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NOVA
There was a room at the end of the hall that remained untouched.
It had an air of abandonment about it. Just like the rest of the damn house. The queen-sized bed was still made, unslept in. Mom’s prescription pill bottles were in an organized, alphabetical row on her nightstand. As untouched as everything else.
Had I seen them a few hours prior I would have known something bad was going to happen that day. She’d left the house knowing exactly what she was going to do that evening.
She used to talk a lot about self-worth, preached about not putting up with anyone’s bullshit. In the end, she finally followed her own advice. I couldn’t solely blame her for what happened, though. She and Dad’s actions were equally devasting.
Both my parents had a helping in hand in the destruction of our family. I would never forget the evening Dad took a wrecking ball to everything I knew to be true, finding out he was a liar in every way that mattered.
As blow after blow was delivered in a flurry of weak excuses and prenominated warnings, I learned my mother wasn’t oblivious to his true nature. She stayed with a man who had cheated on her time and time again, not anything like who he pretended to be for outward appearances. From that day forward I couldn’t see either of the same.
“Nova?” Em’s groggy voice came from the opposite end of the hall.
I glanced over my shoulder, flashing a smile. “Hey.”
“You okay?” she eyed me suspiciously.
I swallowed down the bitterness and nodded. I wasn’t sure why I did this to myself. Every time I looked inside my parents’ room a debilitating ache sliced through my chest. I was madder than hell at what they’d done but missing them brought with it a pain I’d never known.
I pulled the door shut, and then turned to face her. She had a crazy case of bedhead and still looked as adorable as usual. “I should be the one asking you if you’re okay. Do you remember anything from last night?”
“Enough…” she trailed off with a sly grin.
“Don’t leave me hanging.” I darted my arms out to the side.
“I’ll tell you if you come with me to Pete’s for breakfast.”
I pretended to think about it for a minute before moving past her and agreeing. “I’ll come if you wash your ass first.”
Her laughter followed me down the stairs.
I waited until we were sat a table and our food was in front of us before I brought it up again while buttering my toast.
“Are you going to tell me what happened now? You know that Callum guy basically carried you to my car?”
She smiled around a bite of eggs, cheeks getting a rosy sheen I had seen on her only twice before.
“Em, you didn’t!” I pretended to be shocked, bringing a hand to my chest.
Her head bobbed up and down. “I did. Well, we did. Against the back of the house.”
“Do people not have sex in beds these days?”
“Shut up. It wasn’t planned. One minute we were casually kissing the next he was all up inside me.”
I laughed, slicing into my Italian sausage. “All up?”
“I felt it in my stomach. That’s how big he is. It was so…”
“Stop. I don’t need explicit details.” I took a bite trying not to imagine how they would have looked. “Anyone could have seen you.”
“Anyone like Tyler?” she taunted.
“He saw? I take back everything I just said. I need all the details.”
I laughed, abruptly stopping when I remembered how out of her mind she’d been. “You wanted him, right? He didn’t…?”
Her eyes widened, head shaking vigorously back and forth. “No, I wanted it!” she exclaimed a pitch too loud.
I smothered a laugh as multiple heads in swung towards us. “I was just making sure. You were pretty drunk.” Understatement. She had barely been able to walk.
“This happened before I got to that point.”
“K. I’m happy for you. Proud. Just–.”
She waved me off. “Be careful, I know. This wasn’t a one-time thing. I’m seeing him after work. You don’t have to worry. I know what I’m doing.”
“I was going to say just don’t get pregnant, but that too I guess.” I left off the part about her not having any real idea what she was doing. She couldn’t.
She’d never done anything like this before or been involved with a guy like Callum. But, Em was her own person and could make her own decisions. Telling her to be careful was also a moot point. Did that advice actually work?
No.
So, I’d be her shoulder to cry on and vent to if this went side-ways, or her maid-of-honor if somehow Callum surprised me and turned out to be more than a life lesson.
She laughed at me, reaching for the creamer. “Your turn. Tell me about you and Rhett.”
