Page 91 of Along Came Amor
She didn’t care what it said about her boundaries, but she couldn’t deny an entreaty like that. She moved to him and he met her in the center of the bed. Her sheet tangled between them as she melted against his chest. With a soul-weary sigh, he pulled her into his arms and pressed his face to her hair. Enveloped in his warmth, in his scent, something settled within her, and she closed her eyes.
His lips touched her temple in a feather-light kiss. “I’m sorry for acting like your ex. That’s the last thing I want.”
“I’m sorry I said that.”
“Don’t be. You were right to call me out.”
“I know. I’m just... not used to it yet.”
“It’ll get easier. You can practice on me all you want.”
Her chest shook with a silent laugh, and because she couldn’t ignore the role her own actions had played, she said, “You were right too. I missed the tasting because I can’t say no to my stepmother.”
He eased back to look at her face. “I could’ve phrased that better.”
“Maybe, but it’s true. I don’t have good boundaries with my family.”
“Can you explain that a little more for me? You told me about their reaction to your divorce, but I don’t understand why your family meeting me meant we had to cut things off.”
She sighed and leaned back on the pillows piled against the headboard.
“You have to understand, my ex and I met during our sophomore year in college and he was my first serious boyfriend. Our families didn’t live that far from each other in the Bronx, and they were really involved in our lives. We’d babysit my little sister together, I’d go shopping with his mom, he’d help my grandfather fix things around the house, stuff like that.
“When we separated, nobody saw it coming and they didn’t take it well. And since I never brought anyone else home, before or after, I think they’re under the impression that he’s still the love of my life or something, and that the divorce is just a speed bump. They mention him all the time, like we split up two weeks ago instead of two years. I can’t get away from him.”
“And you want to.” At her severe look, he held up his hands. “Just making sure.”
“Yes. Desperately. I want to move on but they never let me forget what I did.”
“But what did you do wrong?”
She rolled her eyes. “In my family? Everything.”
“Because you got divorced?”
“Nailed it in one.”
“And now he’s getting remarried.”
She sighed. “You heard about that, huh?”
“Ashton might have mentioned it.”
She swallowed hard. “You want to know the worst part?”
“Tell me.”
“The worst part is that I was completely unprepared for my family’s reaction. I was the perfect one, my grandmother’s favorite. And suddenly, I wasn’t anymore.”
She told him about the night she’d broken the news to her grandmother, how it had turned into a massive family argument, with her cousins and aunts trying to run interference while her grandmother, great-aunt, and mother-in-law shouted at her.
The weight of their censure had crushed her. For a perfectionist, a people pleaser, someone who found their value by being part of the family unit, their reaction had torn her apart inside. At a time when she’d wanted to cry and rage and break down, she’d had to suck it up and take everything they gave her with a patient smile.
“It was the worst moment of my life,” she said quietly as she finished. “And I had to comfort everyone else.”
When he gave her a little tug, she moved closer, and before she knew it, he was folding her in his arms again. It wasn’t sexual, it was... comforting. Like the night they’d watched movies in his bed and she’d fallen asleep in one of his T-shirts, with her head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating.
“You shouldn’t have had to do that,” he said. “It wasn’t fair to you.”
