“I’m Mara’s boyfriend.”
My stomach does a little dip when he says that, but now is not the time to get distracted by fluttery feelings.
My mother gapes, her mouth hanging open like a dead fish. “You think my daughter has any business being here with you? She’s clearly rebelling, and you’re just a blip on the timeline of her life. You meannothing.”
When she says that, I see red. I step between them, pressing my back to Henry’s front. “Youhave no business coming here and talking to him like that. I don’t know how you found me, but you’re the one who decided you didn’t want to be in my life anymore. We don’t need your judgment in our lives.”
She opens her mouth to speak, but then something past my shoulder catches her eye. She shoves past me and storms into the apartment. Henry and I both watch her swoop down like a bird of prey and snatch up the phone that was smashed into bits yesterday. It’s still on the floor.
She waves it in the air. “I bought this with my hard-earned money,” she says, her eyes twin infernos. “Do you find it amusing to destroy the things that I bought for you and make me think you were dead? Or had been kidnapped or something?”
I just stare at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She sniffs. “I lied about Sandy Higgins. She didn’t tell me she saw you here.Isaw you here. I turned the locator on on your phone months ago. When you left and the dot didn’t move again, I thought maybe I was going to find you on a park bench or something. But I found you here. And I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how you managed to get a place here.” Her eyes sweep past me. “The answer is clear now.” She zeroes in on me again. “But then your little GPS signal went away. I pictured you having a car crash or something, not shacking up with an animal.”
“That’s enough!”
The growl sends a shiver down my spine, and I can’t decipher if I’m terrified or turned on. I turn to see Jonas walking slowly into the room. Unlike Henry and I, who are half-dressed, Jonas clearly took the time to put himself together. His button-up is tucked into the waistband of his tailored suit pants, and he looks so delicious I’m in danger of salivating down the front of my shirt.
He steps up beside me, his eyes dark with anger. “You’re not welcome here.”
When I can finally drag my eyes away from Jonas, I find my mother looking at him like she’s about to have a stroke. “Who are–” she starts to choke out.
But Jonas cuts her off. He sets one heavy hand on my shoulder and says, “I’m Jonas, and I’m also Mara’s boyfriend.”
Oh, jeez. These boys are going to be the death of me.
My mother’s breath wheezes out of her. Her eyes land on me. “Oh, Mara. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Jonas starts to step around me, but I put a hand on his chest to stop him. Instead, I turn to face my mother.
“If you think I should be ashamed, that’s your own problem. I’m not ashamed. I’m happy. I suggest you leave and do whatever you need to in order to find your own happiness.”
My mother lets my smashed phone fall back to the ground and shakes her head, walking back toward our front door.
The three of us watch her go. I feel safe between the two of them, both of them wrapping an arm around me as my mother turns back to us one more time. I smile at her because she’s going to be miserable for the rest of her life, worrying about what everyone thinks of her and her shameful daughter. But I’m free. I don’t care what any of them think.
My mother closes the door behind her, and the second she does, I turn toward Jonas and leap up into his arms. I slam my mouth down on his, my whole body hot at the way he walked out of the bedroom like he owned the universe.
“Please fuck my brains out,” I say against his mouth, gasping for breath.
He smiles and rocks me against him, letting me feel that he’s getting harder by the second. “You liked that, huh?”
I turn to look at Henry. “Boyfriend, huh?”
He shrugs, his hands in the pockets of his gray sweatpants. I can see his length hardening too, creating a beautiful bulge in his pants. “Is that okay?”
I grin, feeling so full of happiness I’m afraid it’ll shoot out of my fingertips. “It’s very, very okay.”
“Let’s go, girlfriend,” Jonas says, and with one hand under my ass to hold me aloft, he reaches for Henry’s hand. And, dragging him behind us, Jonas carries me into the bedroom and kicks the door shut behind us.
EPILOGUE
Three Months Later
I can tell something’s wrong as soon as I get home. It’s the atmosphere, the way the boys are both quiet as we all wind down from the day. But as soon as Henry is finished making dinner and we’re all sitting down at the dining room table together, Henry takes a deep breath and says, “Mara, we need to talk.”
My stomach turns. It’s only been three months. Three perfect months of sex and intimacy and a life I never could have imagined. Are they ready to end it already?
