Page 137 of At First Smile
“They’re doing it for you.” She lets out a humorless laugh and pulls away from me.
I blow out a breath, releasing a little of my frustration about the situation. “Sasha and Greg aren’t going to hand over a position in the foundation they love just because you’re my girlfriend. Knowing them, they’d had the idea prior to this and seized this opportunity. As good-natured as Sasha is, she’s as strategic as her husband. They are doing this to get you to work with them, not for my benefit.”
“But it does benefit you. You get to know that I’m taken care of.” She tosses up her arms and stomps towards the kitchen, GB trotting behind her.
“What’s wrong with that? Of course, I want you taken care of.” I rake my hands into my hair.
“I can take care of myself,” she snaps back.
“That’s not in question.”
“You just said you wanted to take care of me,” she shouts.
“Yes! We’re a team. Though sometimes I think that only applies whenyouwant to take care of me. Like you did with Landon and Gillian.”
“Landon?”
“I know you spoke to Liv. That you convinced her to say something to her father.”
“It’s not the same,” she scoffs.
“Why?”
“You know why,” she hisses.
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” My heart thuds loudly in my chest. “I love you. It has nothing to do with me thinking you can’t take care of yourself. I’m not Alex. I’m not your mom,” I shout back.
“I know you’re not them.” She grips the counter’s edge.
“Do you?” My voice is hoarse.
“Yes!”
“Maybe it’s easier to assign that role to me than yourself.”
“Excuse me?” She freezes, hurt swimming in her eyes.
God, I want to fold her into my arms and assure her that all will be okay, that I’d not meant what I said, but it’s the truth. There’s a tightrope that I walk between supporting Pen’s independence and my desire to take care of the woman I love. Only, there’s no net below to catch me if I stumble.
“You’ve made me eat my carrots a few times, even though it’s the same behavior you hate about your mother… And I love that about you. That you push me, but it can’t be one-sided. We’re either a team or we’re not.”
“I’m not like my mother,” she hisses.
“I think you’re more like her than you think.”
“With my mother it’s always been about fixing me, about what she feels is best for me. It’s not about what I want. Shedoesn’t work with me. Not like us. We’re a team!” She gestures between us.
“We weren’t at that table. The moment Sasha and Greg offered you the job, you pulled away from me. You assumed I’d orchestrated this.”
“I know you didn’t do that. I’m sorry I went there. It’s something I’m working on with my therapist.” She lets out a hard breath.
“I know you are, luv,” I rasp, my stare locks with hers. “I know it’s hard for you to trust that someone’s love and care for you isn’t about fixing you. You lost your dad?—”
“My dad’s death has nothing to do with this.”
“But it does—” I step forward and place my hands on her shoulders “—You lost him and you were left with a mom that made you feel like something to fix, rather than someone to love. Then Aunt Bea died.”.
“What does Aunt Bea have to do with any of this?”
