Page 137 of Toxic Temptation
I can’t exactly tell him I woke up at 3:00 A.M. with my body humming and unsatisfied. That I spent an hour trying to take care of the problem myself, only to walk out of my room and nearly collide with a shirtless Kovan.
One look at his abs and every nerve ending in my body caught fire all over again.
“I didn’t sleep well,” I say instead.
“Probably the guilt keeping you up,” he remarks.
I narrow my eyes. “What guilt?”
“The guilt of not calling Mom in over a month.”
“Shit!” I slam the milk carton down so hard it sloshes onto the counter. “I should have seen that coming.”
“It’s just a phone call,” he chides me. “Ten minutes.”
“If only it were that simple.”
He tries to grab the milk again but I move it to the far counter. “She misses you, V.”
“Don’t lie to make me feel better. Mom doesn’t miss me. She has you. Her perfect son who never disappoints her.”
“V.”
“Fine, I’ll call her,” I mutter unconvincingly. “… Eventually. I just haven’t had time lately.”
“Right. Because your fake boyfriend has been keeping you so busy.”
My stomach drops. “You didn’t tell her about Kovan, did you?”
“What kind of person do you think I am?” He wrinkles his nose. “Whether or not I approve of all this shit, I’m not going to throw you under the bus like that.”
Wilting, I reluctantly offer him the milk carton. “Sorry. I just… I don’t know how to explain this to her.”
“You don’t have to explain anything. You have a boyfriend. He has a nephew you help babysit. End of story.”
“She’ll ask a million questions.”
“She always asks a million questions and you only have yourself to blame. Because you never tell her anything about your life.”
I glare at him furiously. “That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
“I don’t shut her out. She’s just… She’s not interested in me. She hasn’t been since Dad died.”
Waylen’s face softens, and he looks away.
“See?” I press. “You can’t even deny it.”
“V…” He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s because you remind her of him. Your drive, the way you talk about medicine, your dedication. She can’t look at you without seeing Dad.”
“I loved him, too.”
“I know. But it’s different. You and I, we had our own lives. School, friends, careers. It was different for her. Mom’s entire world revolved around Dad.”
I try to picture our childhood, but Waylen’s right. Most of my memories are just me and Dad. Mom was there, of course, but floating in the background, making sure we had clean clothes and hot meals. As much house elf as mother figure.
“She had her book club,” I offer lamely.
