Page 116 of Done with You

Because he’d done that.

He went and acted impatiently, rashly, and stupidly, and now their truce—sex and all—was gone.

While making food, he also put together breakfast for everyone. This time, it was eggs Benedict, but rather than an English muffin and ham, he used crab cakes.

“Coffee is here,” he said to Rayma who pulled herself up to the kitchen island and took a seat. “And I can have eggs poached in a couple of minutes. Didn’t want to do them ahead of time because, you know …”

“Is that white shit still coming down?” she asked.

He frowned and nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

“Maybe I should just go back to bed. Wake up in the spring like the bears.”

“But then you’ll miss your wedding. And I happen to know a lot of people who are working very hard to make this day happen and be special for you.”

She glanced up at him, her eyes puffy from all the tears. “I know. And thank you. I haven’t been in one of these pity pits in a long time. At least not one this deep.”

“They can be pretty hard to climb out of. I know from personal experience.” He poured her a coffee and added a splash of half-and-half to hers which was how she liked it, then slid it across the island to rest in front of her crossed arms. “I punched a drunk driver that I pulled over. He had his kid in the car. Someone else recorded me doing it and it went viral. I’ve been suspended for almost five months and mandated by the courts to attend anger management and counseling before I can return to work.”

Rayma lifted her head and gaped at him, her eyes wide. “Shit, dude.”

“As I’m sure you can guess, I have a bit of a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to driving impaired.”

“Understandable, given Dallas and your dad and stuff.”

Aiden’s head bobbed. “Yeah, well, until I guess yesterday, I’ve been in this pity pit, as you called it. Feeling sorry for myself. Believing that I was justified in my behavior and that because Oona denied seeing me as a patient, she was holding my career hostage.”

“You guys slept together. It would have been unethical.”

“And I see that, now. But at the time, I was so deep in the pity pit I couldn’t see daylight. Couldn’t see reason. Couldn’t see that Oona was trying to help me even when she couldn’t treat me. That there are a lot of people who wanted to help me.”

Her gaze turned coy. “I see what you’re doing.”

He shrugged. “Ready for breakfast?”

She nodded. “Oona’s still sleeping, so is Jordan. But I’m hungry.”

He put a pot of water on the stove to boil so he could poach a couple of eggs. “Having spent that day with your parents, I understand your reaction to them showing up early. And your mother’s reaction to your dress and asking you to cancel the wedding is uncalled for. Hurt people hurt. It’s what I’m realizing. I hurt Oona because I’m hurting.”

“How the hell do you think Yanna Young is hurt?”

He shrugged. “All of her daughters moved as far away from her as they could? I don’t know.”

“Yanna Young isn’t hurting. She just does the hurting.”

“Maybe so, but I realized that it’s up to us to decide who we let hurt us. People can try, but its up to us whether we allow them to penetrate the skin or if their barbs just bounce off. For too long, I’ve allowed every barb ever thrown at me to go down to the bone. And in turn, I’ve struck hard enough to hit bone, too.”

“So you’re saying that I’m choosing to let my mother hurt me? Are you victim blaming?”

“No. I’m saying, you have this rich and beautiful life that you’ve created. It is your armor. This family, this tribe that you’ve built, is your armor. Your mother’s barbs should just bounce right off, because what you have here is so strong, what she thinks of it doesn’t matter. It’s weak and inconsequential.” He held out his hands cupped together like a clamshell. “This is for you.”

She bunched her brows at him in confusion.

“Open it,” he encouraged.

She rolled her eyes, but with a smirk, pried his top hand away from his bottom one. “What is it?”

“It’s a box of the fucks you have left to give about what your parents think of you.”

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