Preston’s lips part. “No one?”
“No. He’s so uncooperative, no?”
“I guess.”
“Well, no one until you, that is.”
A pink hue rises up his neck as he clears his throat. “I’m glad I got the chance to meet you.”
“Me too. You seem like such a fun guy, Preston. Why would you even be with this grump?”
I’m a grump? It’s the other way around, Mom.
“I’m not with…” He trails off, then swallows thickly. “I guess…it just happened. He wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Aw, he’s very goal-oriented like that.” She grins, but Preston’s little dimpled smile falls.
I narrow my eyes, but he soon changes the subject, talking to Mom about everything and nothing.
They get along—of course they do. Both of them can be staggeringly unserious. I get the brunt of it as they gang up against me, but it’s fine.
Because I’ve never seen Preston like this before, so playful and affectionate and…just raw. It reminds me of the first time I saw him in Dad’s garden.
Before he became who he is today.
As Mom goes to grab the blanket she’s been crocheting to show Preston, he glares at me.
“What?” I say after I swallow a mouthful of the omelet. Preston has downright devoured his.
“Ihateyou,” he grumbles, then takes a sip of his coffee.
“Where did that come from?”
“Why do you get a perfect mother?”
“Have you seen her? She’s loudmouthed and has zero filter.”
“She’sperfect.”
“She’s not here. You can tell the truth.”
“She is.” He stares at his coffee. “I bet she would’ve protected you when you couldn’t protect yourself.”
“Hey…” I reach out a hand and cover his because his eyes have this unnatural shine that messes with my head.
He doesn’t look at me, just keeps staring at his coffee, his fingers shivering beneath mine. “She would’ve probably figured out something was wrong way before anything even happened.”
“Preston…look at me.”
He does, slowly, as if he doesn’t want me to see.
But I do.
And the spooked, blanched expression he’s wearing stabs me in the chest. “My mom didn’t. She couldn’t protect me. And when she finally did, it was already too late.”
“Too late for what?”
A sad, heart-wrenching smile paints his lips. “Everything.”
