Page 77 of The Truth About Love

She snorts. “I’ll never eat all that.”

My eyes trace the lines of her face that are sharper now than they were five years ago. I should have noticed it before, but she must weigh at least ten pounds less than she did back then and that was weight she couldn’t really afford to lose. Her arms are thinner, her cheeks hollowed and her body?which she’s tried to hide beneath the oversized flannel shirt that looks vaguely familiar?is so slim I could wrap my arms around her twice over.

“Try.” I frown. “You need the calories.”

I excuse myself while we wait for the pizza to arrive and start unpacking my small suitcase in the guestroom. I didn’t take much notice of the room when Winter showed me in here earlier, telling me to stay hidden until she’d calmed down Summer-Raine, so I take a moment to fully breathe in my surroundings.

Like the rest of the apartment, the room screams money. The walls are decorated with textured gold paper that reflects the light coming in through the large window and scatters it like stardust across the room. The wall behind the bed is dominated by an ivory upholstered headboard that is arguably too big for the space and double doors lead off the room to a hotel suite style bathroom.

I knew her family had money, but I didn’t realise how much until now.

It makes me wonder if Summer-Raine pays for this herself, albeit out of her trust fund, or if her parents are financing it directly from their bank accounts. I guess it doesn’t matter either way.

An hour later, I’m back in the living room watching Summer-Raine take tiny bites out of her pizza and pick off the toppings despite them being her favourite. She watches me between chews, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth and scowling.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” I say with a wink.

She blushes, averting her eyes and staring down at her lap.Don’t hide from me,I want to yell at her. But she isn’t mine to demand that of her anymore. She hasn’t been for a long time.

“What’s on your mind?” I ask, swallowing my last mouthful and tossing my crust into the box.

Her brow furrows, her gaze still locked on her lap. “You never called me babe.” Her voice is timid and quiet.

I mask my surprise with a cocky grin. “Disappointed?”

“No, I hate it.”

“Then why do you care?”

“I don’t care.” But the thunderous expression on her face says otherwise. “It was just an observation.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.” I hold my hands up in mock surrender, my lips twitching in amusement at her obvious jealousy.

It feels so natural to poke fun at her just like I used to when we were together, that it doesn’t occur to me to question why she would be jealous at all. Sure, I didn’t miss her reaction to finding out about Cara, but I figured that it would be uncomfortable for anyone to discover the existence of their ex’s new partner by overhearing a phone conversation. It didn’t occur to me that there could be anything more to it than that.

“How’s your Mama?” she asks in an obvious bid to change the topic of conversation.

My stomach drops. I don’t want to talk about Mama. It will only dredge up the memories I’ve tried so hard to bury in the furthest corners of my mind. It will only serve to remind me of how epically I failed her.

“She died,” I say, turning to look out the imposing windows at the bleeding sky above the city, “during my first year of college.”

Summer-Raine gasps. “Shit, Auden, I’m so sorry. What happened?”

I scrunch my eyes shut as images of my Mama laying grey and cold on the kitchen floor come screaming back to me. The shards of broken glass around her. The empty cannister of pills on the counter.

“Accidental overdose.”

That’s what the coroner ruled it anyway. But I know differently.

“But you don’t think it was,” Summer-Raine whispers.

I open my eyes to find her watching me closely.

“Accidents don’t come with a note.”

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