"I’ve never been with anyone," I finally tell him, my head telling me not to say anything and my heart holding on for dear life. "Like I’ve dated guys, but…"
"Are you saying…?" he says, and I feel suddenly so dumb.
"My mother was known as the town slut,” I say and blink away the tears. "I mean, not now, but when she had Ethan." I swallow down. "Shit went down, and I don’t really know the whole story because frankly, it doesn’t matter. My mother is amazing. She is kind, she is loving, she is selfless when it comes to the people she loves and us." I look up at the sky as it starts to turn colors now. "She’s been with my father for over twenty years, and people still talk about her. Less than before, but you would hear whispers even when I was in school." I wipe away the tear coming down my cheek. "So I wasn’t going to give them anything more to talk about. I was going to show them that my mother raised a lady. That she wasn’t what those people said she was." He wraps his hand around my shoulders and pulls me to him, kissing my head. "So you may think that we have this amazing family. And we do. But every family has some cracks in the foundation. It’s about finding the crack and sealing it shut."
He doesn’t say anything. We just sit and stare at the colors that fill the sky. We finish our coffee and walk in with the empty cups just as the door swings open, and Ethan walks in.
He stops in his tracks and smirks at Mayson. "You ready to hunt?" he says, and my stomach falls to the floor.
"Fucking right, I am," Mayson says without missing a beat. He walks to the bedroom.
"What’s going on?" I ask Ethan, trying to control the beating of my heart. I don’t even blink when Mayson is back and dressed in camo pants and a black T-shirt. The tattoo on his arm sticks out so much, or maybe I’m just focusing more on it.
"We are going to the base and share what we found out," Ethan says, looking at Mayson. He walks over to him and slaps his shoulder. "You look skinny."
"Fuck you," Mayson says, pushing Ethan away.
"Okay, let’s go," Ethan says, and I stand here with my heart in my throat.
"I’m not leaving her alone," Mayson says, stopping Ethan in his tracks.
"Quinn is on his way," Ethan says, and I’m both annoyed and a little pissed but mostly sad he’s leaving.
"I don’t need a babysitter," I say, turning and not looking at either of them. "I have plans today anyway," I say, walking into the kitchen. "Have fun hunting," I say over my shoulder and walk to my bedroom. I make it to the bed before I hear the front door slam shut.
I don’t move from my bed, and I don’t know why I think he’s going to come back and kiss me goodbye and tell me everything is okay. Deep down in my heart, I just know I’ll never have him.
I ignore the pain in my chest while I get changed into my jean shorts that show off my lean, toned legs and a white short tank top that molds to my chest and falls just about my belly button. I slip on flip-flops, and I’m walking out the door when Quinn arrives.
"Where are you going?" he asks from inside his truck.
"Home,” I say.
"Get in. I’ll drive you," he says, and I know that I can argue with him and take my car, but he’ll only end up following me there, and then my father will be all over him for not looking out for me. Instead, I just open the truck door and get in.
"Someone done pissed you off," he says, pulling away from my house.
"Why do you say that?" I look over at him.
"You just got in without arguing with me, so you are either fucking pissed or you’re angry." He smirks at me, and I roll my eyes at him. "I’ll shut up now."
"That would be smart of you," I say, looking out the window.
We pull up to the house that I grew up in, and we both just walk in. The smell of bacon and sausage fills the air. I dump my purse at the door, and when I walk into the kitchen, I find my mother just cleaning up. "Chelsea," she says, dropping the plate in her hand on the counter and coming over to me. She grabs me in her arms, and I don’t know why, but I let go of the sob I’ve been holding. She’s always been the one whose arms I’ve cried in. Always the one to hold me up when I couldn’t hold myself up. It was a tough couple of years when Ethan left, and to be honest, we both had to hold each other up.