“Who was that?” Navie asks.
“Mom.”
She makes a face. “Have you talked to her lately?”
“Not since I got here.”
“You’ve never texted her back?”
“Why? She just wants money.”
Navie carries two teacups to the couch. She hands me my favorite, the one with hot air balloons, and then sits in the chair beside me.
“Does she?” she asks.
“What?”
“Just want money?”
“It’s all she ever wants. She’s not even nice about it.”
She sets her teacup on the coffee table. It clinks as it settles.
“Have you ever wondered if maybe she’s also checking on you? Making sure you’re okay?” she asks.
“No.”
She shrugs.
“She doesn’t care, Navie. You know that. She just worries about Koty and Reese.”
“Wouldn’t it be funny if Koty and Reese were sitting around right now saying, ‘Mom totally favors Dylan. When something goes wrong, it’s Dylan to the rescue.’”
“I doubt it,” I scoff.
“Well, maybe not, but that’s how I would feel. I mean, I was talking to my sister this morning, and we got into this argument about our parents. I think they think more highly of Armie because she’s in college, wearing pleated skirts, and dating a soon-to-be doctor. She apparently thinks they think I’m a badass who doesn’t need our trust funds and isn’t afraid of hard work. That I’m going to rule the world someday with my work ethic.” She grins. “Talk about a change in perspective, right?”
I grin. “You are pretty badass.”
“Obviously.”
I think about what she’s saying, but I still can’t imagine my siblings thinking that.
“I thought of something else,” she says. “Can you imagine what Molly must’ve thought when Peck told her to scram? I mean, she must’ve thought you were the alpha woman.”
“But he helped her again today.”
“And went home to you.”
Her words remind me of what Peck said. My heart squeezes. I wish he was here to give me one of his famous hugs.
But he’s not. Because I left.
“I just don’t want to be the jealous girlfriend, Navie. And I don’t even know if I can do a relationship. He wants to have a family and a dog, probably. I’m not there. What if I don’t get there?”
Navie smiles. “Look at me.”
I do.
“Peck picked you. He chose you to share his bed. He came home and climbed onto a set of sheets with who? You.”
“Because I was already there.”
“And if he didn’t want you to be, he would’ve asked you to leave.” She sighs. “You need to look at things from other perspectives. I think we, as human beings, have a darker version of our reality than the people around us. I see it all the time at the bar. One guy thinks the guy to the right is slaying it because he has a fancy watch. And that guy thinks the other guy has it made because his wife doesn’t call him every ten minutes. But the guy with no wife would kill to have a woman bother him like that. Does that make sense?”
“Kind of.”
She leans back in her chair and watches me.
I attempt to use her theory as I think about Peck. What would he be thinking right now? That I don’t want him? Because I do. That I think I’m too good for him? Because I don’t. That he’s not worth the effort? Because he is.
This probably looks like an entirely different situation from Peck’s perspective, and I hate that. I hate that he might be hurting because of me.
“Do you think I’m selfish?” I ask her.
“No. Not at all. I just think you’ve been hurt a lot and are afraid of being hurt again.”
“One of the main reasons I left is because I think he needs the space the same as me. His life is going through a lot of big changes too. A new girl who’s moved in and sleeping in his bed and acting all crazy jealous when he’s acting like a decent guy. He doesn’t need that.”
“Then don’t be crazy jealous.” She scoots to the end of the chair. “Trust him.”
“I do.”
She calls me out with a single glance.
“I do,” I insist again. “I just …”
I think about the feeling in my stomach when I think of him with Molly. Whether it’s innocuous or not, it terrifies me.
“Molly is not your competition,” Navie says. “You are your own competition. And you might kick your own ass.” She shrugs as she stands. “Now, I have to get to work. You’re welcome to stay, obviously. Just think about what I’ve said, okay?”
I nod.
She blows me a kiss and walks out the door.
I grab my phone and stand. Walking around the room, I think about what she said. It’s not much different from what Peck said about Molly, actually, and how people assume they already know everything there is to know about her.
And about him.
He is happy-go-lucky, will-do-anything-for-you Peck, but he’s also devastated, untrusting Wesley, who lost his mom because she picked her husband over her boys.