knew what she was doing. I’d seen her do this a number of times before.
But I knew better now. I knew her better.
So I didn’t play along. I didn’t engage or let her push me away. Instead, I asked the question I’d been wondering ever since we’d arrived. “Does she always hit on the guys you bring home?”
“Always.” Her response was too bland. I studied her face for any show of emotion. None.
She was serious. And she was used to it.
She must have seen my look of revulsion and pity—I mean, what sort of mom hits on her daughter’s boyfriends? But Lila gave me a cute little grin. “She says it’s for my own good. Her way of testing them. If they don’t take her up on what she’s offering, then she’s proven he’s good enough for me.”
I stared at her for a long moment. “And if he does?”
Lila shrugged. “Then she wins. I lose. And the guy in question finds out that my mother’s interest only lasts as long as she thinks I care.” She let out a loud exhale as if the whole thing bored her.
But once again… she couldn’t fool me anymore.
And right now, I wanted nothing more than to scoop her up in my arms and take her away from this toxic pit she called home.
“Don’t,” she said abruptly.
I turned to face her head-on. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t look at me like that… like I’m some sad charity case you need to save. I know you, Jack, you might act like you’re so tough, but you’re really a softie just looking for a damsel in distress.”
I jerked back at the anger in her tone. The defensiveness. “I’m not here to save anyone—”
“Aren’t you?” she bit back. “So, you’re not here to save poor Brandon from my evil clutches?”
I opened my mouth and shut it again. “I just wanted to make sure he was okay.” I hesitated before adding, truthfully, “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She drew in a deep breath and looked away, but not before I caught it. Real emotion. Longing and heartache. I knew those feelings well. They’d been my constant companions for the past month.
“Brandon’s fine,” she said.
“And you?”
She glanced back to me with a heated look I couldn’t quite place. “I will be… if I play my cards right.”
“What does that mean?” I moved in closer. “Lila, what’s with all the secrecy? What did you need me for today, and why won’t you just tell me—”
“Jack!” Brandon’s voice reached us, and Lila took a few steps back, as if only now realizing how close we’d gotten.
Brandon’s gaze took us in, but he flashed me a broad grin as he flicked his gaze toward the house. “I see you survived in one piece. You ready to get out of here?”
I glanced from him to Lila, but she was already walking away, tugging her sweater around her as she huddled in on herself against the wind.
I wondered if she had any idea how small she looked when she forgot to act tough.
I swallowed thickly as Brandon clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Come on, man, let’s get out of here.”
I let him lead me away, to the street and to his car. But I kept my gaze on Lila’s huddled form until she disappeared from sight. Her words still clung to me and made me wonder.
Did I have some sort of knight-in-shining-armor complex?
It wouldn’t be the first time I’d wanted to save her. To whisk her away from all of her troubles. But it wasn’t just that.
I knew it like I knew my own name.
Did I want to help Lila? Did I want to save her?
Yeah. Undoubtedly.
But not because I pitied her. I wanted to save Lila because she’d somehow become a part of me. Seeing her again made it unbearably clear. Somehow, in our short and fiery time together, she’d managed to burrow into my life. Into my heart.
And nothing was ever going to change that.
“Bro, you coming?” Brandon asked. He was giving me this small smile of understanding as he eyed me over the top of the hood of his new ride—the studio had provided it, he’d told me. There was no jealousy there in his eyes. No anger at having found me alone and way too close with his girlfriend.
But then again, when I’d seen them together earlier, I’d known. The way they were with each other… it didn’t add up. None of this added up.
I nodded, opening the passenger side