Total pages in book: 14
Estimated words: 12932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 65(@200wpm)___ 52(@250wpm)___ 43(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 12932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 65(@200wpm)___ 52(@250wpm)___ 43(@300wpm)
When a family concern arrives that forces us to face each other again in our childhood home, all I can wonder is how far we’ll take things now that we’re adults.
I want Clay more than my next breath, and despite feeling like a traitor toward his mom—my adoptive mom—I’m tempted to make this encounter worth it.
Because deep down I know that if we don’t act on our true feelings in the heat of this moment…we never will.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
one
There was something my best friend Kandy always used to say about society. We’re born into a world where what we really want doesn’t matter. Especially if it goes against the standards or the norm. If the idea of it makes anyone uncomfortable, it’s automatically lumped in a negative category.
For Kandy, she’d fallen in love with her dad’s best friend. Not quite normal standards and often frowned upon, but she couldn’t help it. She just fell and sometimes when you fall, it’s hard as hell to get up.
I will be the first to admit that my relationship with my so-called brother Clay was not normal. Before I’d ever become his adopted sister, we were friends—and okay, I admit that I’d always had a bit of a crush on him. To put it simply, Clay’s mom was my mom’s best friend. But my mom died in a car accident, and Clay’s mom, Aria, took me in. Aria eventually adopted me and I’d been living with her and Clay for the majority of my life. The status of being “just friends” with Clay had morphed into something else entirely. No longer was he the kid I had a small crush on. By law, he was my brother and I hated everything about it. But what could I do? Walk away from the only family I had because of a measly crush? Not likely.
For years, I tried avoiding my feelings. I swallowed them down out of respect for Aria. My adopted mother saw us as one big happy family and I wasn’t going to be the person to ruin that, and Clay loved his mom so much that he’d never jeopardize her happiness for anything…even if it made him undeniably happy. But things like that are hard to stick to when you love someone in a way you never thought you could.
When that person is your safe space, and you feel like you can’t breathe without them, that’s how you know it’s real. They can walk into a room and they’re all you see. The spotlight is on them and your heart doubles in speed, your knees go weak, and all you want is to be in their arms. That’s how I felt about Clay as we got older, but it wasn’t until we were twenty-four when I realized there was no turning back.
two
It was supposed to be a pretty chill day when Clay popped back up. But the day went south when Aria went to the hospital. She’d recently come out of remission from pancreatic cancer and since I’d finally graduated college, I came right back home so I could take care of her.
I dropped Aria off for an appointment and somehow that appointment spiraled to a doctor informing us that he needed her to stay overnight. Things had been hectic since Aria’s diagnosis, and I thought it would get better, but apparently it was getting worse again.
“Everything will be fine,” Aria insisted in the hospital room while holding my hands. A yellow and teal flower scarf was on her head, the ends hanging limp on her shoulders. Beneath the scarf was a pixie cut—one she was proud of because her hair had grown back long enough for the style. “There was probably something with the bloodwork,” she went on. “Don’t worry. I’ll call you when I’m ready to be picked up.”
Only Aria didn’t call so I could pick her up. She called instead to let me know she’d be staying another night.
I was waiting for her to be home so she could relax and I could cook for us, but since she wasn’t coming, I got dinner started for myself. Whenever I was stressed, my go-to was chicken tortilla soup and after leaving Aria at the hospital, I went to the grocery store and snagged all the ingredients for that specific dish. It was one of our favorites when I was in high school. Aria would let me and Clay cook our own meals once a week. I often went with chicken tortilla soup or tacos. Clay went with quesadillas or hot dogs with fries.