Fill Me (Rouse Me 3)

At least she's trying to be polite. It must be the second glass of wine. When she's sober, she's mean. Or she was. It has been forever since we've spoken.

Luke squeezes my hand as he flashes my mother a million-dollar smile. "It's not complicated. You see, your daughter is irresistible."

"She gets the point," I say. I don't need him going over the lurid details of our first few encounters.

Mom may be glad to tell me that my father was great in bed, but I don't wish to tell her that my fiancé is a fucking sex god. Even if it's the only thing that would derail this conversation long enough for me to slip out the back entrance.

"Ryan cared for you," Mom says.

"Ryan is a fucking asshole."

"How can you say that, Alyssa? He was always sweet to you."

"When we were both teenagers," I say. The acid churns in my throat. Fucking recovered bulimia acid reflux bullshit. "And sometimes even when he was in law school. But he wasn't like that later. Not after my..." I bite my tongue. I've never told her about my eating disorder, and I'm not about to start now. "Not after he started working. It was all about him, his career, what he wanted."

Mom shakes her head like there's no way this could be true. "He would have taken care of you."

"Yeah, well I don't need that kind of taking care of."

"Do you really think you can be an actress forever?"

I bite my tongue to keep from screaming. It's not her fault. She's been checked out for a long time.

"Yes, well. Luke has a lot more money than Ryan does."

That shuts her up. I look over at Luke. He's beaming, of course. Anything that compares him favorably to Ryan.

"A lot more," I say. "Probably ten times as much."

I look at Luke to confirm my hypothesis. I've seen his bank statement before, but we never really talk numbers.

He nods, unable to hide his smile. Damn, he still has such a gorgeous, earnest smile.

"I wouldn't put it in such aggressive terms," he says.

This is a hell of a time to back out of boasting.

"What terms would you put it in?" I ask.

"You still have no manners, Miss Summers."

I turn towards my mother. She's just sitting there, barely taking all this in.

"Yes, well, my parents must not have raised me well," I say.

"Ally..."

For once, Luke's voice is desperate. Needy.

So he'd prefer I not treat my mother like this. Too fucking bad. She spent most of my life ignoring me. I'm not going to take any bullshit from her now.

Hell, if I'm in, I might as well go all in.

"Since you're so comfortable telling me about my absent father's sexual prowess, I may as well return the favor," I say. "Luke is much better than Ryan was."

My mother shakes her head. She's already made herself clear--sex is really no motivation for a relationship in her eyes.

She's already convinced I should still be with Ryan. Nothing will change her mind, but...