“See, that’s the thing, Scott. I’m not pretending. That’s who I am.”
“But it doesn’t have to be who you become—dressed up like a doll and danced around on someone else’s string.”
My face hardened. “Just because I have duties to my family doesn’t mean I’m a mindless doll.”
“It sort of does if you’re leaving because you’ve been instructed to by your mother.”
I bit my lip, anger rising. “I’m going back because it’s where I belong.”
“Screw that.” He sat up. “You belong wherever you decide.”
“I don’t have that luxury.”
His eyes flashed. “Luxury? Michelle, that is exactly what you have. Money. Connections. Choices.”
“You wouldn’t understand the pressure that comes with wealth,” I said quietly—but even hearing it aloud made me cringe.
“No, I wouldn’t. But I sure as shit understand pressure.” His jaw flexed. “I wake up every day and go to work so my son can have a better life than I ever did. Don’t tell me I don’t know obligation. Or duty. My whole life is that. Every. Last. Second.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, reaching for him. “That was a stupid thing to say.”
We stared at each other. And everything felt… wrong.
“Scott—”
“Stay.” He cut me off and grabbed my arms. “Stand up to her. Live your own life… here… with me.”
The vulnerability nearly took me out.
“And then what?” I asked, voice shaking. “Where would we live? Because it can’t be here with April next door. I’m pretty sure she has a voodoo doll of me by her bed. Think about what you’re asking. My life isn’t the only one that would change. Yours would too. Are you really prepared for that?”
“For you? Yes. I’ll do whatever needs to be done. I’m not the problem here. You need to listen to yourself. What do you want? Just you. Not your mother.”
What I want is you.
The words rose but I swallowed them down, because saying them wouldn’t change a thing.
“Michelle, I know you’re the one. You and me, we’re going to do great things together. I can feel it. And I think you do too.”
It sounded beautiful, yes, but his version of the future wasn’t mine. Scott thought it was simple, that love was enough to hold me together. But he didn’t understand. The Carver name wasn’t just something I wore; it was carved into me, bone deep. If I let it go, I’d unravel. I’d be no one. Rootless. And what if we didn’t last? Then I’d have nothing. No family. No place. No identity. At least in my world, I knew the rules, even if they were designed to swallow me whole.
“I don’t know that, not the way you do. And I can’t gamble everything on a maybe, Scott. Not even for you.”
His jaw set hard. “Then I guess that’s it.”
The silence pressed in, thick and final.
Then—tickle.
I jolted, jerking my foot up, and when I looked down, I nearly fainted dead away. A pale, whiskered face peeked up at me, his pink nose twitching against my ankle like it had every right to be there.
“Scott!” I squealed, stepping onto the mattress and doing the spider dance. “I found your pet—”
“Stop!” He jumped from the bed. “You’re going to scare him.”
“Scarehim?” I scrambled backward on the sheets until my spine hit the wall. “What about me? He looks like he crawled straight out of the netherworld.”
Scott bent down and scooped the creature up, tucking it under his arm like some unholy football. “He’s harmless. Unless you’ve got a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. You’re on your own then.”
