Page 84 of Something Forever
“Come on, baby. You can do better than a bartender. I know my taste in men is shit, but I thought you had high standards.”
“Since when do you care about my love life? Or about me at all, for that matter?”
She shakes her head. “Of course I care about you. If you hadn’t hung up on me last time we talked, you’d know that.”
Here it comes. The guilt trip. Everything is my fault and nothing is her fault. That’s always how it goes, and worst of all, I used to fall for it when I was younger. I would have done anything to please her.
Now, I couldn’t care less.
“That boy in there has barely said a word since I walked in. He didn’t even ask my permission to marry you!”
“Permission?” I scoff. “What is this, 1955?”
My mom crosses her arms. “My point is this whole thing is so rushed, and I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did?—”
“Mom! Stop, okay? Just stop. Liam is my husband. He is kind and considerate and thoughtful. He respects my boundaries, and he listens to me. You don’t have to like him, but if you continue to criticize our relationship, I will ask you to leave.”
My mom stills, shock coloring her features at my words. “Fine.” She smacks her lips. “Just don’t come crying to me when it all blows up in your face. Trust me, it always does.”
The hurt in my mom’s voice almost breaks through my armor, my wall between us that keeps me safe. I know she’s only coming at me because of her own romantic insecurities, but it doesn’t mean I have to stand here and take it.
“Don’t worry about that. When have I ever been able to come to you when I needed help?”
Silence settles in the room, the emptiness swallowing my whole.
My mom pushes past me and opens the door to reveal Liam standing in the doorway. She storms out, not bothering with an apology. Liam doesn’t follow her movements. His gaze is locked onto me. Turning away from him, I let out a shaky breath, the fight coming out of me. I sit on the edge of my bed and the tears start strolling down my face before I can stop them. Liam crosses towards me, coming down to the floor in front of me. I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to stop the tears, but I can’t.
“Whit,” he says, sounding pained. He presses the pads of his thumbs to my cheeks, wiping my tears. “Please don’t cry.”
I open my eyes, meeting his steady gaze. “Did you hear all of that?”
“Most of it, yeah.”
I sniffle and let out a watery laugh. “I’m sorry she said all that about you. She’s always been like that. Just… judgmental.”
He thumbs my cheeks again, cupping my face with both his hands. “Thank you for defending me,” he whispers. “You didn’t have to do that.”
I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the expression on his face or the soft caress of his fingers on my skin, but something about this moment makes me want to forget that wall. Forget the protections built up around my heart. Forget our no-strings bullshit.
“I meant every word.”
He brushes his thumb across my lip, his gaze flickering down to my mouth. I’m sure he’s going to kiss me, but instead, he lets his hand drop. I try to hide my disappointment, wiping my face with the back of my sleeve.
“Come on,” he nudges me. “Let’s go back out there. We can deal with it together.”
He wraps his hand in mine and pulls me forward, back to our dysfunctional family dinner.
Together.
31
LIAM
Ididn’t have hosting my father and mother-in-law under one roof on my bingo card for this year, yet here we are. Caroline didn’t say a word to me as I set up the pull-out couch for my dad, who insisted that she take the guest bedroom in his place. I don’t know how long she plans to stay, but for Whitney’s sake, I’m hoping it’s not very long. Whitney hasn’t told me much about her mother, but from what I overheard, I get the sense that their relationship is… strained.
My throat bobs, remembering the way that Whitney defended me earlier tonight. The things she said about me. She said I was kind. Considerate. Thoughtful.
Is that really what she thinks of me?