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“Good, because I’m not sorry.”
“Case.”
“What? I’m not. My delivery might have been wrong, and I shouldn’t have slapped him, but he deserved the wake-up call.”
“Well, wake-up call or not, don’t do it again.”
She laughed. “Okay, Mom.”
“I’m serious.” I gave her a meaningful look. “Don’t put your hands on him again, Case.”
“Okay, Aoife,” she replied, hearing the plea in my tone—and the warning—as she held her hands up. “It won’t happen again.”
“Not ever, okay?”
She nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Blowing out a breath, I turned my attention back to the game.
“You guys seem like you’re back on track,” she offered. “He was all over you in school earlier.”
“We are,” I confirmed, relieved that the weight on my shoulders had lifted. “It’s all good.”
“He seems a lot more stable than he was before Christmas break,” she added cautiously. “He’s doing better?”
“Yeah.” Nodding, I released a heavy breath. “Thank god.”
“Is that seriously all you’re going to tell me about it?” she whined. “Come on, Aoife. I want details. You’ve always told me everything about your life, but when it comes to him, you’re a closed book. I mean, you didn’t even tell me that you guys had broken up.”
“Well, we’re not broken up anymore,” I replied. “So, there’s not much to say.”
“Aoife.”
“Casey.”
“I know that you love him,” she said. “And I’m happy for you, Aoife. Hand on my heart, I am. But don’t make him the be-all and end-all of your world, because like you’ve already experienced, if it goes pear-shaped, you’ll have nothing to fall back on.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Isn’t it?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you things,” I tried to explain. “It’s just… I’m just… And he’s so… Our relationship is just really…”
“Intense?” she offered gently.
“Oh, it’s a whole lot intense,” I agreed with a breathy sigh. “But it’s also a whole lot of complicated and private and—”
“Not up for discussion?” She winked. “Gotcha.”
“You know I love you,” I tried to placate, hooking arms with her. “You’re my best friend.”
“But so is he.”
I shrugged, helpless. “Is that such a bad thing?”
“It’s an amazing thing,” she encouraged in a sad tone. “When he’s not off his rocket.”
“Casey.”
