Chapter 27 #2
She swallows hard, but nods with a gentle smile.
“My parents were very results-driven people. I always felt like I needed to achieve or offer something to get their attention. Eve never had any issues because she was always…Well, Eve. She’s a doctor, for Christ’s sake.
I, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly the golden child, and they often pitted Eve and me against each other.
There was a point when I hated my own sister because of how our parents constantly compared us to one another.
But then Eve and I started to get close again, and I realized that it was never really about us.
It was about them trying to control the narrative of what they thought a perfect family looked like. ”
She takes a deep breath and then exhales slowly, letting all the tension in her shoulders fade away.
“So, when I stopped competing with Eve and stopped trying to earn their love, they stopped caring, and I stopped calling. I only went to holiday stuff for Patrick, but now that he’s gone, I don’t feel the need to even do that. ”
I shift my body closer to hers, easing her head onto my chest. “It sounds like they never deserved you. A parent’s love shouldn’t be conditional.”
She lets out a soft, humorless laugh. “It took me a long time and a lot of therapy to realize that. But I’m slowly but surely getting there.”
I cup her cheek and tilt her chin toward me. “I hope you know that I will always be here for you. I want to be your biggest cheerleader even when you don’t think you deserve one.”
Her lips twitch into a barely there smile. “Have you always been this sweet, or is this a post-sex haze that I need to get used to?”
I squeeze her jaw. “Definitely a post-sex haze thing. If word gets out that I’m sweet, I might lose my bad boy reputation.”
“I thought you wanted to lose it,” she says, waggling her brows.
I let out a deep, full-bodied laugh and shake my head. “You’re right. I guess I need to work on a new reputation. I’m thinking devastatingly handsome mechanic by day and devoted boyfriend who gives ridiculously good head by night.”
Her smile dips, catching on the label we haven’t discussed yet. I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear and let my hand hover there. “We don’t have to label anything yet. I know we just started seeing each other again.”
Emery shakes her head out of my grasp and pulls back. “Knox, I told you I love you. I think I can handle being your girlfriend.”
“Why did you look freaked out then?”
She sighs, mussing up her bangs before meeting my eyes again. “Because I’m a pessimist at heart. I keep waiting for the universe to remind me that I don’t get to have a happy ending.”
I reach out, pulling her back to me. I had a feeling I’d have to do that a lot, but it was worth it for her. “It’s a good thing I have a habit of proving the universe wrong.”
Her lips quirk into a comforting smile before curling her body into mine, and then she pokes her head out with a heavy look in her eyes. “Speaking of happy endings, I think you should call your dad back.
I blink hard, thrown off by the quick switch-up. It’s amazing how she can go from vulnerability to practicality all in one breath.
“I thought you were all for cutting parents off?” I ask with a light grin.
Emery rubs her lips together in deep thought before speaking.
“Yes, but I can tell your dad cares about you. He wouldn’t keep calling if he didn’t.
He thinks he’s making the right call by not co-signing and, in a way, protecting you.
You’re a hard worker, Knox, but there are still a lot of things that can go wrong with a business despite how much you care about it.
Plus, it took me a long time and lots of disappointment to make that decision.
But I can tell your family loves each other. I can tell because I never had it.”
I look at my phone again, letting Emery’s words sink in. She’s right. He did care and even if I saw it as him not believing in me, I knew his intentions were good. He wanted to protect me from everything this town had thrown at me in the last year.
“I’ll call him,” I say, squeezing her arm and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you.”
“Good,” she nods, her smile sending a new wave of comfort over me, “and then after that you’re shutting off your phone.”
“Oh, really?” I ask, quirking a brow.
“Yes,” Emery replies, shimmying herself off the bed. “In the meantime, I’m going to get a shower.”
“Without me?” I ask, cringing a little.
She lets out a light chuckle, shaking her head. “Maybe. Unless you make that call quick,” she says, sealing her statement with a wink.
My pulse quickens as I reach for my phone.
Sunlight is still spilling over the room, casting everything in a perfectly golden hue.
Before I had a hard time appreciating mornings like this.
Hell, just a few days ago, I was screaming into my pillow over the woman in my shower.
But now I wish for more mornings like this one.
More mornings with her.
I grin like an idiot as I press my phone to my ear and listen to the dial tone.