One More Time (Ruby Falls #2) - Aurora Rose Reynolds Page 0,41
She waves a hand between us. “I mean, I do know why, but I shouldn’t have.”
Studying her closely and seeing the worry she’s trying to hide, I lean forward and rest my lips against her forehead briefly. “If you don’t want to go, I’m good with that, baby, but you gotta trust that I can handle your parents and your ex.”
“I trust you. I just....” She licks her lips while looking over my shoulder. “I’m worried.”
“About what?” I cup her cheek, and her eyes come back to me.
“That I won’t be able to control myself if they treat you poorly,” she admits, and I feel my face soften. “I know that it seems crazy, because you and I are new, but I…” She cuts herself off, nibbling her bottom lip for a moment, before whispering, “I would choose you over them.”
Letting out a deep breath, I wrap my arms around her and roll to my back, sliding my hand over her hair and down her back. “I never want you to have to make that choice, Aria.”
“I wish my parents were normal.” The pain in her voice makes my chest ache.
“I wish I had the power to make that wish come true.” I kiss the top of her head and hold her closer, saying quietly, “We’ll do whatever you want. If you don’t want to go to your parents’ party, we’ll do something else. If you want to go, we’ll go. You don’t have to decide right now.”
“Thank you.” She lifts up, rests her hands on my chest and her chin on top of them, and studies me. “Part of me wants to go, just so I can rub it in everyone’s face how happy I am.”
“Everyone, as in your ex?” I grin.
“Yes.” She laughs. “I know it’s immature, but he always made it seem like it was my fault that neither of us were happy, and even though I knew that wasn’t true, there were times I would stress myself out to make myself into who he wanted me to be, hoping it would make things better between us.”
“There’s always two people in a relationship. Sometimes shit just doesn’t work.”
“And things just didn’t work out with you and Anna?” she asks carefully, and I sift my fingers through her hair at the side of her head.
“Us splitting up was inevitable. From the beginning of our relationship, we’d fight over shit that didn’t mean shit. Olivia was the glue that kept us together longer than we should have been.”
“At least you realized that you shouldn’t be together before you spent your life unhappy.”
Letting out a deep breath, I tell her the truth. “I might have known it wouldn’t work, and that what we had wasn’t healthy, but I would never have given it up. I didn’t want to miss out on my time with Olivia.”
“I’m sorry.” She reaches up, tracing my jaw with the tips of her fingers, no judgment or anger in her eyes as they roam my face.
Taking her hand, I kiss her palm, then hold it flat against my chest over my heart. “It still sucks, but as Olivia has gotten older, it’s gotten easier. And now that we share fifty-fifty custody, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on so much.”
“You’re a great dad and she adores you.”
“I try to be, but I’m sure that one day she’ll tell me all the ways I fucked up. Then again, that’s parenting. No one knows what the hell they are doing. You just gotta hope for the best.”
“I guess you’re right.” She drops her eyes from mine.
I place my fingers under her chin and lift until her eyes meet mine. “I know you don’t have the best relationship with your parents, baby, but you’re doing what’s best for you when it comes to dealing with them. You have the right to put boundaries in place to protect yourself.”
“I know, but what you said makes me wonder if I need to look at things differently, if maybe I need to stop expecting them to be who I want them to be and just accept them for who they are.”
“It probably wouldn’t hurt,” I agree before I roll her to her back and loom over her. “I’ve got friends and family who’ve shown me time and time again what kind of people they are, and nothing they do or say surprises me anymore. Sometimes you gotta put people in a box, so you don’t get your feelings hurt.”