Wrong for You (Before You #3)(21)

He, on the other hand, had caused nothing but pain from the moment he took his first breath on this earth, or at least that’s what his mother always told him. If he kept his f*cking mouth shut, his dad wouldn’t have fled the house, only to die in a car crash less than an hour later. His mother wouldn’t have started drinking alcohol and taking drugs. Taylor wouldn’t have had to deal with all the shit life had thrown at her. Just the thought of all the crap his sister had endured after he left her with his soulless mother made him physically ache.

“So are you leaving or staying?” Her smile dropped and she looked…unsure. He didn’t like it. He wanted her smile back. It made him hope for more than he had any right to get out of life, but damn if he wouldn’t take what was offered.

“Staying. Definitely staying, Little Violet.” He walked toward her, dropping his arm around her shoulder. “So why are you late?”

She shook her head. “You don’t want to know.”

“Sure I do.” He squeezed her shoulder.

Violet started digging in her purse for her keys, not looking at him for a few seconds. When she pulled them out of her purse, Alec took them from her hand and slid the key into the lock and pushed the door open. “Are you going to share?”

“It’s nothing, really.” She dropped her purse on the entry table. “My mom called right before I walked out of the office.”

“And?” Alec prompted.

“She didn’t like that I decided to put off law school for another year.”

“She’ll have to deal with it. It’s your life, not hers.”

“If only it were that simple,” she answered.

Alec opened the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of wine he left there in the morning. “Do you want a glass?” he asked, pointing to the bottle.

“Please.” She grabbed two glasses out of the upper cabinet next to the sink and set them down on the table. “What’s for dinner?”

“Pesto pasta and salad.”

“No meat?”

“Shrimp. You like shrimp, right?” Damn, he probably should have asked what she liked. He went for the healthiest thing he knew how to make. Taylor taught him how to make it when she moved into his house after she dumped her boyfriend and left Seattle. It was an easy meal. All he needed was a blender for the sauce, a pan for the shrimp, and anyone could boil noodles.

“Sure. I like anything when I don’t have to cook. I hate cooking, as you already know.” She took a sip of her wine. “My brother normally does the cooking when he’s in town and he grills everything. I’m more of a frozen dinner or salad type of girl. I try to limit my meals to things that don’t require me to turn on the stove. It’s safer for everyone involved.”

“I’m guessing there’s a story there.”

Her lips noticeably twitching, she twisted the stem of her wine glass. “Maybe, but if I tell you, you’ll have to share something equally embarrassing.”

“Hm.” Alec pulled the basil, pine nuts, lemon and Parmesan cheese out of the refrigerator. “Blender?” he asked after he opened a few cabinets.

“Bottom cabinet on your right.”

Tossing all the ingredients into the blender with some olive oil, he turned to face her, his hips leaning into the countertop and his ankles crossed in front of him. “I’m waiting.”

“For what?”

“Your story.”

“Only if you reciprocate.”

“Yep. I’ll try to come up with something.”

She finished her glass of wine and poured another. “I had a friend over for a slumber party in middle school and I decided I’d make us some popcorn to eat during our movie. I wasn’t quite sure how to make it.”

“The microwaveable kind?” Alec questioned.

“No, the kind that requires a pan, oil and popcorn.”

“Ah…”

“So anyway…I poured quite a bit of oil in a pan.”

“How much is quite a bit?”

“A couple cups, maybe more.”

Alec’s eyebrows shot up his forehead.

She laughed nodding her head. “I turned the oil on high and then dropped the kernels in the pan once the oil started boiling. In the meantime, I got a little distracted with the movie and by the time I checked on the popcorn, there was a mini-fire in the pan.”

“So what’d you do?”

“Naturally, I tossed my glass of ice water on the fire.”

Alec shook his head. “Please say you didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Shit.”

“My sentiments exactly.”

Alec chuckled. “So how’d you stop the fire?”

“I didn’t. My mom came in the kitchen a few minutes later and tossed some baking soda on it. She succeeded in putting out the fire, but not before it caused enough damage to require a new kitchen.”

“I bet your mom was pissed.”

“Fortunately, she’d been bugging my dad to remodel the kitchen for months, so she didn’t complain. She was more worried about me than the damage. Like most parents, she’s really protective. Sometimes her attention is overbearing and annoying, but she means well.”

Alec didn’t say anything for a few prolonged seconds. His mom probably spent most of his formative years drunk or high, and he would have liked it if she spared a few minutes of her time every once in awhile to at least feign some interest in him or Taylor. “You’re lucky you have parents that care. Not everyone is as fortunate,” he mumbled before turning around to finish dinner.