Page 109 of Indecent Ventures

She rubs my arm. “Tell me what you love about him. Articulate it.”

“He’s hot as fuck.”

She gives me an exasperated look. “I’m aware. What else?”

I plop down on the couch. I lean my head back and close my eyes for a brief moment. “I don’t know, Mom. He likes me for me. Loves me for me. He likes my humor. He likes my wiseass comments and gives them right back to me in return. He makes me laugh. I can be myself with him, and that’s what he wants. Me. Just as I am, complete with all the fucked-up parts. And the sex.” I bite my lip. “Ahh. Holy shit.”

She smiles. “Toe curling?”

I nod. “Everything curling. He just…he makes me feel good. He makes me feel safe. He makes me feel cherished. He makes me feel wanted. He makes me feel good enough. I know it sounds weird. Does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense. You’re the most wonderful woman I know. Of course he loves you. Why don’t you call him? Tell him what you just told me.”

“That he’s good in bed? He knows.”

She rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready.” I whisper, “I don’t know if I deserve him.”

“Deserve him? Jade, you deserve the love of a good man.”

I look down.

“Look at me.” I do. “You deserve to be happy. If he makes you happy, then I don’t know what in the hell you’re doing here. You need to eventually let yourself trust a man with your heart. It’s always a risk. Sometimes the risk is worth the reward. Do you trust him?”

I think for a moment but then nod. “Yes, I trust him. But what if it backfires?”

“There aren’t any guarantees, but it sounds like you’re in love with him as much as he’s in love with you.”

“Can we not talk about this right now? I can’t deal with what happened today. Dad lost his shit. He broke a fucking glass wall. He’s psycho.”

“I knew you’d want to avoid it. Dad wanted to come here. I told him to come in the morning. Your old room is made up for you. You can shelve this for the night and then you need to be an adult and deal with them. Both Collin and your father.”

I nod. “You’re kind of bossy.”

“At least you got one thing from me.” She smiles. “Do you want to eat Rocky Road and watch eitherPrincess BrideorLoverboy?”

I nod. “Make itPrincess Bride. I’m not up for movies about male hookers tonight.”

She thinks for a moment. “Shit, you’re right. He was nothing but a male hooker in that movie, wasn’t he? In retrospect, I can’t believe I let you watch that movie when you were so young.”

“I can’t believe his girlfriend didn’t dump his ass for banging all those women.”

She smiles. “What a ridiculous premise for a movie. It was so popular back in the day.”

We both giggle as we grab the Rocky Road and sit down to watch Princess Bride.

Before I go to bed, I get a text from Collin.

Collin: I miss you. My sheets smell like you.

Me: You should wash them.

Collin: No. It gives me a boner. I’ll keep them until you can refresh the smell.

Me: I’m sorry I left. Just give me a few days to process. I need to work things out in my head. I need to deal with my father and some of our issues. I can’t have you two breaking glass walls all the time.

Collin: Okay. Just know that I meant what I said. Carter asked me to stay with Reagan and Skylar while they go on the fishing trip. You know where to find me. Good night.

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