Page 88 of Worth Every Game

Mrs Lansen focuses on Jack. “I will not. At some point, this behaviour of yours will catch up to you, and one of these women will get pregnant. Dear Lord, let it not be this one.” She points at me without looking at me, then adds. “She’s a waitress, Jack, and she’ll never be anything more than that. You must have told me a million times how useless she was. Never paying her rent, making excuses, trying to scrape the pennies together every month from her ridiculous attempts at being a serious musician. You said so yourself, and now here you are, doing what you usually do, hooking up with whoever is nearest and easiest, even though they’ll never be good enough. I’m putting a stop to it for your own good.”

A lump rises in my throat, so large that it feels like my gullet might explode, bringing with it the urge to cry. I don’t need to look over at Jack to know everything his mother said is true, because I can feel it in the way he’s gone completely still, as though he’s sensing the approach of the end of the world and knows he can’t do anything about it.

But I ask anyway, my voice weak. “Did you? Did you say those things?”

The blank expression on his face gives way to one of distress and hopelessness, and I know, Iknow, he said it all. He thoughtit all. He might want to be with me now, but Jack Lansen—perfect, handsome, kind Jack Lansen, with his expensive shoes and his multimillion pound home—doesn’t think I’m good enough. He didn’t choose me. He chose the nearest woman. Theeasiestwoman. And it’s right there on his face for his mother to see.

It’s humiliating. I feel so betrayed by this one beat of hesitation, so foolish to think this man might stick by my side, that I can’t bear it.

He moves towards me. “El, this is bullshit. It doesn’t matter what I said before. What matters is now. And now…” He pauses, and my heart feels like it’s dangling on a thread.

“Now, what?” I whisper.

His gaze slides to his mother, who’s standing there listening to every word. My heart pounds through each moment of silence, willing him to speak.

Whether it’s two seconds or ten that I wait, I don’t know, but Jack says nothing, and suddenly I can’t stand another moment of it. I know what I want, and it’s this man, but if he won’t claim me in front of his mother, then maybe she’s right. “Fuck you.”

Jack stares at me like he can’t believe this is happening, as though perhaps I’m the one whose behaviour is incomprehensible.

“Fuck you,” I say again, and I turn and storm back up to the front door. Jack’s key still dangles in the lock where he left it when he stopped to kiss me. I grab my guitar from where it’s propped against the wall, twist the key, and force the door open.

Behind me, Jack is shouting obscenities at his mother that I can’t make out. His voice is angry, rumbling with barely contained violence, but I shut out the sound. I step inside and turn to close the door, catching a glimpse of Jack striding towards me up the steps.

And then I slam the door and turn the lock.

31

JACK

Ihalt when Elly closes the door, a dark sense of doom spreading through me. This is so fucked up, and I have no idea how to put it right.

I spin back to my mother, who is still standing on the garden path, handbag clutched in front of her, wearing a twinset and pearls as though she’s on her way to church, rather than to destroy my life.

“Why are you here?” I yell. “What possible reason could you have for showing up here and saying things that are so fucking cruel?”

Mum pulls back a fraction. “I’m protecting you. I’ve seen plenty of women like that girl in my life.” She flaps a hand dismissively towards my front door. “I’ve been around long enough to know the type. Using their bodies and their pretty faces to catch a man. You might think you like her now, but it’s a temporary madness. A hormonal melee.”

I drag my hands down my face and let out a frustrated roar. “You need to leave. Right now.”

“But darling, I only have your best interests at heart. She’s not right for you. This is exactly why I made that list of potential wives. So that you wouldn’t find yourself in—”

I hold up a palm. “I’m not having this conversation. What I do and who I see is none of your business. It hasn’t been for a long time.”

She folds her arms over her chest. “Well, yes. I would have thought that too, but if you will be having sex at your father’s memorial event, or out here where anyone could see, then I’m forced to make it mine. You’re quite clearly losing your head. You need someone to help you see that. Your behaviour is completely unacceptable, and if I can’t set you straight as your mother, no one else will. No one cares about you the way I care, darling.”

I step right up to her, looking down my nose. She doesn’t even flinch at the way I’m crowding her. “Go home,” I grit out. “You’ve made your point. Get off my property before I physically force you off. And I really don’t want to have to do that.”

Mum huffs. “You could have had Lydia Archer, and you chose this.” She bats the back of her hand towards my front door again. “When you come to your senses, I’ll be waiting.” Her mouth puckers like an arsehole as she glares at me, but I don’t give her an inch. She can fuck off right to hell for all I care.

She turns and lets herself out of the gate, and when she’s out of sight I rush to the front door and try the handle.

Locked.

“El? Open the door. Let me in.”

I press my ear to the wood, but hear nothing. I slam my hand against the door, making my palm sting. “You there? Come on, El. Please.”

“Did you say that stuff about me?” Her voice is small.