sure he’d be happy to help with your issue.”
My heart skids to a halt, and with shock and horror etched on my face, I start shaking my head at my mom, but she just prowls on, ignoring me and ruining my life in the process. When I look at my dad, he’s not even watching this train wreck anymore. He’s peering up at the blue sky, almost like he’s asking the heavens to open and swallow him whole.
If there is one thing I know about my parents’ relationship, it’s that my father doesn’t have control over my mother. She’s an entity of her own.
“Stop it,” I grit, trying, unsuccessfully, to drag her away.
“Sweetie, there is nothing wrong with masturbating. I taught you that while growing up, but remember what I said.” She pauses to point a finger at me. “Too much stimulation on the clit from a vibrator will surely ruin your nerve endings and dull the experience. That’s why I’ve been saying you need to get out and experience the real thing again. It’s obvious it’s well used—”
“Lisa!” my dad barks, finally intervening. With a secure grip, he starts dragging her toward the door.
“Geez! Okay, okay. I’ll see you later, Rome!”
My face is glowing red by the time my front door slams shut. I’m almost too scared to look up.
Almost.
When I do, Roman’s watching me with that infuriating smirk on his face. A groan tears from my chest.
“Don’t say anything! Not a word!”
Whirling on my heels, I storm inside. The entire time, I can hear his deep chuckle. It warms me from the inside out.
After fluffing my hair in the vanity mirror in my bathroom, for what feels like the tenth time, I finally take a step back and survey my reflection. I don’t know why I care what I look like. It’s just Rome. I mean, who cares if he thinks I look pretty, right?
As I stare at my reflection, I hate myself a little for going out of my way to look pretty for him. I curled my hair, but then I decided to straighten out the curls to make them look more natural. I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard. Loose brown waves tumble around my shoulders, the tips grazing the tops of my breasts. I applied a little extra mascara and blush, and at the time, it seemed like a good idea, but now that I’m looking at myself in the mirror, I can’t help but feel like I look overdone. The light smattering of freckles across the bridge of my nose suddenly seem more pronounced. I have the urge to hop in the shower, scrub it all away and stay locked in my room like a pubescent teen.
The last thing I want this to feel like is a date, because this most certainly is not a date. I’m not getting dolled up for him—I’m doing it for myself. He’s my neighbor, not my boyfriend. The only reason he’s here is because my parents invited him. I need to keep my wits about me, if I’m going to survive tonight.
My doorbell chimes, jolting me out of my thoughts. I hear my mother’s voice beyond my bedroom, calling out that she’s got it. Gripping the porcelain edges of the sink, I clench my eyes shut and inhale a deep breath, summoning the strength I surely don’t have.
My body grows tense, once I hear their titters floating down the hall. My stomach twists, just imagining all the things that are likely coming out of my mother’s mouth.
Hasn’t she embarrassed me enough for one day?
Stifling a groan, I flatten my hair, self-consciously, one last time, before leaving the en suite bathroom. I find Roman and my parents in my makeshift kitchen. I feel my cheeks tint with embarrassment at how uncoordinated everything still looks. You’d think by now, after living here for a month and a half, I’d at least have a put-together kitchen and dining area. That is most certainly not the case here. My mother swore that by the time they left to go back to Long Beach, she’d have all my boxes emptied and the house would be organized. I honestly wouldn’t put it past her.
“Oh, sweetie, there you are. We were just talking about you.”
I purposely ignore Rome and his gaze, which I can sense lingering on me. I feel his eyes roaming over my body, incinerating me from the inside out. I wish he’d look elsewhere, especially with my parents