Page 43 of Relentless (The Titans of Founder's Ridge 2)

“And you have periods. Glad the only thing I have to worry about is my balls sticking to my leg in the heat.”

“What about popping random wood at weird times?”

“Psh, I don’t care who sees this magnificent dick in all its glory. It’s basically a divining rod.”

I roll my eyes and let him walk into the dining room first. He was right. My mom’s face turns as bright red as the cherries on her blouse. Her eyes narrow when she sees I haven’t changed. Frank is laughing at Levi, which only enrages Mom further.

“Neither of you are dressed appropriately for dinner,” she seethes.

“Oh Jennifer, sit down. They’re fine.” Frank rolls his eyes. “It’s not like we have company, and even then, who cares? They’re teenagers.”

“Ivy,” she directs her ire to me, “go upstairs and change, or you can miss dinner. God knows it wouldn’t hurt you. Your thighs are already getting dimpled. Probably from all the carbs you eat.”

“Fuck you.” Levi says.

“Jennifer,” Frank stands, “enough.”

“No,” she growls at Frank, “her body is disgusting. She has the musculature of a boy, a flat chest, and now she’s getting cellulite?” She sneers at me, “No one will ever want you looking like some dollar store imitation of a woman.”

A glass flies across the room and crashes into the wall. “Shut your nasty whore mouth, Jennifer.” Levi puts a protective arm around me. “I think it’s time all your secrets came out.”

“Are you going to let him talk to me like that?” she looks to Frank for support, but he’s glaring at her with a dark scowl.

“Yes, I am. The way you just spoke to Ivy was horrendous. I’m tempted to call Parker just to get her away from your toxicity.”

Levi’s hand tightens on me. He’s not letting that happen either.

“I found these in your desk last week while I was looking for the tax documents Dad needed.” Levi tosses a pile of letters on the table.

I feel like someone just threw a fifty-pound sandbag on my chest, I can’t breathe. There in front of me are all the letters Levi told me he sent and the one I sent him after our last summer at camp. When I look at Mom, her eyes are surprised, but then she schools her features quickly.

“I have no idea what those are,” she lies.

“These are the letters that Ivy sent me and that I sent her that neither of us ever received. I did a little digging, and guess who asked the Headmistress at Ivy’s boarding school to filter mail from or to me?” He looks at Jennifer with disgust, “Jennifer Bane.”

“Why?” I pull out a chair and fall into it.

“Well, I can’t be sure but here’s my theory. She picked you up from camp that summer, right? She saw us say goodbye and the car that I was picked up in. I think she did her research on who I was and decided Dad was her next meal ticket.” He looks to his father, “Did you know she crashed the fundraiser? Her name wasn’t on any of the guest lists, even as a plus one.”

“It was years ago. You can’t know that!” Mom loses just a tiny bit of her previous bravado.

“Yeah, actually, I can know that.” He looks over at Frank again. “Griff did some digging.”

Frank is looking at Mom like she’s grown a second head or something equally as hideous. He shoots both of us a look, “Why don’t you two eat in the kitchen with Babs. I need to speak with Jennifer privately.”

I follow Levi out of the dining room in a haze. I can’t even pinpoint which emotion is flowing through my bloodstream the most. Hurt, definitely. Anger. Confusion. Disgust. I stop before we get to the kitchen.

“I’m not hungry. I think I’m just going to go to bed.”

“Are you sure?” Levi’s eyes bounce back and forth between mine.

“Yeah. That was,” I point in the direction of the dining room, “a lot to take in. A lot to process.”

His brow furrows, clearly concerned. “I’ll come check on you in a bit, then.”

I nod and walk past him. I feel his eyes burning into me as walk down the hall toward the back staircase. I walk up them numbly and down the hall to my room. I close the door behind me and lean back against it.

I don’t understand why my mom hates me so much, why she speaks to me the way she does. Is it because I take after my dad in every way? Is she jealous of my relationship with him? What did I ever do to deserve that type of treatment from the woman who gave birth to me? How could she be so cruel to cut off my communication with Levi?

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