Page 26 of Wild and Bright

My stomach jolts. “Yep. He wants me that much.”

Her eyes grow dazed. “I can’t believe it.”

She really can’t—I can see it all over her face—and it makes my mountain of triumph fade into dust. I ought to have expected it. I knew she thought he’s out of my league. So why does thwarting her expectations leave me strangely hollow?

“Will you go find Cadence and tell her to come back in here?” I ask. “I need to finish telling her we’re moving tomorrow.”

Her eyes snap to my face. “Tomorrow?”

“Yep.” I try for a smug smile, but I find my lips are quivering slightly. “Cam is impatient to start our new relationship.”

“Honey, what are you thinking moving out so suddenly like this? Cadence has lived here for nearly her whole life.”

“And with Ryder.” I wave a dismissive hand. “And he’s lived in a bunch of different apartments since she was born. And with a bunch of different roommates and girlfriends. She’s used to the change.”

“Yes, but you’re her stability.”

“That’s right!”

When she jerks her head back, I realize that I nearly shouted at her. I take a deep breath before speaking again. “I’m her stability, and you kicked me out yesterday.”

She exhales, lowering her gaze to the floor. “Honey, I was angry.” Her voice is small, because she hates apologizing. Even when she’s cornered.

“And it’s a good thing you were, because it led to this opportunity. It’s a game changer for me and Cadence.”

She licks her lips, shaking her head. “I don’t know if it’s the opportunity you think it is.”

I snort. “You’re only saying that because you can’t relate. If you’d ever had someone like Cam offer you something like this, you would have jumped at the opportunity.”

That finally gets her. She narrows her eyes, and her jaw hardens. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I have a lot more experience with men like Camden than I ever told you about—”

“Mom!” We both jerk at the sound of Logan’s voice. His thudding footsteps sound down the hallway.

“Uncle Jack needs you,” he says.

My mom turns toward the hallway. “What for?”

“I don’t know. It’s important though.” With that, Logan sweeps into my bedroom and closes the door practically in her face.

Now that we’re alone, I roll my eyes. “Traitor.”

“Are you kidding me? I saved your ass, and you know it. I couldn’t even see your face, and yet I knew you were about to snap. You were Eddie Brock turning into Venom.”

“Anything I said would have been deserved.”

His expression grows piteous. “Why do you still do this shit?”

“Don’t say that like you’re so much more evolved than me. You have mommy issues, too.”

“Yeah, but I deal with mine by ignoring them.” His lips twinge. “Like a healthy fucking adult.”

“That’s because you don’t have to live under her dictatorship.”

“It’s only a dictatorship because you’ve let her have it. She can’t control you. You can do whatever the fuck you want.”

I raise both hands in the air. “Mom and Dad have been paying my student loans. Do you know how much they are? Two grand a month! Two fucking grand. And she threatened to stop paying them.”

“Yeah, but you know she was never going to do that.” His expression softens. “This isn’t about that, and you know it. This is about the same thing it’s always about with the two of you—her hurting your feelings, and you not wanting her to know how sensitive you really are.”

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