I shrug. “Apparently he missed that memo when we were in the womb.”
“That sucks.”
I couldn’t agree more, but as I watch her finish her makeup, I decide I have to let this go. I left for a reaso
n. That reason was to be on my own, to pave my own road and live the life I want. If Matty wants to be a dick to me, that’s fine. I’ve always been an afterthought to him, so now he’ll be the afterthought to me. I have too much to be excited about. Too much to be happy about. I’m not going to let him ruin that.
I just won’t.
No matter how much it hurts.
No matter how much I want his love.
“You don’t talk about your family much.”
Glancing up at the ceiling, I shrug. “Not much to discuss. I’m the one no one thinks about. They all have better things to do than worry about me. They all hate that I left, even though no one ever had time for me. Kinda doesn’t make sense, if you ask me.”
“Yeah, that blows,” she says, and I know she cares by the way she is looking at me. But I don’t want her sympathy.
“Doesn’t matter, though. I’m gonna do me. I refuse to be something that’s shelved until they need me.”
As soon as I say that, though, I feel like a jerk. As I shake my head, tears sting my eyes, but I won’t let them fall. My throat thick with emotion, I say, “But my mom isn’t too bad. She’s good to me when she has time to be. She’s sorta weak, goes with what my dad and brothers say. I guess because they monopolized her a lot of the time.”
Makena doesn’t say anything for a long while until I glance over at her. “It’s really no big deal.”
“Still, I’m sorry. That blows.”
“Yeah. Oh, well. New beginnings.”
“Amen to that!” she hoots before hopping up. “Well, I’m ready. Do you still wanna go? You seem bummed.”
Shooting up and out of bed, I nod. “No, I’m good. I’m excited for my first college party.”
And I am.
But I’m pretty sure the root of my excitement is knowing that soon, Jace Sinclair will be looking at me with those naughty, sex-filled eyes. And even though everything inside me is telling me it’s a bad idea…I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.
“So, we have news.”
I look to Claire, who is bouncing in her seat, and I’m sort of thankful for the change of subject. The thought of Mom dating makes me gag, and the looks Mom and Coach have been sending each other are hard to ignore. But thankfully everyone glances up at Claire, and by the looks on everyone’s faces and Claire’s and Jude’s smiling faces, I’m sure we all know what is about to be said. For some odd reason, it’s way easier to think of my brother and his wife making babies than my mom dating. Probably because I’ve walked in on them more than once, and the thought of walking in on my mom makes me want to die. Plus, what they are about to say is expected. They’ve been married like five years or something, Jude is killing it in the NHL, and Claire is rocking her job in Vegas.
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes my sister-in-law and brother with a baby strapped to his chest.
It’s just so disgustingly cute.
I look over to see my mom grinning hard as she wiggles with excitement. She is about to be super happy and that’s good. She needs this. She really wants another grandbaby, but I haven’t heard anything about this. They must have been keeping it a surprise.
Before they can even confirm or deny, Mom yells, “You’re pregnant!”
“Mom!” Jude cries as Claire laughs, shaking her head.
Oh. Okay.
“That’s the first thing I thought,” I say, surprised.
“Me too,” Lucy and Jayden say at the same time.
“Oh, wait, you’re not pregnant?” Baylor asks.