with the boy you married?” Her tone was teasing, but my heart was still sore.
“Fake married,” I said. “But… yeah.”
“You must really like him.”
I looked down at my lap. I didn’t like talking about my new relationship with my mom, since hers was falling apart. “I do, Mom.”
“Well, I hope we get to meet him then,” she said. “It’s getting late and I’ve got a full day of apartment hunting tomorrow.”
“Apartment hunting? You don’t want the house?”
“Oh, God no. You kids are all grown. I don’t want a big house with too many bedrooms and a yard that will need a lot of maintenance.”
“Can I go with you?” I asked. “Apartment hunting?”
“I would love that. Okay, goodnight Tori.”
“Night, Mom.”
I glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight, so I didn’t want to call James. But I figured I owed him an apology. He might act like an asshole sometimes, but he was still my brother. And who knew how he was handling our parents’ divorce anyway.
Me: Hey. Sorry I suck. I’ll be home soon. I talked to mom. I hope you’re doing okay.
To my surprise, he texted back right away. I held my breath, waiting for whatever insults he wanted to throw my way.
James: Hey. Dad told me what happened. Sorry for being a dick… I didn’t know about Dad. It’s fucked up. But he told me that he had dumped that shit on you, so I don’t blame you for not wanting to come home.
Me: Dad told you?
James: Yeah. He told me about the first time, when you caught him in his office. Fucking gross. And then he told me about you discovering he was up to his old tricks. He told me I should go easy on you. So, I am.
My dad had stood up for me to James.
How funny it was that I had wondered at my complicated feelings for Liam, when I held such complicated feelings for my own father.
24
I stared down at the greyhound in front of me, watching as the ice slowly melted, diluting the drink further and further while it remained untouched.
“How are you doing?” Seth asked for probably the fifth time.
“I’ve been better.”
“I can’t believe what Vince said. Fucking asshole.”
I waved it off. “He isn’t entirely wrong. But I don’t know, Seth. I just don’t think we are the friends we thought we were.”
“Probably not. You can’t really come back after saying shit like that.” Seth sighed. “I’m pretty fucking pissed at him myself. This week has been a shitshow.”
“What are we going to do after he goes home to San Diego?”
“I talked to Nicole. I’ll go out to see him. Things aren’t ever going to be the same, though.”
Staring down at the grain in the bar, I said, “No, they won’t.”
“That’s not all that’s bothering you, is it?”
I shook my head.
“Tori?”
I sighed and pushed the drink away from me. Though I had agreed to join Seth, I didn’t feel good about it. I should have given her context to the conversation I had had with Vince, to reassure her that I didn’t actually feel that way about her. But then again, she had given me no indication that her own feelings were more than temporary, that we would last beyond this week. I felt adrift, alone, aching.
“Yeah, Tori.”
“Thought so.” Seth tipped back his beer. “You really like her, don’t you?”
“I think it’s a bit more than ‘like.’”
“Shit.” He let out a low whistle. “The big guns, huh?”
“But it’s only been a week. It doesn’t make sense.”
“A week’s all it took for me. With Nicole. I saw her at a bar, convinced her to come home with me, and she never left.”
“Really?” I guess Seth and I had never talked about this.
“I’m serious. I conned her into going home with me three summers ago. The next morning, we had our first date and it just lasted through the week. Actually, I don’t even think we talked intentionally about moving in together. One day I just made some room in my dresser and closets and her stuff magically showed up.”
“I knew you met at a bar, but I guess I thought you guys took it slow.”
“Nope. I proposed two months after I met her.”
“How did you know? That she was the one?”
“One morning, I woke up to her all snuggled into my side.” He patted his ribs. “And I thought, ‘Damn, I don’t want another morning waking up without her.’”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” He peered at his bottle. “That’s not to say