until it was time for me to go to school. It’s always been our special time together.
Mom is still a beautiful woman. We share our hair and eye color. She’s aged a bit in the past few years, likely thanks to me, but she’s effortlessly beautiful, inside and out.
I sit up in my bed and accept the coffee, black, just like she knows I like it. “Thank you.”
She nods and sits on the end of the bed, giving me a smallsmile. “I can’t believe you’ve been seeing little Sulley O’Shea all this time.”
I raise an eyebrow. “She’s not so little anymore.”
Her smile widens. “I know.” She clutches her chest. “And you’re in love with her.” It’s said as a statement, not a question.
I nod. “Very much.”
“How does she feel? I know she had a giant crush on you as a little girl.”
I run my fingers through my hair. “Am I the only one who didn’t realize that?”
She giggles. “She was so young. Why would you have noticed? You certainly never lacked for female attention.”
I roll my eyes, and her laughter deepens.
“I think she loves me, but she’s never uttered the words to me. She’s been fighting her feelings for obvious reasons, but I believe they’re there. There’s something…magical that happens when we’re together. I can’t explain it. I breathe better when she’s around me. She’s a natural extension of me. She feels as much a part of my body as my legs and arms.”
Tears fill her eyes, and she reaches over to squeeze my hand. “Oh, Vance, I’m not sure I ever saw you as romantic, but wow. That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. You deserve all the happiness in the world. You’ve more than earned it.”
“Yesterday was intense. Sulley is still absorbing it all.”
She nods. “I’m glad it’s finally all out in the open. As much as I hated keeping secrets, I mostly hated how it negatively impacted your life. The shine in your eyes dimmed when everything happened. And right now, this morning, I see them shining again.”
I swallow. “I’m still confused.”
“About?”
“Maddie. Francesca. All of it. I don’t know the right answer. I just want to do the right thing. I want to do right by him. Telling the O’Sheas everything doesn’t change that.”
“Vance, you don’t owe him your life or your happiness. He died, and it was tragic, but a piece of you died that day too. Do you think Finn would want that for you?”
I shake my head. I know he wouldn’t.
She rubs my hand. “I think it’s time for you to find the right balance. You can honor the spirit of his final wishes without it negatively impacting your life so drastically.”
