Page 127 of Defend Me

Taking his hand, I squeezed it. “No lies.”

“I’ve always had to put it up.” He leaned his head on my shoulder and tucked his face into my neck. “My mom always says people make first judgments based on appearance and this doesn’t fit our image.”

“Their image. You’re your own person.”

“I’m an extension of them.”

“I don’t accept that, but I won’t push it right now.”

“It’s also about being attached to it,” he went on. “It’s stupid, but the more I get used to it being down and the more I like it, the harder it’ll hit when it’s gone.”

The only thing that kept me from repeating my opinion about that was timing. Simple words weren’t going to change anything, but making him comfortable in his skin would. Feeding him assurances and filling his empty spaces with love and acceptance would.

When I met his parents, I was going to have a hard time liking them. They made someone beautiful question his identity and self-worth. They treated him like patchwork, removing pieces of him and trying to replace them with attributes they thought were better, to turn him into a carbon copy of them. Somehow, they were too delusional to see that he wasn’t flawed. They were.

“I’ll get you a hair tie,” I said.

He stood and pulled me up with him. Cupping my jaw, he kissed me tenderly.

“I don’t need it. It looks like they’re bringing out the presents.”

We entered the house just as Alex tore into a large, wrapped box.

“You should join your dad,” Brooks suggested. “He looks lonely.”

“He always looks like that.”

“He thinks you hate him.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“Maybe not hate, but he asked me a lot of questions about how you’re doing. He doesn’t think you’ll respond if he reaches out.”

With a frown, I looked over at my dad. “I always answer his messages.”

Brooks pinched my chin. “Not everybody can hear the things that you don’t say out loud, baby. He doesn’t understand you, but he wants to.”

“Maybe he should say that, then.”

“Would you?”

Not waiting for an answer, he nodded toward the wall where my dad was leaning. I took a deep breath before I joined him.

“Hey,” I said. “The party seems like it’s going well.”

He grunted his agreement. “Alex is having fun. That’s the important thing.”

“Maybe we can convince him to clean up too.”

“If you manage that, I’ll give you the house. He’s too much like you to listen.”

I laughed as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah. Uh, must run in the blood. If you… ever need help with him or… I don’t know, for me to take him out for the day or even a weekend so you and Miranda can do something, you can always ask. I know he’s thirteen, but I wouldn’t trust him not to get into some shit on his own.”

He glanced at me briefly. “Like when you were fifteen.”

“I did nothing.”

“We left you alone for one night and the neighbors called to tell us you took Marshall for a joy ride.”

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