“What the hell? Isn’t that her business partner? They opened that vet surgery together. My god, they’ve been friends forever!”
Mum gave me one of those looks. The ‘duh’ look, like well, that’s why she’s drinking her bodyweight in wine.
“My god. Those monsters. So… she’s here for good?”
Mum nodded, pouring hot water into mugs as she spoke.
“Yep. Most of her stuff is in the small bedroom, but there’s more in storage. She packed up the business, and left both of them to it.” That’s when I froze.
“Wait. So where’s Glenda?” Her grumpy cat was nowhere to be seen, and I really hoped she hadn’t been hurt during all of this. Although what exactly would they do to a cat who liked to claw any man she met?
“She’s in the bedroom too. Don’t worry.”
I wasn’t overly worried, although the cat definitely didn’t like me either. It wasn’t like I gave off masculine energy, so there was clearly something else about me she didn’t like, and I didn’t know what.
“Has she eaten?”
“The cat?”
“V!”
Mum shook her head, so I dug my phone out and used the online app to order a couple of pizzas. This wasn’t the time to abandon V to cook something. Pizza makes so many things better, and although I was pretty sure broken hearts or marriages weren’t either of those things, I figured it couldn’t hurt.
That’s when I messaged Harley to tell him I’d be here for the night. He’d become really important to me so fast, that the idea of not seeing him again tonight was actually physically painful. You know, deep in my chest where those feelings hide. I lost my virginity to him last night, and it felt like we’d barely had a chance to really absorb that fact. Or explore our growing feelings.
“Why are you smiling at your phone?”
My head shot up from Harley’s response, and I frowned at V as she groaned and literally facepalmed.
“It’s a man, isn’t it?! I swear, they’re all bastards! However nice he seems, he’s just after one thing, and when he gets it, he’ll disappear.”
Even though I knew she was wrong about Harley, it still felt like a slap in the face.
Mum took V back to sit her down and returned to me, watching as I tucked my phone away, my cheeks red with embarrassment.
“The man? Is it… the one you mentioned? From the bike shop?”
I nodded, waiting for some recriminations or warnings about men, even though mum hadn’t had bad experiences like V, just losing dad too young. I guess when it’s the one, there’s no point in trying again, and he was definitely the one for her.
“Kiddo, look at me. You told me he’s been really good to you. Is he still being kind and gentle? He’s not pushing you into things, is he? You don’t have to sleep with men just because it’s expected.”
I gasped and covered my face, feeling overheated with embarrassment and humiliation, and I know mum figured it out in that instant.
“It’s okay, sweetie. Don’t panic, and don’t hide. I’m not judging you, I just care. He didn’t… it wasn’t…”
She didn’t know how to ask, but I needed her to understand that it wasn’t something he did to me, it was something we did together.
“It’s what we both wanted…” I paused then, because was that strictly true?
“Caroline?”
“It’s whatIreally wanted, and he kept trying to slow us down, and just do little things together, but I wanted it all. I… didn’t want to wait anymore. Not with him. He’s the one, mum. I’m sure he’s the one.”
She smiled, tucking a curl behind my ear, just the way Harley seemed to like doing.
“And you were careful?”
I nodded, because we’d both taken precautions, hadn’t we? Because he cared. Because he wanted to protect me.
