She scowls. “Sure you are. Dustin doesn’t like to go shopping or have girl chats. I tried.”
I laugh even harder and turn back to the football game. My laughter draws the attention of Reid, and he looks my way, staring a bit too long, and he ends up getting bumped into by my dad. “I wish I was there to see it when you tried.”
Like always, her smile is so graceful. I bring the tea up to my lips as she explains, “He didn’t come home for a full two weeks after I gossiped about my girlfriends and their sex lives.”
Tea flies out of my mouth and onto the dead grass below our chairs. “You told him about their sex lives.”
She shrugs. “I had no one else to talk to.”
“You could have called,” I say, smiling wide and wiping my chin with the back of my hand. “I would have listened.”
Turning to the game, she takes a beat before she says anything. And when she finally does, it’s soft. “I didn’t want to be a bother.”
I frown. “You’re never a bother. Why would you say that?”
“Well,” she begins, blowing out a breath. “I could tell Neil didn’t like you calling home so often. I didn’t want to add to…whatever his problem was.”
My frown deepens. “That’s not true.”
She looks at me sidelong, long enough to get her point across. “Every Sunday, you’d get off the phone when he asked you to, and it was never a long conversation. I know it was because he didn’t like it when you called home. He was controlling, Avery.”
The football game seems to be over because the guys, laughing, head to the grill. I turn to my mother, but I watch Reid. His shirt clings to his body, showing off his muscles with every stride that he takes. “He was?”
She nods. “Very. It concerned me that you always gave in to him.”
I look back to her when Reid catches me staring. I didn’t miss his grin, however, having been caught red-handed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugs and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “You seemed happy.”
“You really thought I was happy?”
Another shrug is my only answer.
Back then, I thought I was. But when I moved out and had some reflection on the travel back home, I realized I was never happy with Neil. He wasn’t the same guy I started dating in high school. He had changed, and it wasn’t until he had destroyed me that I realized how much. He turned into someone I didn’t recognize and, in turn, changed me, molding me to fit to his needs and not my own. It was never a give-and-take. It was always a take.
“Did you ever like him?” I ask, unsure if I want the answer. My mother usually tells it to me straight, so if she’s been harboring her dislike for him all these years, I’ll be shocked anda little hurt. I’ve always been a momma’s girl, always looking to please her even though that isn’t really hard. She’s a loving and caring mother, always has been. But to know that I disappointed her by staying with Neil…
She glances away, and I get my answer.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask quietly.
She returns her gaze to me and repeats herself. “You seemed happy. I didn’t want to be the reason you were heartbroken. Though, I should have said something; I realize that now. I could have saved you the heartache.”
“It’s not your fault.”
She pinches her lips together and then says, “It feels like it, in a way.”
I reach over and grip her hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m doing okay now, Mom.”Sort of.
Nodding slowly, she squares her shoulders. “Now we just have to get you back on that horse.”
I groan and slump in my chair, draining my tea. “I don’t know about that.”
Reaching over, she squeezes my forearm. “Is there any interest in your life?”
Without meaning to, I flick my gaze to Reid, and being the smart woman that she is, she follows my gaze. A giant smile spreads on her face when she turns back to me. “Oh, my goodness. You like him?”
The frown returns to my face. “I do not.”
