Page 51 of Broken Butterfly
“You’re living with Fallon at the frat house?” Mom’s voice rises.
Fallon holds his hands up, “Hey, don’t drag me into this.”
“Not with Fal, Mom.”
“Then…Oh my!”
“What ‘oh?’” Brea wants to know.
“The ‘oh’ where he’s shacking up with a girl,” Jamie leans over to Brea and clarifies.
“You’re cheating on Lizzie?” Brea shrieks.
Holy hell. My family. “No!”
“Um, he lives with me. Or at least, I hope he still wants to,” Elizabeth timidly says, raising those emerald beauties up to look at me, questions and hope swirling in their depths.
“He definitely wants to,” I tell her, and then, “I never left.” I bring her lips to mine again and kiss her, slipping my tongue in, completely forgetting we’re not alone. Every time my mouth or hands are on her, nothing else exists in my reality. Well, nothing except for what I hear Mom say next.
“Randy, we’re going to have such beautiful grandbabies.”
I break our kiss. “Oh my God, Mom!”
“Lizzie’s pregnant?” Brea and Jamie both shout.
Elizabeth’s face turns bright red, and she hops off my lap like she’s sitting on a mound of fire ants. “Fallon, can I get your help with something.Inside.” She pulls him out of his chair and practically runs inside the house.
Needing to nip the current train of conversation in the bud, I say, “No, she’s not pregnant. Can you guys chill the hell out.”
Dad and Mom start snickering while Brea and Jamie talk animatedly to each other about who is going to be the better aunt.
“Remind me not to come home for Christmas,” I grumble and stomp off after Elizabeth and Fallon to the sounds of my parents’ laughter behind me.
Chapter 15
“Kitten, I don’t like this one bit.”
“Babe, we’re coming with you whether you like it or not. I’m not letting you do this alone.”
Faith made us an early Thanksgiving supper because I wanted to go see Jayson and Julien this afternoon. I can’t avoid them any longer. I also know the two men in front of me are not going to budge on their demands. I need to start repairing those broken bridges. However, the trepidation I feel over the possibility of seeing my childhood home makes me more than a little nauseous. The twins’ house is right next door. How can I expect to go there and not come face-to-face with what happenedthat night?
“I don’t want any fights. I mean it. Let me handle things my way. Please.”
“Can’t make any promises,” Fallon says, folding his hands behind his head as he watches me from Ryder’s bed.
“Then you can sit your ass on the driveway and wait,” I warn him.
“We won’t come inside. We’ll wait outside on the curb,” Ryder suggests. I agree to his compromise.
“Thank you. Both of you. I know you’re just trying to protect me, but I’m a big girl. I can do this. New Elizabeth, remember?”
Ryder catches me in a reassuring embrace. “I know you can take care of yourself, baby. You’re the strongest person I know. I trust you.”
I trust you. I won’t give Ryder any doubt about my love for him. I’ve made my choice. Now I have to find a way to tell Jayson. I also need to face Julien.
“I’m ready.”
We don’t have a car because we came straight here from the airport in one of Fallon’s corporate sedans. I’m assuming Fallon’s car is still at the marina, and who knows where Ryder’s is as I haven’t asked how he got to the airport to meet up with Fallon’s jet. So, we walk. I have my gloved pinky finger wrapped around Ryder’s. Several families are out, enjoying the crisp Thanksgiving Day weather. A few do double-takes and give me odd looks. I recognize Mrs. Weatherby and her husband. I tip my head down and keep walking, not wanting to be recognized.
