Page 89 of I Can't Even

I crouched in the kitchen, peering around the wall to see the front door. If it was Paisley, I hoped Liam would be able to chase her away before she caused another ruckus.

But when Liam swung the door open, it wasn’t Paisley standing there. It was Jessie. Uh oh!

I hurried out of the kitchen, thinking I should have grabbed the fire extinguisher in case things got heated.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Liam asked. Yeah, like that. Although truthfully, I wasn’t completely sure that was what he’d said because his teeth were clenched.

“We are looking for Jules,” Dante answered.

Dante stepped around Jessie, who looked nervous, although really outstanding in a bright pink wrap dress and low heels with her hair up in a twist and her make-up light but still accentuating her best features. I had spent years sitting at cosmetics counters with Jess while she learned the fine art of makeup application. Liam didn’t move aside but that did not deter Dante as he pushed past Liam into the house. Liam lifted his fist like he was going to take a swing at him.

“Who the hell are you?” Liam asked Dante before glaring in my direction. “Boyfriend of yours?”

“No, Dante’s spoken for. Pity,” I said.

All three of them turned toward me and I can only assume I must have been quite a sight, because both Jessie and Dante looked horrified while Liam seethed.

“Jules, what is this?” Dante waved his hands in the air as if to encompass my entire ensemble. He clutched his chest as if pleading for mercy. “You’re killing me here. You know that, right?”

Dante was a tall, lithe black man whose style was legendary among our set in New York. His suits were all bespoke, his shoes maintained an optimum gloss, his head was shaved to perfection, his eyebrows threaded into matching arcs of irreverence, his hygiene was scrupulously maintained, and there was never an ounce of extra fat on his perfectly sculpted physique. Ever. I was pretty sure he wasn’t human.

“Sorry,” I said. “Things have been a bit hectic and by that, I mean completely insane.”

Dante reached out to hug me tight and then pushed me back to study my outfit, which made him frown, and then he used both hands to grab fistfuls of my wayward curls as if he had no idea what to do with them. Join the club. I heard a noise behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Liam’s eyes narrow into slits, and a low growl emitted from his throat.

“This is the moment,” Dante hissed at me. “It’s the big love scene at the end of the movie, the one we’ve all been waiting for, and you look like this. Could you not have put in a token effort, like with a comb or some lipstick?”

The laughter welled up inside of me before I could stop it. I hugged Dante close and said, “Babs would have so preferred having you for a child in place of me.”

“Don’t be a dumbass,” Dante said.

“I’m not,” I said. “You’re suave and debonair—everything she ever wanted.”

“But she cared about you,” Dante said. “It’s so obvious.”

“How do you figure?” I asked. “She did everything she could to ruin my life.”

“Did she really?” Dante tapped his chin. “Or was she so desperate to keep you from throwing away your life on a relationship you weren’t ready for that she chased you away instead? Do you really think that was easy for her? Losing you, even if you were her whipping girl, that sort of loss takes more heart than most mothers have.”

I sucked in a breath and ducked my head. Was he right? Had Babs forced me out for my own benefit? The thought boggled.

“Think about it,” Dante said. “You were about to give up the college of your dreams for an eighteen-year-old boy. Right or wrong, she did what she thought was best at the time. Can you really say that isn’t some sort of love? If she really hated you, she would have squashed your Ivy League dreams instead.”

I blinked at him. Oh, my god, all this time I thought she’d driven me away because I was the daughter she couldn’t stand with my wild curls and rebellious ways and then when I found out she wasn’t actually my mother, I’d thought it was because she hated me. But maybe, just maybe, Dante was right, and Babs had driven me away so that I could have choices, more choices than an eighteen-year-old marrying her boyfriend would ever have.

“I don’t know why you’re here, Jessie, and I don’t really care, but Jules stays with me. Now take your friend and get out of my house.” Liam’s tone was harsh. I glanced at Jessie who seemed on the verge of tears.

Okay, no time to dwell on Dante’s revelation. I patted his arm and moved to stand in between Jessie and Liam.

“Liam, don’t,” I said.

“Don’t what?” he asked. “Kick him...sorry...her out? It’s no more than she deserves.”

Dante moved to stand beside me in front of Jessie.

“I’m sorry. We haven’t been introduced. I’m Dante Williams.” He extended his hand. Liam just glared. Dante brushed his hands together and continued, “Listen, I know there is some history here, but if you touch my girlfriend Jessica in an aggressive manner, I’ll have to kick your ass. And I will. There won’t be enough left of you for Jules to scoop up with a spoon.”

Liam’s head tipped to the side like a dog hearing a very high-pitched whistle. He looked at me. I nodded. He looked at Dante. He nodded. He looked past both of us at Jessie, who stepped between us and faced Liam with her hands spread wide as if to say sorry.

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