by L A Cotton
Well, almost. I mean, I was only human. And a guy. And the dude had practically tried to steal my girl right out from under me. When she broke away, I said, “Now, want to tell me why you gave him the slip and stole a bottle of vodka?”
“I did not.” She gasped, and I laughed, tucking my chin onto her shoulder.
“True story. Want to talk about it?”
Laurie stiffened in my arms. “No.”
“Laurie, babe.” I coaxed her onto her back and stared down at her. “Nothing your parents say or do can hurt me, you know that, right? I know people are talking. I know the whole town probably knows all my darkest secrets by now, but all I care about is what you think. You’re all that matters.”
“I don’t know what to say, Kyle. I just wish...”
She pressed her lips together swallowing the words, and I breathed out, “You just wish they’d accept me?”
Laurie nodded. And it should have hurt. I should have felt shredded by her honesty but after the last forty-eight hours, I had bigger things to worry about than what Mr. and Mrs. Davison and their stuck-up friends thought.
People would talk. Rumors and gossip would do the rounds. And yeah, for a while, I probably wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without whispers and stares following me. But none of it mattered. Not really. Their opinions and judgment didn’t define or shape me.
I realized that now.
“I’m me, babe. I’m loyal to a fault. Stubborn. Frickin’ hilarious. And I throw a mean right arm. If they can’t get on board with that, then it’s their loss. They can’t come between us, not if we don’t let them.”
Laurie dragged her teeth over her bottom lip. “You are pretty stubborn.” She smirked. “I’m not so sure about the whole hilarious—”
My fingers dug into her sides, tickling and pinching until she was a writhing mess in my arms. “Okay, okay,” It came out breathy. “I relent. You’re awesome and funny and you smell good too.”
“Smell good? That’s what you’re giving me? Geez, feeling the love in this room.” I hooked my leg over hers and rolled her underneath me, pinning her to the bed. “What about that time I bought you roses for your birthday?” I arched my brow.
“That was kind of sweet.”
“Hmm, okay, that one time when I surprised you with the picnic down at the lake?”
“That was pretty romantic.” Laurie bit her lip to stop herself from smiling.
I leaned in, brushing her jaw with my nose. “Or the time I made you breakfast in bed?”
“Kyle you almost set the pan on fire.”
“One time, it was one time. I’m an excellent cook.”
“You do make pretty amazing pancakes.”
“You love me.” My mouth hovered over Laurie’s. She needed to brush her teeth and take a shower, but I didn’t care.
“Yeah.” She grinned. “I do. Now get off me, I need to pee.”
Dropping a quick kiss on her nose, I rolled away letting her up and linked my hands together over my chest as I stared up at the ceiling. It was nothing, just a silly conversation, but it was the most normal I’d felt in weeks. No more secrets between us.
No more lies.
We were a united front again. And it felt right. Better than right. It was perfect. There were just two things left standing in the way.
And it was time to deal with them.
Chapter 28
LAURIE
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Kyle said glancing up at my house.
“I have to go home at some point.”
I’d had just one text message from Mom.
One.
I could only imagine how angry they were at me after yesterday. God, even I was embarrassed. It was so out of character for me to do something like that. But everyone had a breaking point, and apparently mine started and ended with Kyle.
“I can come in with you. I know I’m not their favorite person right now, but I don’t like the idea of sending you in there alone.”
Leaning over, I ran my hand along his jaw. “I love you. But this is something I have to do on my own. They’re my parents. What’s the worst that can happen?”
Kyle’s mouth opened, but I pressed a finger to his lips. “On second thoughts, don’t answer that. I’ll be fine. I’ll call you later.”
He wanted to argue, it was right there, etched into the lines of his face. But Kyle was trying, giving me the space he knew I needed.
“If it gets too much, you call me, right away. Promise me.”
“I will.” I mashed my lips together, forcing them into a weak smile before I climbed out.
Each step up the path to my house was like walking through quicksand. But they were my parents, I couldn’t avoid them forever. And I did owe them an apology for my part in yesterday’s mess.
“Hello... Laurie?” Mom’s voice filtered down the hall the second I slipped inside, and dread pooled in my stomach at the idea of her lying in wait. When I didn’t answer, she called, “Laurie, is that you?”
Who else would it be? The words teetered on the tip of my tongue but never came. Nothing I said would help the already strained situation between me and my parents. Instead, I replied, “I’ll be in my room,” hoping to avoid another scene. Not that my dad would speak to me yet. He preferred the silent treatment as a best form of punishment.
“Could you come in here for a second?” Her voice sounded funny. Distant. Despondent. And I braced myself for yet another dressing down. But when I entered the living room what I saw shocked me.
“Mom?”
“Please.” She patted the space beside her and I went, the dread in my stomach filling me so completely I felt sick.
“Is... is everything okay?”
“Fine, darling.” She sucked in a long breath, contradicting her words. “Everything is fine. How are you?”
How am I?
I blinked, unsure I’d heard correctly.
“It was very kind of the Stone-Prince’s to have you over for the night.”
It was?
Kyle had texted them from my phone pretending to be me. I’d expected to get chewed out for breaking their no sleepover rule... I hadn’t expected this.
“Hmm, yeah, they’re cool like that,” I mumbled, avoiding the fact I’d slept in a drunken heap in the arms of my boyfriend who they considered to be unworthy of their daughter.
“Indeed.” She smiled, her eyes looking right past me out of the large window overlooking the front lawn.
“Mom, you’re acting weird. Did something happen? Where’s Dad?” Usually Sunday was family day. We’d eat dinner together, making awkward small talk, pretending to be the picture-perfect family we most definitely were not.
My words jolted her out of her reverie and her glassy gaze slid to mine. “I know I’m not perfect, Laurie, but all I’ve ever wanted is what’s best for you. I want you to know that.”
“Okay.” My brows knitted together. “Were you out with your friends?” I leaned in, half expecting to smell the telltale signs of a champagne lunch lingering on her breath. Surprised when there was nothing but the minty smell of gum.
“I saw an old friend yesterday,” Mom said. “After you... well, that’s not important. We got chatting about life. Our families. You.”
“Me?”
“Do you find it so hard to believe I talk about you? You’re my daughter, Laurie.”
Okay then.
“Anyway, she was telling me about her three sons. One of them just got engaged. She was so proud and excited, and then she looked at me and said, ‘What’s your daughter like?’ and I couldn’t answer her.” Her face crumpled, a rare sight for the polished and well put together Gabi Davison. “I mean, I could tell her how you have a three-point-eight GPA and how your father and I hope you’ll study pre-law at Berkeley. But I couldn’t tell her any of the important things.”
“Mom, come on, we don’t have to do this.” I swallowed over the lump in my throat.
“No, darling, I think we do.
You were so angry with us. I’ve never seen you like that before, I barely recognized you.”
Probably because I’d never gotten like that before. I was passive. A peacekeeper. I didn’t like to rock their perfectly aligned boat. Maybe it was years spent being seen but not heard or the fact I’d given up vying for their attention a long time ago. But the stress of Kyle, and the pressure of the future, had changed me and all that frustration and hurt, and feeling of being adrift without an anchor had finally exploded.
It wasn’t my finest moment and even now, even though I knew it had been a long time coming, I still couldn’t help but carry some guilt toward displeasing my parents.
“I love him, Mom. I love Kyle. And you defend the people you love.”
Something flashed in her eyes. Regret. Pain. Maybe both. It was strange—and unfathomable given our track record—but I don’t think I’d ever seen such emotion plastered on my mother’s usually perfect face.
“Yes, I’m realizing that.”
“You are?”
“Darling,”—she reached for me, brushing my hair out of my eyes—“Believe it or not, I can remember what it’s like to be in love.”
“You don’t love Dad?”
“I do, very much, but young love is different. It’s urgent and exciting and all-consuming. And I was wrong to dismiss what you feel for Kyle.”
“This is great and all, Mom, but I don’t know what you want me to say? I’m seventeen. This,”—I motioned between us—“Isn’t a new thing. This is how it’s always been with us. You and Dad doing your thing and me standing by in the wings.”
She sucked in a sharp breath at my honesty, and I’d have been lying if I said the truth in my words didn’t surprise me too. But there was something different about her. And maybe it was my pounding head or the fact that Kyle and I were in a good place again, but I felt different too.
“I’d like for things to be different between us,” she whispered as if the words were difficult to say.
“Do you know what I’ve come to realize lately, Mom?” I looked her dead in the eye. “Actions speak louder than words. You want things to be different, then prove it. I’m here. I’ve always been here.”
She stared at me as if she was seeing me for the first time. And maybe she was. Maybe seeing me yesterday, in front of all her friends, was the shove she needed to wake up and see the young woman I’d become. I wasn’t a child anymore. They couldn’t just shove me aside and give me my allowance and send me on my way. I had thoughts, feelings, and opinions. And I mattered.
Dammit, I mattered.
I. Mattered.
So I was done making it easy on them. On giving them a free pass because that’s just how things worked with us. I was part of this family too.
And like it or not, it was time they acknowledged that.
So I did the only thing I could.
I got up and walked away. Not because I wanted to make her suffer or hurt her feelings. But because I didn’t need her validation anymore. I had spent so long trying to be visible to my parents that somewhere along the way, I'd lost a part of myself. And, in the end, I became background noise. Deep down, I think that’s why I latched onto Lo. Because she was another anchor to Kyle’s family. To the thing I so badly craved. But I wasn’t that girl now. I was stronger. More confident. And if Mom truly wanted a relationship with me—a real relationship—she knew where to find me.
“SO, DO I NEED TO COME and defend your honor?” Kyle chuckled over the line, but I heard the strain in his voice.
“It was weird. She seemed so... sorry.”
“Hold the phone, Mrs. D has a heart after all.”
“Kyle,” I sighed, picking the hem of the old football jersey I’d borrowed from Kyle. “Not helpful.”
“Sorry, babe, I’m just trying to lift the mood.”
“I know, and I love you for it, but this is just something we have to figure out in our own time. She said she wanted to try, so who knows, maybe she will.”
“And your dad?”
I flopped back against my pillows and stretched my legs. “I don’t expect him to come around anytime soon. He was nowhere to be seen earlier, but that’s okay. I’m not sure I could deal if they both wanted to try.” I was still getting my head around the idea Mom had finally realized she had a seventeen-year-old daughter she barely knew.
“Well it’s about time they realized what an amazing daughter they have,” he said with total conviction.
“Kyle,” my voice cracked.
“It’s true. Everyone should know how amazing Laurie Davison is. MY GIRLFRIEND IS SO FRICKIN’ AWESOME,” he bellowed down the phone.
“Kyle, where are you right now?” I shrieked, the stain of embarrassment creeping into my cheeks.
“At The Shack with the guys, why?”
“Oh my God, you are not!”
“No,” he said, and I heard the smile in his voice. “But I’d love to see your face right now. I’m at the pool house.”
“Still?”
“Hey, don’t judge. I’m still figuring things out.”
“I know but you can’t stay there forever.”
“Geez, Mom, you’re starting to sound like Rick and Lo.”
“That’s because they have a point. You can’t hide forever.”
“I am not hiding.” Hurt lingered in his voice. “I’m processing.”
“I know.”
“Laurie, I’m not running, I promise. I will talk to Dad and then I’ll figure out what to do about Maria.”
“Whatever you decide, I’ll be right here.” I’d said it before, but something told me he needed to hear it again. Deep down, I knew Kyle craved to know his birth mom. He just had to realize that for himself. He had to want it for him. Not for anybody else.
“I don’t deserve you, Laurie Davison,” he whispered. “But I’m glad I have you by my side.”
But that was the thing about love. Sometimes it wasn’t about what you deserved or even wanted. It just was. You couldn’t fight it or ignore it or switch it off. It was a part of you like your beating heart or the blood pumping through your veins.
And despite our recent struggles, my heart beat for Kyle.
It always would.
Chapter 29
KYLE
“Are you still here?” Rick paused in the doorway, but then his eyes went to the gym bag at my feet. “You’re going to make peace?”
I shrugged, playing it cool. “I guess I have to go back eventually. Besides, I know when I’m not wanted.”
“Come on” He rubbed his jaw. “It’s not—”
“Ah ha.” My pursed lips broke into a grin and I jabbed my finger in his direction. “Got you.”
“Fucker. You know I’ve always got your back, but this, us living in such close quarters, I’m not sure it’s good for either of us.”
I clutched my chest and fake gasped. “Do you hear that, Prince? It’s the sound of my heart shattering.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re stalling. Get out of here before I do something I’ll regret.”
Shaking my head with laughter, I grabbed my bag and moved toward the door. Rick stepped aside and said, “He made a mistake but he’s your dad.”
“I know.”
“Now get out of here.”
I went to leave but paused at the last second and glanced back at him. “I’m pleased she didn’t hack you into little pieces. I’d miss you too much.”
Lo had ripped Rick a new one. Twice—according to his version of events. But I knew they’d figure it out because if the two of them couldn’t get it right, there was no hope for the rest of us. They had that written-in-the-stars kind of thing going on.
“Break a leg,” he called as I made my way across the lawn and I flipped him off over my shoulder.
I’d avoided the main house for almost five days, but it was time to go home. Summer was almost over, and I needed a clear head for senior year. For some reason, though, I bypassed the back door going around front. There
was something about coming into the house the right way and meeting the looming conversation head-on rather than sneaking up from behind.
Dumping my bag at the bottom of the stairs, I made my way down the hall to the kitchen. I lingered in the doorway, watching Dad as he worked at the breakfast island. His eyes were focused on the papers strewn everywhere, the deep concentration etched into the lines of his face. I’d seen him like this a hundred times before, and yet, something was different now. And I knew we couldn’t go back. But we had to find a way to move forward because if the last week had taught me anything, it was that you only got one family. So regardless of what they did, the lies they told, or the pain they caused, you had to find a way to move on.
Rapping my knuckle against the door, I cleared my throat. “Can we talk?”
Dad dropped his pen and lifted his head in greeting. “Of course. I’ve been hoping you would stop by.”
“I needed space.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. God, Son, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t, Dad, please. I have some things I need to say, and I need you to listen, okay?”
He scrubbed his jaw and nodded. The house was empty. I’d left Maverick in the pool house. Summer and Nick were out, and Macey was... well, wherever Macey went to these days. And Rebecca had a thing at work; I knew because I’d checked with her. Which meant it was just me, my father, and the ghosts of our past.
I took the stool opposite him and looked him right in the eye. It was like looking in a mirror. Same sandy-blond hair and ocean-blue eyes. “I never needed to know her. Not when my friends asked me where my real mom was. Or when Laurie asked me when we first started dating. And I didn’t need to know her because I had you. You’d given me everything. I had a mom in Rebecca and a brother in Rick. And I had Macey and Summer, even Loretta. I had everything I needed right here, in this house. So the fact she gave me up, the fact she chose her addiction over me, it didn’t matter.” I dragged a lungful of air into my chest and curled my fist against my thigh.
“Did I think about her sometimes? Sure, I did. I mean, I was a kid, and I was curious. But I didn’t ever let my mind really go there because I didn’t want to hurt you or Rebecca. I didn’t want to disappoint you or make you think you weren’t enough. Because you were. You were everything. You were my Rockstar. Even when Kiera stood in front of me and told me that Maria tried to see me, I didn’t believe her. Because it meant you lied, and that wasn’t possible. Not my dad. Not the man who raised me and loved me and taught me right from wrong. She had to be wrong. Telling me a cruel lie to get me to see Maria.”
