blows me away a little.”
She swallowed against the impact of my words. “I thought you weren’t good at talking about this stuff face-to-face,” she whispered.
“I’m trying to get better at it.”
“You’re pretty selfless, too, you know,” she said, poking at my stomach.
“And that’s another thing I’m trying to get better at.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“SO, THINGS ARE going well with Audrey,” Dr. Travetti commented. It was impossible to miss the smile stretched across her lips. She was genuinely happy for me, that I had somehow managed to find something so good in my life, and her joy felt nice.
“Yeah.” I nodded, offering her a smile of my own. “At least, I think so, anyway.”
“Blake,” she tipped her chin toward her chest and eyed me compassionately, “you know, it’s okay to admit that something is going well in your life. You don’t need to doubt or downplay everything every single step of the way.”
“I’m not doubting or downplaying,” I insisted, turning my gaze toward the window. “I’m just trying to stay realistic. Things are good, and I like her a lot, but good shit ends. Life gets in the way, people get in the way.”
“What makes you think that something’s going to get in the way of this?”
Scoffing, I shook my head toward the window. “Doc, I’ve only been seeing her for a few weeks. Come on. There’s plenty of opportunity for it all to go to hell. I mean, she’s still friends with her ex. Who knows what’s going to happen there.”
I couldn’t believe I said it. Why had I said it? My stupid fucking mouth had a mind of its own, and I shook my head at my own stupidity as Dr. Travetti uttered a small thoughtful noise. Then came the scratching of her pen against paper.
“I thought you didn’t have a problem with her ex-boyfriend,” she mentioned casually, still scribbling.
“I don’t,” I hurried, turning back to her. “I’m just saying—”
“But why are you just saying? Did something happen?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then,” she lifted her hands in an exaggerated shrug, “where did that come from?”
My lungs deflated with a frustrated sigh. “Nowhere,” I huffed. “My mom just mentioned on Saturday that I might wanna watch out for it, that’s all. No big deal. Just … keeping it in mind.”
“Your mom said that?” She watched me studiously, curling a finger over her upper lip. “What exactly did she say?”
“Just, you know,” I shrugged and smacked my hands against my thighs, “that Audrey’s friendly with her ex, and that I should be careful.”
“Does your mother not like Audrey? Does she have reason to believe she isn’t trustworthy?”
“No, she likes her, I think.”
“Then, why would she say something like that? I mean, especially when things between you and Audrey are going so well, or at least I think so.”
I pushed a hand through my hair and leaned into the plush chair. “I don’t know, Doc. Maybe ‘cause she’s my mom and wants to look out for me?”
Dr. Travetti’s lips twisted as her eyes flashed with skepticism. It was only for a second, that dull glimmer of doubt, and I bet she thought I hadn’t caught it. But I did and I questioned it with a deep furrow of my brow.
“What—” I began only to be cut off as she spoke, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
She flipped to a new page on her clipboard. “What was your childhood like?”
The snort that came from my nose surprised both of us. “Wow, Doc. Two years into this shit and you’re finally falling back on the standard crap. Maybe I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
Canting her head and nodding, she replied, “Or maybe it’s that two years into this shit has finally brought us here.”
“And where is here?”
“I don’t know,” she said with an irritating tone of innocence. “Maybe it’s the root of your problems, or maybe it’s nothing. I don’t—”
“You think I had a fucked up childhood,” I accused. The tension in my arms increasing as my hands worked to clench and release.
“I didn’t say that,” she insisted firmly. “I’m just curious about what it was like for you as a kid.”
I shrugged, feigning complete nonchalance as my hands smacked the arms of my chair. “My childhood before the accident was fine. Nice house, nice parents. Church every Sunday. You know. Typical bullshit.”
“And after the accident?”
“It was an adjustment,” I replied shortly.
“Well, it couldn’t have been easy for your parents, dealing with Jake.”
I shook my head. “Jake wasn’t a fucking problem. I mean, it was rough for a