“Awake?” Oops. “I thought you said he was talking to – you know what, put him on the phone right now. Tell A.J it’s extremely important.”
“I can’t put him on the phone, Mom, and if it’s that important you can text him or tell me so I can relay the message once he’s free.”
“Fine,” my mother snapped. “Tell him to bring whomever it is he’s seeing right now. And to make sure she’s dressed right for the occasion. That’s all.”
I furrowed my brow. “That’s all?”
“Yes, Sasha. That is all.”
“That’s the emergency?”
“Oh, please. It’s not up to you to decide what I consider important. Everyone is bringing their husbands and wives. I want Liam to be included. Plain and simple.”
I paused, wondering if I dared to ask. Apparently, I did. “And what about me?”
“What about you?” She paused for effect. “From what I recall, you chose to end the only thing you had going for you.”
There it was. The dagger. There always was one when I spoke to my mother for more than a couple minutes. My heart sagged in my chest as I realized I hadn’t been imagining it. My mother had been ice cold to me since the whole Owen thing, but she’d gotten noticeably better while I was dating Ethan. She was nicer, asked questions about my life and a handful of times, laughed at my nervous jokes. But since breaking up with Ethan, she was back to her total distrust of me. It was as irrational as it was heartbreaking, but it was nothing I could ever change about her, and it made me want to scream.
“Sasha.” Her rigid voice was losing its patience. “Maybe you thought otherwise, but I’m not a fan of one-sided phone conversations. I’m going to hang up now.”
I swallowed the knot in my throat. Tears had sprung to my eyes but I stared dully through them as I steadied my voice for my mom. “Okay. I’ll give Liam your message.”
“Good.”
With that, she hung up, and I sat with my hands in my lap, my empty stare pointed at nothing. I felt so drained I kind of had to applaud my hands and teeth for having the energy to shake and chatter. Clearly, they had minds of their own because mine was numb. Barely six-thirty in the morning and I’d mentally shut down. It was my only option since the other was to revisit my worst memories – all the reasons why my mother, who’d surely once loved me, no longer wanted anything to do with me. If she weren’t so conscious of family judgment, I was sure she wouldn’t have even invited me to Thanksgiving.
“Sash.”
I flickered to life when I heard Liam say my name. His morning voice was low and scratchy and so goddamned sexy. The emerald green of his eyes was smiling out at me under his heavy lids and he looked so cute I had to grin and oblige as he reached for me, holding his arms out so I’d climb onto his broad chest. The second my skin touched the warmth of his body, I felt recalibrated. For the most part, at least.
“So. How are you this morning?” I could hear the smirk in Liam’s voice as he stroked through my hair and kissed the top of my head. Resting my chin between his pecs, I looked up at him and laughed.
“Pretty good. Probably because my muscles aren’t nearly as sore as yours are. Sorry about that, by the way.”
“I own a gym. I’m addicted to feeling sore. If pain is progress then pain is good.”
“Bit of a sicko, aren’t you?”
“Only in the gym.”
“Mm. Not at all at home, where you fuck your stepsister right in the hall for everyone to hear.”
“Sounds a lot dirtier when you phrase it like that.”
“Well, it’s exactly what happened.”
“Someone’s got an attitude today,” Liam laughed.
“Sorry. I just – ” I broke off, deciding to censor myself. “My mom called. On your phone. I accidentally answered it.”
“Ah.” Liam winced, running his hand over his face. “Thank you. And sorry. What did she say?” He hoisted himself up to lean back against the leather headboard, easily bringing me up with him. I gazed at my hands resting on his bare chest, my fingers dipping into the ridges of his muscle.
“She was calling to tell you that all the relatives are bringing their spouses and boyfriends and girlfriends. And that you should bring whomever you’re seeing and make sure she’s, um, dressed properly for the occasion.”
“I don’t foresee you wearing anything too crazy.”
“You know we’re not going as dates to our own family’s Thanksgiving.”