Page 66 of Frozen Hearts
It fucking did.
Because despite all the warnings I issued to myself, I went and fucking fell for Logan Astor.
Emotion lies thick in my throat, and my eyes burn with tears I refuse to shed.
My phone chooses that moment to go off in my pocket, and I groan aloud at the sight of my mom’s caller ID. I swear she knows when I’m having a crappy day and chooses then to heap more dung on the steaming pile of shit that is my life.
“Mom,” I grind, in no mood for her bullshit today.
“I need an extra $100 this week.”
“Why?”
“What does it matter why?” she snaps. “I just need it.”
Pursing my lips to hold back my retort, I instead demand, “I wanna speak to Rora.”
She sighs in exasperation. “You can’t right now.”
“Then I can’t get you your money right now.”
I’m so goddamn sick of her shit. I’ve been walking around on eggshells, terrified to do anything to upset her and lose the few privileges she’s allowed, but I’m too raw from my confrontation with Logan to care right now.
“You haven’t upheld a single one of your agreements since I started college,” I point out. “Why should I uphold mine?”
“Fine,” she hisses. “You have five minutes.”
“FaceTime,” I bark, pulling the phone from my ear and switching it to video mode before she can argue.
A moment later, a little girl with freckles across the bridge of her nose and brown hair with a slight red hue through it pops onto the screen, and tears threaten as I grin at her. I inject as much enthusiasm into my voice as possible, saying, “Hello, baby girl.”
“Mommy!”
My eyes are glassy, and I have to blink the tears away to get a proper look at her. Scanning my sweet little angel from head to toe, I imprint every inch of her to memory while simultaneously cataloging the differences from when I last saw her.
“You’ve gotten so big!” I exclaim. “How old are you now? Seven?”
She giggles. The kind that only children can produce that burrows seeds of warmth deep inside you. Seeds that fill every dark crevice left behind by the withdrawal of Logan’s light. “No, silly. I’mthree.” She holds up three fingers to emphasize her point, and I laugh, even though all I want to do is curl up and cry my heart out.
Cry for all the time I’ve spent away from her. All the important life events I’ve missed.
All the shitty decisions that have led us here.
“How have you been, baby?” I ask instead. “Are you doing okay?”
She nods her head, her hand wrapped possessively around a stuffed teddy bear sporting a Halston U T-shirt that I bought for her right before I left.
“When are you coming home, Mommy?”
It takes everything in me to hold back the tears. “Soon, baby. I’m going to see you real soon.”
“Time’s up,” my mother cuts in.
My heart clenches, needing more time with my little girl more than I need my next breath. “Mommy’s gotta go,” I say to Aurora. “But I’ll see you soon, okay, sweetpea?”
She nods again, tears shimmering in her eyes that threaten to shatter the flimsy dam I have erected.
“Mommy loves—”
