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Like he realized it was unusual he’d been sitting in here by himself, Ares glanced around the room. He directed his thumb toward the door. “He took the bags downstairs. I asked if I could speak to you for a second before we take off.”
I nodded, and Ares and I both took up residence on the couch. Another thing I had to wrap my head around was just being with him. We had this close tie but were essentially strangers. We’d also been pretty shitty to each other when we first met, so yeah, this was different.
He rubbed his hands, the sleeves of his letterman jacket pushed up. “So, uh, it’s a big day.” He nodded. “Just kind of wanted to go over what’s about to happen.”
I’d been pretty much briefed on that. Before Dorian’s mom had left, she said she was going to contact the Mallicks. Everything was getting set up there, set up for Bru and me to leave here and stay with them. I leaned forward. “Okay.”
“Of course, everyone wanted to be there. Thatcher and Bow’s parents, Wells’s.” He adjusted in his seat. “They all want to see you along with Dorian’s god dad LJ and his wife, but the parents all discussed they’d hold off. Give you some space for a little while.”
I’d met Thatcher and Bow’s parents, but it’d been under different circumstances.
“My grandparents… my mom’s parents and my dad’s mom and her husband wanted to meet you too, but they’re going to hold off for the same reason. My grandma Evie, my dad’s mom, got remarried, but my grandpa Jimmy is my grandfather. I’ve known him my whole life, so yeah. He’s my grandpa.”
I understood that. All of this was a lot.
“I guess I just want to stress that there’s still time to hold off. On a meeting, I mean?” His lips turned down. “My folks will understand.”
I’d been told this by more than one person after I’d decided. They all wanted me to be comfortable. I appreciated that, but it was time. “I told you. I’m good. I’m ready.”
“Okay.” He sat back, releasing his breath like he’d been holding it. “I guess I just have one other thing. D’s parents are going to be there. Royal, and December you met. Maybe they all thought that’d be a good buffer for you. Especially since you already met December.” His jaw shifted. “D wants to be there too, but he won’t be if you don’t want him to.”
I hadn’t seen him since I’d come upstairs to get ready. “He asked you to talk for him? For him to me?”
“No, but I offered.” His head tilted. “I know things are tense.”
I was sure he knew everything, my life an open book.
“I told you this before, but the lies really weren’t his fault.”
I raised a hand. “If he wants to, he can be there.” I wouldn’t try to stop him, and with all those people there, we probably wouldn’t be talking much anyway.
We wouldn’t have to talk.
Another thing I was trying to wrap my head around was what his mom had said. It’d sounded like he had really fought for me. Me and my comfort.
But he’d been so cold before.
Maybe he was having his own conflict, but I was beyond trying to figure it out. I had so much on my plate already.
“That’s the thing. It doesn’t matter what he wants, and he knows that.” Ares dropped an arm on the couch. “I’m not speaking for him, but I know he wants to be there. He does, but he doesn’t want to be a hindrance either. He wants to support you, but won’t be there if he knows his presence would make things worse for you.”
This sounded consistent with what his mom had said about fighting for me and making me feel comfortable.
Why does he do this stuff?
The boy was like a brick wall, hard to get to, but once you did…
“He should be there,” I finalized, making myself say it before I cancelled the thought in my mind. “Tell him it’s fine.”
We still had so much between us, but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit I wanted him there.
That I wanted his support.
My heart ached for it, just like my soul ached for what we’d been. My insides screamed for it, and I feared we never would get it back.
How could we?
So many lies had been said, and he hadn’t trusted me before. That made it hard to trust him, and for obvious reasons. Trust was so, so important.
