I mean, I still kind of was, actually.
“You’re… you’re not in charge of me anymore, Mother,” I whispered anyway, breaking out in a cold sweat and starting to shake even though I knew Tyson wouldn’t let her get at me. “I don’t have to do what you—”
“Yes, youdo,” she snapped, cutting me off. “You’re clearly still too young to make good choices. You need your parents. You need our guidance. You need—”
“What he fuckingneedsis someone who loves him, bitch,” Tyson interrupted, making my heart rate spike for a whole new reason. “And that’s sure as fuck notyou.” He spun me around to face him, holding my shoulders and staring down at me like he was trying to burn right into my soul with his eyes. “Sean, baby, tell her to leave.”
I could.
He’d told me to and I wanted to and Icould.
Before I did, though, Mother grabbed me... and Tyson moved so fast I got dizzy.
“Oh,hellno,” he spat, knocking her hand away and getting between us. “You don’t get to touch him. Not ever again. And if he’s not gonna tell you to leave, I—”
“I’ll tell her to leave,” I said, suddenly not scared at all anymore.
Tyson’s mouth snapped closed at my interruption because even though I knew he liked to be in charge most of the time—well, okay, reallyallof the time, which was basically the only heaven I ever wanted to be a part of—for some reason, he also believed in me, too. I could tell he did, because even though he was so mad it would have been awful if it had been directed at me, it wasn’t. The look he gavemewasn’t mad at all. It was the kind that made my insides feel fluttery and warm, and for a moment, I almost forgot all about Mother.
Tysonbelievedin me.
And just now, he’d also sort of implied that he might… mightloveme. Or at least, that someone should… so maybe it could be him?
“Okay, sweetheart,” he said, giving my shoulders a reassuring squeeze and smiling down at me like it was just the two of us... and like maybe itwashim. “Do it.”
He stepped aside but put his hand low on my back so I couldn’t forget he was still there, and even though Mother looked disgusted and angry and just as terrifying as she always had when she got mad, my stomach didn’t hurt at all.
Tyson was right. She needed to leave, and just the feel of his hand on me was almost like a forcefield or something. Just like he always said, onlyhehad the right to touch me now. He’d just proven that he wouldn’t let her do it anymore, and… and neither would I. Not ever again.
I took a deep breath.
Then one more.
“You’ve got this,” Tyson murmured.
He was right. I did.
“You need to leave, Mother,” I said, not shaking at all. “And don’t… don’t come back.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Your fatherand I paid for—”
“Nothing that matters,” I dared to interrupt. “You can have it all back. And... and I don’t want anything else from you, either.”
“You ungrateful brat,” she hissed. “Do you know what we’ve sacrificed for you?”
Not really, no. Even though she always said stuff like that, I honestly wasn’t really sure what my parents had ever given up for me or why I’d always been such a burden when I’d never done anything but try to be good for them. I’d thought about it a lot. Tried so many things to be better. But now… well, now I guess I just wanted it to end.
“I’m sorry,” I said reflexively, which made Tyson’s eyes get all stormy. I swallowed. “But Mother, I never made you happy anyway, so just… just go.”
She opened her mouth like she was going to say something else, but Tyson didn’t let her.
“That means now, bitch,” he said, tucking me behind him again and pointing toward the parking lot. “You heard my boy. He wants you gone, and you’re not welcome in his life anymore.”
She looked so mad at Tyson that I would have been worried about him if he hadn’t been, well,Tyson. He would never let her hurt him.
“You’ll regret this,” she finally said to me, spitting the words out as her fist clenched open and closed at her side, no doubt itching to slap me or worse. “He’ll get tired of you, and you willnotbe welcomed back into our home after this… this disgusting display of defiance.”
She spun on her heel and stalked off before I could answer, and my knees suddenly felt like they’d turned to water. I clutched at Tyson’s arm. Oh, God. What if… what if she was right? She’d known me all my life and still didn’t love me. Tyson had only known me for a year.Lessthan a year. So how could I really hope that he’d—
