Page 126 of Delicate Storm

“He doesn’t. He doesn’t see her that often.”

“But sheiswith him now.” Keeley continues to stir the pot and I want to snap.

“Keeley.”

“What? It’s not a lie.”

“Paige and I… It’s complicated,” I reluctantly admit, hoping it will shut them up.

But of course, it doesn’t.

“Ooh.” Mom claps excitedly. “That’s code for itwaspurely sexual butnowyou’re falling for her?”

“What the hell, Mom? No.”Yes. Fuck. “It’scomplicated,” I repeat. “And she’s doing me a favor by looking after Isaac. That’s all you need to know.”

“I bet that’s not the only favor she’s doing for—”

“Fuck, Keeley. Don’t talk about her like that. Isn’t there some kind of girl code where you don’t say that shit?”

“You know Paige and I are friends, right?”

“Unfortunately, I guessed. But I pushed it out of my mind because it was easier that way.”

“Well, too bad. You can’t escape it. If I have to come to terms with the fact that the ‘hot guy’ she’s seeing is my brother, then you have to deal with my torment.”

“What did she say?”

“Nothing really. At first, she wouldn’t give us any details. But when pushed, she said you were the best she’s ever had. And now that I’ve said that out loud I’m going to go and rinse my mouth out and maybe throw up.”

“Everyone has sex, Keeley.” Mom shakes her head as her eyes bounce between us like a tennis match.

“It’s okay, Mom. I don’t need you to defend me. I’m happy to drop it.”

“I’m not,” Mom says. “I’ll never understand why it’s so forbidden to talk about sex. People talk about their bodily functions, for God’s sake. I don’t want to hear about the texture of your shit. I’d much rather hear about the partner that blew your mind last night.”

I groan so loud I expect a nurse to come in. “When it comes to you or Keeley, Mom, I don’t want to hear about either.”

“That’s a shame because Phil—”

“La-la-la.” I cover my ears and start singing like I used to as a kid, and it shuts Mom up completely. Only she doesn’t laugh like I expected her to. “What happened?”

“I found you doing that once when I was fighting with your father. I didn’t think you could hear us.”

“Oh. Shit. I didn’t mean to dampen the mood; I just wanted you to stop talking.”

“That’s okay. Memories have been hitting me harder lately.”

God, I feel like a dick. We were supposed to be distracting her and now we’ve done a full 360, but I still have questions, so I’m asking them. “What can we do to help you? To…”Delay. I trail off because I don’t even know if that’s possible. We raised funds for ALS at our annual charity event during my rookie year, but I was young and stupid. I was happy to help out, but I didn’t pay much attention to what I was supporting. Now I wish I had. And I wish I’d done more.

“Please just be yourselves,” Mom begs, her eyes full of emotion. “And Easton, please go home. Isaac needs you more than I do.”

I freeze, caught on her words, but while she may be right, I know that he’s in safe hands. “Let me call him and check if Paige is okay. I want to stay a bit longer.”

Keeley and Mom both smile but I ignore them. Today isn’t about my feelings for Paige. It’s about my mom.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Paige

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