Page 80 of Pretty Lethal
His hand reaches for mine under the table, his thumb brushing along the back of it briefly before pulling away.
My mother smiles at Hawk’s compliment, and when she looks my way, she holds my gaze. “I am.”
Words stick in the back of my throat, and I duck my head, distracting myself by lifting my fork and focusing on the plate in front of me.
As if sensing my discomfort, Kai says, “Let’s dig in while it’s hot,” and I give him a grateful smile across the table.
We make idle chit-chat over dinner, but as we finish our meal, I can feel my mom's focus back on me. “If everything with Mel has been resolved, then I don’t understand why you are still here. Why you gave up your job and apartment,” she says, regarding me in such a way that makes me believe she has her—probably mostly accurate—theories as to why I’m still here. Though she more than likely wants me to confirm them anyway.
Clearing my throat, I glance at each of the guys, giving myself that extra time to find the courage to say what I need to. Telling Mom about Mel was the easy part. That, I knew she’d understand, even if she was shocked by it. But telling her that I upended my life to live with three men who I’ve fallen madly in love with isnotgoing to be taken kindly.Regardless of how well she seems to have gotten along with each of them—even Wilder—during our meal.
I still haven’t found the right words when I go to speak.
“I—”
“We fell in love with your daughter,” Kai states, as if sensing how at a loss I am.
He meets my mother’s gaze head-on. Unflinching.
God, if I don’t fall even harder for him in that moment.
My mother simply stares at him for a long, drawn-out moment, before slowly shifting her attention to Hawk, giving him the same assessing look before doing the same to Wilder.
“I fell in love with them, too,” I tell her, finally finding my words.
At the sound of my voice, her attention snaps to mine, anddamn.I don’t know how Kai didn’t buckle beneath the scrutiny of it.
I can see the disapproval written into the lines on her face.
“You gave up everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve for…”—she glances at each of them—“...for whatever this is?”
She can’t even bring herself to say the word.
Love.
It’s a concept my mother can no longer comprehend.
I believe, once upon a time, she was a firm believer in love.
She has felt its warmth cocoon around her—the soft touch like a feather against her skin.
But she’s also experienced the bitter aftertaste when that love sours. She clings to that bitterness. Lets it blind her to any new possibilities. Any hope of finding that love again in the arms of someone else.
I understand that she is terrified to go through that loss again. That rejection.
But her experience isn’t mine. It isn’t what I have with Kai, Wilder, and Hawk.
None of us have come out unscathed, but we’re still here, fighting to be together, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what counts?
“I’m happy,” I tell her simply. “I still have a career—a good one—just not the one I thought I’d have, but I’m okay with that. I love what I do and I'm happy for the first time in years.”
“And what happens when your… relationships go sour. When one or all of them breaks it off, and you’re kicked out of this house?”
I can feel each of the guys bristle, yet I keep my attention focused on my mother.
“It won’t,” I state with absolute conviction.
Lips pinched, she scoffs under her breath, shaking her head.
