“You’re telling me you aren’t the least bit turned on by how confident I am?” I sit on her bed and watch her pick up some of her stuff as I straighten her nightstand.
“I think . . . no . . . I know it’s an act.” Her eyes never glance up; instead she focuses on the task of folding clothes. Not even a tremble of her voice. She’s the confident one and she knows a fake when she spots one. I’m the leopard with the big spots in the corner.
“Part maybe, but I do think I’m fucking hot and you’d be lucky to nail me.”
“Do you, now?” She turns around, props herself up against the wall and hugs her knees into her chest.
“Yep.” I let the ‘p’ pop out of my mouth and when my eyes move back up, hers are fixated at something on the floor. A lone picture catches my eye, and she reaches for it. As soon as it rests in her hand, her lips turn down. “Paige?” I break the distance, sitting next to her on the floor.
“It’s funny. How you go through life, never knowing the truth about your parents. You think you do, but once you get older, the things you assumed were good weren’t.” She’s losing me, but I’m certain she’s about to tell me something she doesn’t share with many. “Matty wants to live with me. Of course he does.” She shrugs her shoulder, sniffling although no tears have fallen.
“I can’t say I blame him. Your mom doesn’t—” How do tell someone, their mom doesn’t give a shit about him or her. I’m not one to dig into other people’s drama, because I have enough of my own.
“She wasn’t always like that. There was a time when I believed she was the perfect mom.” She flips the picture over and shows me. It’s a young girl in a big, frilly pink princess dress and from the amount of unruly curly brown hair, it’s obviously Paige. The woman next to her, a much younger version of Linda, with her arms tight around her as they smile at the camera.
“You were adorable. What were you, six?” I inspect the picture closely, spotting her one freckle that sits under her right eye.
She focuses on pieces of lint on the carpeting. “She took me on a trip to Disneyworld. Bought me that dress. We stayed a whole week and my dad met us there for the final night. I remember hearing my parents talking and being so excited because they were getting along. My dad held my mom’s hand as we strolled through the park and it was like my own fairytale come true. They were my live version of Cinderella and her prince.” Her voice shakes. “Then my dad came to say good-bye to me the next morning.” A tear falls from her eye and I inch closer, but she holds her hand up in the air and I halt. “For two days we stayed up in that hotel room. My mom would order me food from room service, but she never ate it herself. She just slept in bed, depressed for not having my dad while I watched television. Around twelve I realized what really happened during those times when I thought we’d be a happy family.”
At the age of twenty-four, it isn’t hard to figure out now. “Your dad used your mom.”
She huffs and crosses her legs. “They used each other. I blamed my dad for years, refusing to see him on his time. Blatantly yelling at him, telling him how horrible of a person he was. After I started downright refusing to see him, he never let my mom seduce him no matter how much she tried. And believe me, she tried.”
Here I figured she had a screwed up mom, but a decent dad who bought his princess everything. Picking up her head, her raw and tearful eyes, guilt me for being the man whore I’ve been. “She couldn’t let go of the fact he didn’t want her. She couldn’t accept the fact that she was a hot one-night stand turned nightmare clingy baby mama.”
“Shit,” I mumble. She could have given me a little warning before throwing that bomb out there.
“Carl is the same thing, except he hangs around because of the money.” Her breathing picks up and her arms wrap around her stomach. She’s keeping something under the vest. “My dad has a lot of money. After I turned eighteen, she lost the child support. So, my dad issues me the money. He pays for my car, my school and my expenses. Without him knowing, he pays for her rent and things.”
“How?”
“My dad overpays me, but I also go without. He thinks I want to live with roommates because I want the full experience of college. Because the rent’s cheaper, he deposits extra money into my bank account.” She blows out a huge breath and it must feel good to be so truthful with someone else. “It’s the only reason I haven’t taken Matty from her. I know she seems God awful and I hate that you had to witness what happened tonight, but Matty makes her better. If I don’t hear from her, I stop by and if she’s having a hard time, I usually take him.”
“You gave her such a hard time yesterday.”
Her teeth nail down on her lip and wetness fills her beautiful hazel eyes. “Yeah. Well, sometimes I get overwhelmed. She’s been on me for more money. I just gave her money for Matty’s baseball to find out she never signed him up.” She throws the picture to the ground and I inch forward, taking her hand in mine. “It’s so ridiculous, Rob. She’s his mother; why can’t she just act like it?” Her head falls to my chest and my hand begins smoothing down her hair.
“I’m sorry.” I can’t think of anything else to say. She got dealt a shitty hand in life and has tried to make the best of it. Which is odd, because I got a royal flush and still managed to fuck it up.
“I just wish she’d straighten her life up. Because pretty soon I’m going to end up being a twenty-two year old college student raising my brother.” Her arms wrap tight around my waist and she draws even closer to me with sobs escaping her throat. All I can think about is what the hell I should be doing to make her happy.
“PAIGE,” MATTY WHISPERS while tapping his finger to my arm. I wrestle a little, picking up my head. Panic strikes when I spot a drop of drool on Rob’s shirt from using him as a pillow. His whole Linkin Park shirt is dampened from my saliva.
“Oh God,” I softly say, slowly inching away to sit up so he doesn’t wake up. Somewhere between my tears and complaining I must have fallen asleep and he felt an obligation to console me. Damn, I didn’t want him to see this, my fucked-up family side.
“Is he your boyfriend?” Matty leans in, whispering in my face. I love this kid.
I don’t answer but shake my head and point to the door for us to leave. He tip-toes with his finger to his mouth, peering back at me with each step and I follow him, doing the same. The second I shut the door, Matty busts out laughing. “Shh . . .” I tell him and he sucks in his lips.
“Sorry,” he says in regular tone and I shake my head from his inability to be quiet. If he wasn’t so adorable, I’d be angry. If Rob wakes up and I have to experience the morning after, I’m fairly certain my face will resemble a tomato. Not like it’s the normal morning after; we didn’t have sex. I glance down—yep, I’m still dressed.
“Let’s go make some breakfast,” I lightly swat him on his butt and he runs down the hall, holding his butt. He slides to a stop at the top. “Can we have pancakes?” His eyes light up and I laugh.
My hand ruffles his hair. “Sure you can, buddy.” Rob’s deep voice echoes through the quiet hallway and my last breath catches in my throat. My eyes dart to him leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. God, all my snot and tears are still embedded in that shirt and I become embarrassed to how I lost myself last night. Then he eyes me while stepping out from the doorway. “I happen to make the best . . . out of everyone that lives here.” He chuckles at his own joke and when his lips turn up into a smirk, I can’t help but laugh.
My heart beats faster with every step he takes closer. “I’m starving,” Matty screams and scampers down the stairs while I remained fixed on those ocean-blue eyes.