Page 13 of Dangers of Love

I didn’t explain that it wasn’t the first time she’d put herself between Eoin and me. I also didn’t share that she’d gone to him after I’d left to blame him for me walking out. Those were things that I’d need to discuss with her at some point. But not any time soon. I wasn’t even close to being ready forthatdiscussion.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Mom said quietly. “We’ve only ever wanted to protect you. And that’s not an excuse. We should have done better.”

“We will do better,” Dad said. “I just ask that you be patient with us. It’s not an easy thing, letting a child go.”

I swallowed hard around the lump forming in my throat. I’d hoped that the conversation would go well, but I honestly hadn’t known how my parents would react to all I was feeling.

“Of course.” Relief wrapped itself around me like a warm blanket. This was going better than I’d expected. “I know you’ve always had my best interest at heart, and the last thing I want to do is cause you more stress, especially after what I put you through with the kidnapping and–”

“You were not responsible for what happened.” Dad’s voice was sharp. “Do not take that on yourself.”

“Thank you.” I cleared my throat, blinking back some unexpected tears. “Thank you for saying that and for listening to me. Seeing where I’m coming from.”

After a few seconds of silence, Mom asked, “Will you be coming home for Christmas?”

I appreciated that she’d only asked about the holidays, not if I’d come back now that we’d talked, but I wasn’t ready to promise anything yet. “Probably.”

“And your sister?” The hesitation in Dad’s voice was clear.

“I don’t want her to worry. You can tell her that I talked to you and that I’m okay, but I don’t want her knowing where I am.” I hated myself for saying it, but it was the truth. “I don’t know if she’ll respect my wishes to give me space.”

The fact that they didn’t immediately defend her and say that she’d do as I asked told me that I wasn’t off base in my assessment.

“Would you mind…” Mom sniffed, and I hated to be the one to make her sad. “Would it be okay for us to call you sometimes? Just to check in.”

I smiled, even though they couldn’t see it. “I’d like that.”

“You know if you need to come home, you can come back anytime, right?” Dad’s voice was gruff with emotion. “I’m not asking you to, don’t get me wrong. I just want to make sure you know that it’s always an option.”

“I know, Dad. And if I need to, I will, but right now, I’m good.”

We talked for a few more minutes, with me telling them about working with Martina and them telling me about the neighbor’s new dog. When we hung up, I felt better. Sort of, anyway.

I’d been nauseous the last couple days, the stress of the last few weeks finally catching up to me, but I’d hoped talking to my parents today would make it better. Instead, my queasy stomach was still taking its time in settling down despite the toast I’d eaten.

Maybe I needed to go to the doctor, I thought as I pulled up my calendar on my phone to check my schedule. It wasn’t until I saw a reminder that I’d missed. A reminder that I’d promised Freedom I’d make an appointment to see Dr. Rhimes, my gynecologist.

Dammit.

What twenty-two-year-old woman couldn’t remember to schedule an appointment with their gynecologist after having sex for the first time?

I sighed and pulled up the number on my phone. It wasn’t an emergency, but I did need to go. Not to keep a promise to Freedom, but because that’s what a responsible woman should do.

Eight

Eoin

So far,so good.

It’d been a week and a half since Aline and I had gone to The Mar Vista and then made out in my car like a couple horny teenagers. We’d talked every day since then and had seen each other every other day, even if it’d just been fifteen or twenty minutes at lunch. We’d fooled around a bit but hadn’t had sex. In the past ten days, I’d taken more cold showers and jacked off more than I had since I was a teenager.

The crazy thing was, I’d enjoyed all of it, even with pretty much non-stop blue balls. I still wanted her like crazy, but I didn’t feel like everything else was only emotional foreplay to get her into bed. I liked talking to her, spending time with her.

On the surface, we seemed like complete opposites, but the more we talked, the more we saw that our differences complemented each other. Better, the things we had in common were the important ones. We both loved our families but appreciated being independent too. We liked the idea of traveling but wanted to have a stable home to come back to.

We’d had the travel conversation yesterday, which had gotten me thinking about us maybe going away for a weekend. With Christmas being a Wednesday this year, we could make it a long weekend, leaving Friday and coming–

“Head’s up.” Cain knocked on the office door. “Conference room. We’ve got a job.”

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