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“I almost died, Mom,” Raven said and thesadin it hit him hard in the gut. “I haven’t heard from you in a decade, and what? I ended up in the news, so now you remembered I exist and instead of pretending to give a shit about me before you hit me up for money, one sentence into our conversation, and you’ve asked”—a beat—“no,demandedI pay your bills again.”
Nowhe should have kept moving.
Taken that shower.
Gone for the game and fork and pie.
But—
“Fuck,” he whispered, locking his knees, staying in place.
“So, no,” she snapped. “The bank of Raven is closed. I funded you for long enough and—” A sigh, her tone becoming resigned. “Yeah, calling me names is really going to change my mind, Mom.” Another sigh. Another long pause. Then, “I knew I shouldn’t have taken the call. I knew this was never going to go well. I just…” She trailed off and when she spoke again the thread of hurt was back in her tone, something thatreallyshould have sent Connor moving. “I just thought that for once in your life you’d give a shit.”
Then…silence.
Long enough that he knew she’d hung up.
Thatgot him moving.
Or a step, anyway.
Because then he heard it.
A sob.
Strong as steel, ball-busting Raven was crying.
He didn’t think about how her disdain had sliced deep, how they were oil and water, never to be mixed.
He just pushed into her room.
Five
Raven
Stupid.
This was why she didn’t talk to her mom.
Thiswas why she didn’t answer calls from back home, at all, because her dad wasn’t much better. This was why she always let that area code go straight to voice mail.
Small.
They made her feel small.
Like she was that little girl hiding in the corner of their trailer, avoiding the angry gazes of her parents, hoping that if she could just make herself small enough, could cram herself into that corner enough then they wouldn’t see her.
Then she’d be hidden and…safe.
From the sharp words and slaps and the fists and the cigarettes hurtingso fucking muchwhen they were put out on her skin.
Her friends had worried about her—about her mental health—after the fire at her house, after the burns. They wanted her to come to terms with her scars. They didn’t get it. They didn’t know she’d already been through this before.
Not to the same degree.
But she’d been in a fire.
Had been burned. Scared.
