Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
My eyebrows rise. “Love?” I ask, laughing a little without meaning to. “Love is for everybody. It’s part of the human experience.”
His lips tug up wryly. “So is dying, and I’m not in a hurry to do that anytime soon.”
“Wow. Comparing falling in love to death. Child of divorce?” I guess.
“Yep.”
I nod knowingly. “That can put a bad taste in your mouth. I am too, but my parents split when I was young and my dad moved away, so I didn’t have warring parents or anything like that.”
“My mom—who is a legend, to be fair—found out my dad was fucking around with a co-worker, so she quietly started preparing for the divorce and fucking his boss. The guy couldn’t help falling for her, so when she surprised my dad with divorce papers, she already had herself a nice place to land. She told Dad he could keep the house because she didn’t need it anymore. We moved into her new boyfriend’s big-ass mansion before the ink was even dry on the divorce papers.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“That is legend behavior.”
He nods. “My dad didn’t appreciate being one-upped by the woman he thought he was embarrassing. You should’ve been there the first year they had a company picnic. Dad brought his downgrade and thought Mom would be all put out, but Mom was the life of the party, ignoring him and charming everyone else, all while being extra affectionate with her new man—his boss—while my dad had to watch. He got real bitter about it.”
I shake my head. “Small men never enjoy sleeping in the shitty beds they make for themselves, do they?”
“He’d call her a whore and all this stuff like he wasn’t the one to break his vows in the first place and put her in the position to have to find someone new.” He glances back at me. “My dad’s a dick.”
“He sounds like one,” I say unapologetically. “Do you guys get along now, or…?”
“I see him every now and then, but we’re not close. I don’t respect him.”
I don’t see why he should, but it’s not my place, so I don’t say that. “What about his boss? Did your mom end up staying with him?”
“Oh yeah, he wasn’t a dumbass like my dad. He didn’t need to fuck it all up to see what a catch she was. She married him and had a kid with him. Another son. He’s 14 now.”
I nod, but my thoughts drift to my own younger half-sibling. “Are you guys close?”
He sets the chopped broccoli aside and reaches down for a saucepan. “It’s complicated. Chris—that’s my mom’s husband—and I don’t get along that well. We never really did, but it wasn’t as much a problem when I was younger. Mostly because… you know, who gives a fuck what the kid thinks?”
“Yeah,” I murmur thoughtfully.
“But as I got older, we started to butt heads more and more. He’s used to bossing people around and lording over people, and I can’t fucking stand being looked down at like that. I think some part of him didn’t like me just because I was my dad’s son, too. We share the same opinion of the guy, ironically, but since it’s his wife’s ex, I guess it’s different for him.” He shrugs. “He’s a good fit for my mom. Her personality suits his just fine. Mine doesn’t. We butt heads anytime we get in a room together. Their son is more of a yes-man, so they get along great, but… I think in some ways, he and I are too much alike to like each other.”
“How does your mom cope with it? I mean, does it bother her that there’s a rift, or…?”
“It does, but there’s only so much she can do. Chris has a strong personality. I think that’s the polite way of saying he’s a domineering asshole, right?” he asks, glancing at me over his shoulder with a mischievous twinkle in his eye that lightens my stomach.
I smile, feeling warmth rush to my cheeks as I look down. “I think so.”
He cracks a smile at my shyness. “But yeah, he holds the purse strings, you know? She’s smart enough that she could have made her own way in the world, she could have become a powerhouse in her own right, but she made the mistake of tying her fate to my dad’s instead. But he didn’t have the promise she had, so he held her down for a long time. Then, even when she got away from him, she had a kid in tow. She needed to figure out a new life for us quick, so she took the nearest path to stability instead of forging her own way. He doesn’t hold it over her head or anything, but we all know he’s the one with money and power; she only has it because she’s with him. Personally, I don’t want to rely on anyone’s goodwill for my happiness and security. I’d rather build something for myself than rely on handouts from someone who will always want me to dance for my dinner.”