Page 49 of Kissed By Her

Well, that was interesting. Honor was so tight-lipped about everything, but especially her family. Hell, I didn’t even know where she grew up. I didn’t know if her parents were still alive or anything.

“Liam and I are estranged from our parents. Let’s just say they didn’t take his transition well and it was better for the two of us to strike out on our own. I know he’s grown, but I still feel like I have to take care of him.”

Talking about Liam’s transition wasn’t something I talked about with a lot of people. You never knew when someone could turn on a dime and reveal themselves as a secret transphobe, but Honor already knew Liam was trans.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said. “Families can be toxic.”

“Yes, they can.”

Silence fell between us.

“My mother has been married six times,” she said. Now we were getting somewhere.

“She taught me that the best way to get what I wanted was to ingratiate myself with someone who had money or power or both. I learned about prenups while I was playing with dolls.”

That was a little messed up.

“I learned that in order to have what you wanted, you had to find a man and make him happy.”

Everything started to fall into place.

“That’s what I did, for a while. Then I decided to go to college and get a good degree and do it on my own. That lasted as long as a few weeks after graduation, when I couldn’t find a job. My loans came due soon, and I could barely pay them, let alone my rent. So I found myself a boyfriend that had money that didn’t mind me moving in with him after only a few weeks of dating. He was a good man, I don’t want you to get me wrong. I made sure I picked someone I wasn’t in love with. Never fall in love, that’s what my mother whispered to me. I could love my children, but never fall in love with a man. Ever. That was paramount. No love. Just security.”

Honor took a breath. I took one as well. I’d been completely still, stunned that she was telling me all this. It was as if our kiss had unlocked something in her. She might say she didn’t trust me, but right now she was acting like she did.

“The one flaw in my plan was that he didn’t want to marry me. So I had to search for a new place. I decided I needed to get away. Be somewhere new. I don’t know how I found Mark’s ad for a job, but I did and when I walked into his house, I saw my future before me.”

It took everything in me to not make some kind of comment. I clenched my teeth so hard they hurt.

“Mark is just the kind of man I always pictured myself marrying. And nothing was going to stand in the way of that and then you…” she trailed off and I could see her starting to breathe faster. Her face got red and the waves of anger radiated off her.

“You fucked up everything, Layne. Completely fucked my plan.”

Somehow I found my words. “How did I do that?”

Instead of answering, Honor stood up.

“I need to go. I need to get out of here. Thank you for the brownies.” She snatched her bag and headed for the door.

“Wait, what’s happening?” I asked, but she ignored me, pulling her keys out of her bag.

“Honor!” I yelled as she rushed toward her car and got in. I wasn’t going to throw myself in the path of a moving vehicle, so I just let her go. She backed out and then she was gone, leaving me with half a tray of slutty brownies and a whole lot of questions.

Chapter Ten

Joy hadto work at the bookshop on Saturday, but I grabbed Sydney so I could talk to at least one of my friends to process what went down with Honor.

“Joy is going to be so mad she missed this,” Sydney said as she poured me a glass of iced tea.

“You can fill her in later.”

I told Sydney most of what I’d talked about with Honor, leaving a few things out. Honor would definitely be pissed if I shared all her business with my friends, so I kept things vague.

“So then she just fucking bolted and I don’t know what to do,” I said. Why did I keep getting into situations with Honor that completely confused me? Dealing with her made me feel like I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

“Did you chase after her?”

“No, she was in her car. I wasn’t chasing her car like a dog.”