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Her face fell, because one particular memory of that bathroom came to mind. One we haven’t talked about in a long time, but as per usual, Thea’s lips immediately quirked into a smile. It was fake, and stilted, but I didn’t want to upset her by pointing it out.
“You’re right, I could never forget coming in and finding all my expensive shampoo used because you were trying to maintain your silky locks.” There she goes with her humor. She’s always masking what’s underneath. She rolled her eyes dramatically. “We all know that you got the looks, the athleticism, the charm…. Couldn’t you have let me with the twin with the best hair?”
“Thea, you’re the beautiful, smart one with a funny sense of humor. Couldn’t you have left me with a few jokes?”
I go to give her a hug, but she backs away, pushing that giant brush on my chest. I looked down at it, confused. It looked like a back scratcher with a horse comb on the end. Did girls use it to brush their ass cheeks or something?
“Don’t you dare hug me,” she warned with more intensity than I was used to. “You just walked out of Aster’s bedroom at six in the morning. Your hair isn’t wet, so I doubt you showered. I don’t want your sex sweat anywhere near me.”
I raised my hands, chuckling. “Alright. Alright. I’m sorry for being such a pariah. I leave you to your dorm.”
The aggressive scowl she gave me only made me laugh as I walked out of the dorm, happy with how things were playing out for me.
Chapter 16
“Hey, Mom,” I said, shifting in my seat as I looked around my room. It was the same four walls as thirty minutes ago, but it felt bigger without Tanner’s domineering presence. I pulled the arms of Tanner’s sweatshirt over my hands, scrunching the fabric up in my fists, bathing in his warmth. The hoodie smelled like him, something I liked.
“How are you?” I asked, feeling happier than I had in a long time. Mom had a date for her surgery, and I had, well, a date.
My mom offered me a small smile and adjusted her light auburn hair. “We are great, honey. Your father and I went out to lunch today and talked about everything.”
“Everything being?”
“You. How proud we are of you. How much we can’t wait to have you here for a summer.”
I raised a brow. “Don’t you have other things besides me to talk about? Like, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you’re getting surgery in three weeks?”
I couldn’t help myself. I was grinning from ear to ear. She had no idea, but I’d decided to make an impromptu visit so I could be with her for it.
“Yes, that’s exciting, but it isn’t exactly something I want to talk about all the time.”
Dropping my smile slightly, I nodded. I got it. Talking about your immortality must get pretty tedious after a while. Not to mention the anxiety associated with thinking about it all the time. And that was when my smile softened, because even though I was treating this like it was the end of her cancer, there’s a small possibility that it might only be the beginning of her journey. I shook my head, trying to get the idea out of my mind, because there was no way that I was going to believe that. They’d caught it early enough, I was certain.
“How was the ball?”
I rolled my eyes and dropped my head. “Have I not spoken to you since then?” She shook her head, and I immediately felt bad. It may have been a few weeks, but so much had changed in that time that it felt like much longer. I should have called her straight after, but every time I tried, she was busy, and when she called back, I was tutoring. Not great for a daughter who might have limited time with her mom. I shook my head, ridding myself of those insidious thoughts.
“The ball was okay.” I played it down, not wanting to sound like I actually enjoyed myself. Smiling, I thought back to that day, and how Tanner dutifully stood by my side even though I refused to talk to anyone. Then he took me to the dancefloor and kissed me again. My brain nearly blew up just thinking about it.
“Just, okay?”
“Yeah?” My mom wasn’t subtle. I could tell she was after something, but I had no idea what. “I went. I wore your dress, and sent you a picture, remember?”
She nodded. “Yes. You looked beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you looked when you wore it. Bet you’d still rock it now.” She gave me a small smile.
“Aster?” My mom narrowed her eyes, curiosity lacing her voice. “That doesn’t look like your sweatshirt.”
I looked down, surprised that she could see the gray hoodie from the angle, but I guessed it wasn’t like she needed to see much. It wasn’t like I had an abundance of sweatshirts. “Uh, yeah, that’s because it’s not.” I hunched my shoulders and scrunched the fabric to my stomach, feeling more self-conscious than I thought I would about the whole thing.
There was a momentary pause in the conversation as she dipped her chin and looked at me expectantly. Like I was about to just come out and admit everything. “Who’s is it, then?”
“A guy I tutor let me borrow it after a late night in the library.” I clamped my lips shut, unsure why I was suddenly feeling self-conscious about telling my mom about Tanner. I guessed it was because after last time, and everything that went down with Connor, I didn’t want her to think badly about Tanner. Just like I did. I tarnished every athlete with the same playboy brush, but Tanner wasn’t like that. Tanner was different.
“A client?” My mom knew me well enough to know that I was lying, and I could hear the disbelief in her voice. “Are you sure about that?”
Just as she asked, a message from Tanner popped up at the top of my screen.
