Page 78 of Just Forever

Lake pulls them on and bumps his shoulder into mine. The back of his gloved hand is now pressed against mine. He keeps it there. We reach the bar Kian picked out way too fast.

We’re just about to enter when Lake stops, frowns, and digs out his phone. He glances at the screen, and his frown deepens before he looks up.

“You guys go ahead. I better take this.”

Kian pulls the door open, but I stay put.

“It’s my mom,” Lake says, then nods toward the door. Kian’s already disappeared inside. “You don’t have to freeze here. She’s either calling because she finally remembered I called two weeks ago, or she’s decided to divorce Glen again and wants to talk about it. It’s not going to be riveting.”

I don’t like Lake’s mother.

Or, to be more precise, I don’t trust her. I don’t trust her with Lake, specifically. Whatever else she’s up to, I frankly don’t give a shit, but Lake’s mine, and she doesn’t have a clue how to treat him the way he should be treated.

Not to say Lake doesn’t know how to handle her or how to stand up for himself. It’s just that I don’t want him to have to.

Lake looks half-amused and half-exasperated by my hovering.

“Go,” he says.

I do as he says.

I don’t like it.

But I do as he says.

LAKE

The phone has stopped ringingby the time Ryker gives up trying to become a wall between me and the rest of the world. I should be annoyed. The previous version of Lake definitely would have been. Ryker’s version of Lake finds the protective streak endearing and sweet. Hot, too, but it’s not the right moment to ponder that right now.

Plus, it’s getting bitterly cold outside, so unless I want to risk freezing my ass off, I better call Mom back. It would probably be smarter to wait until I get home or do it tomorrow, but there’s no guarantee she’d pick up then.

I lift the phone to my ear and wait. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take her long to answer my call.

“Honey!” Her voice is full of warmth. “It’s been too long.”

I haven’t seen my mother in a year, and our phone calls are hectic at best. She lives in Sydney with her husband, Glen, who finds me barely tolerable on a good day, so I’m not too motivated to visit.

“Hey, Mom.”

“I’m getting you a plane ticket for Christmas. I miss you! For January or February. It’s dreadful then in New York, but Sydney is lovely, so you can get out of the cold. Like a bird.You’ll fly south for the winter.” She lets out a trill of laughter. My mother has always had a very charming laugh. She’s always been the popular girl. Her whole life. Unlike some other people, she didn’t just peak in high school. No, she kept peaking and just effortlessly floats through life.

In a way I’m her biggest failure. Not that I’m taking any blame for what happened on my shoulders. I didn’t make anybody sleep with anybody.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the idea, but I have school.”

“Darling, but you’ve never been to Sydney, and you should really grab the opportunity.” To her credit, she sounds genuinely disappointed, which is nice. It’s nice that she cares. It’s nice that she misses me. I know Ryker has a less than favorable view of my mother—even though he does his best to hide it—but she does love me.

“Sorry. Maybe we can figure something out during the summer?”

She hums. “Well, we’ll see how things go.”

There’s something about the way she says it that makes me take notice. I wait for a bit to see if she’s going to elaborate, but I don’t have high hopes. Mom has always had a flair for the dramatic.

“How’s Glen?” I ask.

“Glen’s Glen,” she says in the most flippant tone possible.

Divorce.

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