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She sighs briefly, her chest rising and falling. “I hate that she lives in the same town but never puts in any effort to see us. She hasn’t met Scarlett, didn’t send a wedding or baby gift to Tyler and Gemma, and doesn’t check on me. It’s almost worse that she’s alive and chooses not to be involved. It’d probably hurt less if she was dead.”
It’s obvious how bothered she is by it. After I lost Mom, I didn’t feel any void. She was hardly present, but I sympathize with wanting to have a parent in your life.
“What about your dad?” she asks.
“He left before Annie was born. I was only two. Don’t know him, don’t remember him.”
“Guess we have a lot more in common than I thought.” She tilts her head and looks over at me. With our faces almost touching, I could easily press my lips to hers.
“Is that why you have daddy issues?” I tease to lighten the mood.
“Yep. Same reason you probably have mommy issues,” she throws back.
I chuckle because she’s not wrong. I have a whole laundry list of issues.
“Oh, you havenoidea.”
“I know why you went to prison. You’re not the brooding badass you try to portray,” she states matter-of-factly.
“Considering you allowed a complete stranger—who’s an ex-con—to move in with you, I figured you did. That or you’re textbook crazy.”
“That’s definitely possible too. But even before I knew, it wouldn’t have mattered. You’re Tyler’s friend, and he trusts you. That’s all it took for me to know I wouldn’t regret helping you. And so far…” She smiles. “I don’t.”
I blow out a breath of laughter. “Glad to hear that, I guess.”
“If I’m being honest…once I heard you had tats and a tragic past, I was sold.” She flashes a cocky smirk, and I shake my head. “What’s your type?”
My type?Brown hair, blue eyes, smart-mouthed and beautiful on the inside and out. One-hundred percent Everleigh.
“That sounds like a trick question I should avoid answering.”
She snorts. “If I had to guess, it’s someone who’s stable, secure, and successful. The three S’s.”
“What makes you say that?” I ask, aware that also describes her.
“Isn’t that what most men want to marry?”
“No idea. I’ve never been close to getting married.”
“Me either. Farthest I’ve gotten is a third date, and that was years ago. Julien,” she tells me in a French accent. “We met when I was twenty-five, and he was thirty-five. Flew me to Paris for our last date. I was so smitten and thought he was too. But then he asked me to move there for him.”
“On the third date?” I nearly shout. Damn good thing I wasn’t around then.
“Right! What kind of psycho maniac does that? That’s how I knew he was notthe one. Which was a bummer because he was loaded. Had a big package too.”
I nearly choke on my tongue.
“You okay there?” she muses with a laugh.
“I’m starting to believe you enjoy catching me off guard.”
“What you see is what you get with me. No bullshit, no fake personality, no pretending. It’s a gift and a curse. Some people can’t handle me.”
I don’t doubt that for a second. Hell, I hopeIcan survive her.
After a while, the room grows silent, and Everleigh’s soft snores tell me she’s fallen asleep. She remains glued to my side, and I can’t bear to pull away. I haven’t had the comfort of sleeping next to someone like this in ages, and I want to soak it up.
It’s just for tonight.
