She turns to look at me, her eyes glassy. “What the hell else am I supposed to do, Mel? Just leave? Walk away with nothing?” She lets out a shaky breath. “You don’t know what it’s like to be poor. Ido. That’s why I wanted more for you. I can’t go back to that life. I can’t”
I pulled up to Nick's house. The house that grew on me but my mom stares at it like she’s looking like it’s a prison. And the irony dawns on me. How she feels about her situation now is exactly how I felt about our old house. Anxiety coursed through my veins.
How did this happen? How was I any different? I never wanted to be like her, but here I was on the path to destruction.
Alexa was right. I married a man for a better life, just like my mom. Guess the only difference was Nick wasn’t a monster like Richard, and even though we started out as strangers, it feels like we’ve known each other for years now. And we’re lightyears ahead of when we began.
“You still have a choice,” I say, my voice quiet. “You don’t have to stay with him..”
She continues to stare at Nick’s house like it might swallow her whole.
“If I leave, I have nothing.” Her voice is barely a whisper now. “No money. No security. Just…nothing.”
“You have me,” I say, even though I’m not sure that’s enough.
She turns to face me, and something flickers in her eyes. Hope? Guilt? Regret? I don’t know. Then, just as quickly, she looks away, reaching for the door handle, and exhales, “There are worse things than staying, Mel.”
The moment she stumbles out, I watch her disappear into the house. I don’t follow. I just sit there, gripping the wheel, trying to convince myself that I can still save her. But for the first time, I think she’s already gone.
I woke to the sound of Nick’s footsteps. My eyes flickered open, adjusting to the dim morning light filtering through the curtains. The clock read nine
“Good morning.” He murmured, slipping under the covers beside me, his warmth immediately seeping into my skin.
I hummed in appreciation as he handed me a steaming mug. “Coffee.”
“Thank you.” I whispered, cupping it between both hands, before taking a slow sip. The heat spread through me, igniting my senses, shaking off the last remnants of sleep.
“Is my mom still asleep?” I asked, my voice still thick with drowsiness.
“Yeah, she’s out cold. I tried to be quiet in the kitchen, but I figured she'd have woken up by now with all the clanking.”
I scoffed. “That’s the only good thing about her drinking. She sleeps like a rock and is out cold.”
Nick chuckled softly, but his eyes were laced with something deeper. “Are you okay? I didn’t get a chance to talk to you last night.”
My chest tightens. I remembered how he had curled up beside me, his arms wrapping around me like a shield after I had cried myself to sleep—-another night mourning the reality that my mother would never leave that man. Even now, after learning the truth about Richard. I refused to call him my stepfather anymore.
“I don’t know. I admitted, staring into the dark liquid in my mug. At this point, I don’t know what to say or do. She’s terrified of leaving him. She’s comfortable in that life, and I don’t think she’ll ever walk away.
“That’s her choice.” Nick turned toward me, his gaze unwavering. “You walked away. You could always go back to a better life.”
I turned to face him, forcing a small family. “Are you saying I went down in life?”
“No,” he said, tilting his head. “You went up—because you have a man who truly–” He stopped short, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard.
“Someone who what?” I pressed, heart hammering.
He hesitated, then reached for my hand, his fingers brushing against the ring on my finger. “Cares for you.”
I exhaled through my nose, a flicker of disappointment settling in my chest. Those weren’t the three words I was hoping for, but they were a step in the right direction—a stretch from where we had come.
“Are you saying…the feelings you have for me are real?”
His eyes locked onto mine, flickering between uncertainty and something deeper. “I’m saying there’s no way I would let you go. Not now. Not when I finally have you in my bed, in my life…in my toxic heart.”
Emotions swelled in my throat. I looked away, blinking back the sting in my eyes. “Nick, I—” me like smoke.
“Don’t say anything,” he breathed. “Just let me hear you moan my name as you fuck my face. Let my mouth do the talking—let me remind you how real this is… by making you forget everything else.”
