The Relationship Pact(13)

A part of me thinks she presses me so much because she doesn’t want me to live without true, mind-blowing love—something I believe she’s gone without since her divorce. And I think she married Jack because it was as close to that kind of love as she thought she was going to get.

Jack does love her. He’s a saint for how much he indulges her. But Jack loves baseball as much as he loves my mother, and that’s a platform she doesn’t want to share.

I don’t blame her for that.

“Why can’t I just show up alone?” I ask my aunt, pulling my head back to the present. “Would it be that bad?”

“To her? Yes. It would.”

I scoff. “Well, she’s wrong. Society has drilled into our heads—into her head—that women need a man. We don’t. I mean, maybe for procreation, but there are sperm banks for that. Procreation is even a moot point now that I think about it.”

Siggy smiles. “You know you’re right. And, honey, you could walk into that room tomorrow night and own it. It would kind of make me proud to see you that confident.” Her grin grows wider. “But this means a lot to your mother. It gives her comfort to see you there beside her, and if you have a date, she feels like someone is taking care of you. That’s what she really wants.”

I sigh.

“You aren’t going to solve this situation with your mother overnight, so you need to pick your battles with her.”

“I pick this.”

She sits back in her chair. “Then go hard, little girl. If it means that much to you, fight with her. Stand your ground. Refuse to go and dig in your heels.”

It’s a guilt-trip without even being one.

My resistance starts to fade, and I sit back in my chair too.

“Your mother, God love her, isn’t you,” Siggy says with a deep, thoughtful frown. “She was devastated when your dad left, and I truly think she thought she’d be alone forever. There she was in her early thirties with a young child. She thought she was damaged goods.”

“That’s crazy.”

She nods. “She was raised with this mindset, I think. I know she took a lot of flack from her mother about raising a child alone. It was a different world back then.”

I consider this. I never knew my grandmother or this about my mom. It does make sense.

She reaches across the table and pats the top of my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before going back to her mimosa.

I sit across from her and sip my drink too. Her words fester inside me. I know she’s right, but it doesn’t mean that caving into Mom’s irritating demands is right. Or easy. Especially when they’re ridiculous.

“Don’t you have someone who you wouldn’t mind spending a few hours with?” she asks after a few minutes. “Instead of thinking of it as a prison sentence, couldn’t you look at it as taking a friend out for the night?”

Instantly, Hollis materializes up in my head.

“What are you grinning about?” Siggy asks.

I didn’t realize I was.

I try to tame the bolt of energy firing through my veins, but it’s impossible. A chuckle sneaks by my lips. I shake my head—both at the thought of Hollis teasing me about sending him fictional dirty texts and my inability to stop being amused by him.

“The funniest thing happened last night,” I tell her.

“And …”

I squirm in my seat. “I was at Paddy’s downtown for a birthday party, and Sebastian was there. He made these comments to me early in the evening that basically inferred I was pathetic because I was alone. He’s such an ass.”

“I’ve met him. He is.”

I laugh. “I knew he was going to come up and say hi. I could feel it. And I didn’t want to be standing there alone because that would just stroke his ego.”

Her face wrinkles in disgust.

“So I took matters into my own hands.” I laugh as I remember Hollis’s face when I propositioned him. “I found a boyfriend for a few minutes.”

Siggy plays with the charm on her necklace and watches me closely, her eyes sparkling. “He was cute, I take it?”

My stomach flip-flops over itself.

“Yeah. He was cute,” I say with a wide smile. “Ridiculously good-looking, actually. Built like a god. He had the sweetest smile but also the orneriest smirk that just … went right through me.”

“Ooh, the smirk. I’m such a sucker for a good smirk.”

“Me too.” I laugh. “So, Hollis, the guy I knew for two seconds, was my fake boyfriend last night. In retrospect, I can’t believe I asked him, and I can’t believe he went through with it, but he did. He jumped right in and hugged me and sweet-talked me and put Sebastian in his place. He was just …”

My cheeks heat. My embarrassment at blushing only makes it worse.

Siggy leans against the table. Mischief fills her eyes. “So get him to be your date tomorrow.”

I hold her gaze and feel her words sink into my brain. With each inch they settle, the more my stomach squirms inside my body.

He was fun. He did smell amazing. And the way those giant arms felt around me kept me from sleeping all night—mostly because I wasn’t in them anymore.

But what would be the point? He’s only in town for a few days.