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I bite my bottom lip and end up nodding. “I do. I… I guess I’ve been kind of hesitant to give my heart to someone else, but he makes it an easy offer, you know? He’s kind and gentle and giving and… He’s just a really great guy.”
“And you’re not worried that things are going too fast?”
I sigh and nod. “Sometimes. I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did with Theo, but… Liam’s different. He’s good to his core, and he’s got great friends. He’s a man of honor. He’s protective. He wouldn’t just sit by and let someone beat me up, you know?”
I catch my breath, realizing what I just said and feeling my cheeks instantly heat.
Mom’s eyes narrow. “What does that mean?”
My chest squeezes as I wince and look away from the camera.
“Ray-Ray. Is there something you’re not telling me? Did someone… beat you up?” She looks horrified by the very thought of it. And this is one of the reasons why I didn’t want to tell her.
But I let my guard down and went and stuck my foot in it. Damn my tired brain.
I lick my lips, shaking my head and refusing to look back at my screen while my mind scrambles for a way out of this.
“Baby, what happened with Theo? You’ve never really told me, and every time I try to bring it up, you change the subject. Why are you hiding the truth? We always tell each other everything. What are you not saying?”
I steal a glance at the screen. Mom’s eyebrows are puckered, her mouth stretched into a thin line.
“You’re not gonna like it,” I mumble.
“Tell me anyway.”
So, I do. I tell her everything. From the ugly way Matt and Theo treated me to the fact that I took his money. I cry my way through an apology for not listening to her when she warned me against moving in with Theo.
And she does exactly what any good mother would.
She tells me that she’s proud I left him. She tells me that she loves me. She cries with me and wishes she could give me a hug.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I was just… so ashamed of how it all went down and what I did. And I was worried you’d freak out or be disappointed in me.”
“Aw, baby. I definitely would have freaked out.” She laughs, but it’s a shaky one that gives away just how much she’s fighting her emotions. “But I’m not disappointed in you.”
I give her a closed-mouth smile, appreciating her kindness.
“Where’s the money now?”
I sigh. “Still under Liam’s bed. But I haven’t spent any of it since I got my waitressing job.”
She tuts. “You know what you should do?”
“What?”
“You should invest that money.”
“Huh?”
“I know you took it, but technically that money was in a house you were sharing with Theo. You could argue that it was your money too. He had to start the game with something, didn’t he? And you were working like a little slave—two jobs, double shifts, your wages going into his pocket. I don’t see why you can’t simply use what you took for a greater good.”
I can’t help a soft laugh. “And what greater good would that be?”
“Well, you always dreamed of opening a bakery. Remember—Sunshine and Cupcakes?”
I grin.
“You made a logo for it and everything. Baby girl, I would love to see that happen for you. Dad would too.”
