“I’d say I’m pretty solid, doc,” I groaned, sitting up. “Except for that inept jackass that fell on top of me and cut off my oxygen supply, I’m pretty satisfied with how things play out.”
He stared down at me. “That inept jackass totally saved your ass.” He held his hand out and tried to help me up.
I pulled as hard as I could and managed to bring him back down into the snow. Thankfully he landed next to, and not on me.
“Now where’s Ryan?” I grinned cheekily. “We gotta celebrate.”
Fox shook his head, smirking and helping himself up. He then stood by and waited for me to get up as well. He didn’t offer his assistance this time – he knew better.
“Oh my God, I saw what happened. Emery, are you okay?” Lily asked, running over to us.
“Fine,” I laughed, dusting the snow off my suit and picking up the board.
“Fox saves the day, huh?” Nick smiled, coming over with his hat and gloves in his hands.
Fox waved his comment off. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Superman’s hungry, I’m ready to call it a day.”
Nobody objected. We all got back to the car and stripped out of our suits and wet clothes. I got down to my skinny jeans and hoodie. It was fun riding back, blasting the oldies radio station and singing Bon Jovi classics. I pulled my soaked hat off and undid my braids.
We drove for about half an hour before stopping at a Chinese buffet restaurant.
Seated and with heaping plates of food in front of us, we all smiled and dug in. Nick looked up and smiled at Lily sitting next to him. It was obvious they weren’t going to pretend everything was fine between them, but they were slowly getting reacquainted and making an effort to get comfortable. He then looked over at Fox and me with a weird smile on his face.
“Looks like we got the double-date right this time,” he commented.
I stuffed my face with noodles and disregarded the comment. Suffice to say it got a little awkward after that.
I got home to find my mom sitting in the kitchen, sipping her coffee and reading a magazine nonchalantly.
I tried to walk past the doorway and up the stairs with the same nonchalance. Keyword? Tried.
“Emery,” she called, “please join me in the kitchen.”
Oh, God. She’s being nice.
Not good.
Chapter 29
I was hesitant to take the seat opposite my mother’s in the kitchen. She didn’t look up from her mug even after I did.
“So who’s this boy you’ve been spending so much time with?” she inquired, shutting her magazine.
“I’m surprised you noticed.” I instantly regretted my comment, wishing I wasn’t so quick in my defensive responses. I was simply caught off guard.
Her eyes shot up to mine as she took another sip of her coffee. They told me she was still waiting patiently for my answer to her question. And she’d keep waiting until I gave it.
“He’s just a guy from school,” I said, playing with my fingers against the wood of the table. “He volunteers at the shelter with me.”
At this she raised her brow. “Does this boy have a name?”
“Fox Evans.”
“Fox?” she repeated.
“Yeah.”
“Sounds like some kind of wil–”
“Wild animal, I know,” I smirked.
“Humph, well,” she murmured, tapping her cup, “Whatever it is you two do, I just hope you’re making safe, smart choices.”
“Mom!”
“Emery, you must always use protecti–”
“Woah, woah, woah,” I said, stopping her. “Mom, slow your roll. We didn’t have sex.”
“Well, in the future, I want to make sure that you absolute–”
“This little talk isn’t necessary,” I interrupted.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, Fox and I don’t really head in that direction when we hang out. With all of our other friends,” I stressed.
“What directions have you guys gone in?”
“Mom,” I whined, blushing and looking away.
“Honey,” she chuckled, “I know I’m not around nearly enough to have these conversations with you but I would love to catch up on your love life. Tell me about your hot guy friend.”
“Mom!” I smirked, eyes wide at her comments.
“You can’t tell me he’s not hot, Emery. The look in your eyes and the color in your cheeks gives you away,” she said, smiling wickedly.
“We kissed,” I muttered. It slipped out. “Once.”
The look on her face told me she wanted a little more information.
“It was at the hospital on Christmas Eve, under the mistletoe. My first and only kiss,” I added, “so don’t be going and giving me sex talks, okay? This is all foreign territory.”
“Your first kiss?” she gasped. “Oh wow… I would’ve assumed you had gone through most, if not all the bases by now.”
“Eww, mom.” I was in no way prepared to talk ‘innuendo-baseball’ with my mother.
“Emery, there’s no need to be immature about this, alright? Sex,” she paused when I made a face, “should be a very special moment in a woman’s life.”
“I think it ruins everything, personally.” This comment was in reference to most people in my life.
“And how does it do that?” my mom asked quietly.
“Once people have sex, there’s no turning back,” I explained, awkwardly tugging at the sleeves of my hoodie. “It seems like it’s all people think about in high school. And the problems start when people have too much of it, or when they stop doing it. It ruins relationships.”
“That’s because people in high school don’t understand everything, they rush into things too quickly,” my mom reasoned. “Sex is a very big step for two people. That’s when you reach the pinnacle of trust, and especially of love. You give everything you possibly can to another person you care about. When you choose to share yourself with someone else, it’s truly beautiful, baby.”
“You and Dad don’t exactly prove that.” I mumbled. I didn’t have the courage to look her in the eyes.
There was a long pause, which made me think she hadn’t heard me.
“Love is a difficult thing to uphold when all these other obstacles come flying at you and life takes over, Emery,” she sighed, “It’s not easy finding time to spend with someone when you have a child to take care of, or when the bills start piling up and you argue over money, or when you have to take double shifts to keep your house.” Her voice grew shaky at the end of that sentence.
I looked up, and her eyes were as glossy as eyes could be as she looked at me with a helpless expression.
“Mom…” I managed, grabbing her hand. She squeezed mine and smiled.
“I’m not saying it’s easy to keep a relationship going,” she chuckled, “but it’s not sex that ruins your chance at forever. It’s life, honey. Money, and work, and stress, and stupid little fights, and stubbornness that all contribute to distance and failure.”
The f word caught me off guard. “Failure?”
A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. “Do you think – do you think your father has someone else?”
“Mom.” I choked at such a ridiculous idea.
“Because I think so.”
“I don’t.”
She shrugged helplessly, playing with her coffee mug. “Why not? I’m sure he could’ve found someone. I’m never around, and he can’t find work. No one expects him to sit on the couch month after month. He needs someone to make him feel good again, and I obviously can’t do that.”
The cracking in her voice made my heart hurt. I got up and walked around the table. I hugged her small, warm form and she hugged back.
She cried because she felt worthless. I cried because I missed my mom. I missed how happy we all once were.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” I assured her.
I felt like the biggest hypocrite, though.
***
After our talk, my m
om decided she would go take a nap. I stayed downstairs and started cleaning; that was my thing when I was stressed – I’d tidy everything up. I got so into sweeping and dusting that I hadn’t even heard the back door open.
“Hey, kiddo,” my dad said behind me. I jumped and turned to look at him. Mom’s suspicions replayed in my head as I scrutinized my ‘normal-looking’ father. He had a small beer-belly and stubble; his jeans were of the old Levi variety that only men from the 90s still wore. He wasn’t bald, nor did he have a full head of hair. He wasn’t tall, but he wasn’t short. He wasn’t exactly Channing Tatum, but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he could get a woman if he wanted to.
My eyes watered. What if he is cheating on her?
“Is everything okay?” he asked, sitting down on the couch and motioning for me to join him. I stood where I was.
“Are you cheating on Mom?” Way to be blunt.
I studied his face as he took in my accusation. He didn’t blush; he didn’t gulp suspiciously. He didn’t avert his gaze or stutter or scratch the back of his head.
“Emery, I would never cheat on your mother,” he stated.
He didn’t answer the question with another question.
The tears came anyway, despite the fact that I believed him. He stood up and went to hug me.
“What’s this all about, Em?” he asked, looking worried. Or maybe he looked hurt.
“It doesn’t seem like you love each other anymore. She was crying earlier basically saying she doesn’t think she can make you happy and,” I sniffed, “I don’t know, she’s never around and you never seem to be either. And you fight nonstop. It’s possible.”
“Yeah, it’s possible,” he started. “But I’m not that kind of guy, Em, and it kills me that you would even consider that. I love you and your mother; I’d never do anything to jeopardize our family.”
“You guys aren’t happy anymore.”
“We never see each other,” he explained. “When we do, she’s stressed and tired and it’s not easy to have a decent conversation because I’m in the exact same shitty mood. I wish I could help her - I feel completely useless to you guys. Nobody’s hiring, honey. It doesn’t look like they will be anytime soon.”
“You gotta keep looking, Dad,” I said. “I hate seeing you both like this. It’s just money.”
He smirked. “That’s it exactly. Just money.”
“Mom’s sleeping right now,” I told him. “You guys have a lot to work on, Dad.”
He nodded quietly. “I just don’t know how.”
“Well, you could start small. You know… Valentine’s Day is around the corner.”
He chuckled, ruffling my hair. “You have no idea how to be subtle.”
“Hey, I was just saying, Dad.”
“Believe it or not, I was actually aware of the holiday,” he stated matter-of-factly.
I blushed. “I’m sorry Daddy, for coming at you like that.”
“It’s fine, honey,” he said, hugging me again. “Don’t worry, okay? I’m going to fix things with your mother.”
I exhaled, believing him.
“I’m gonna go take a shower. It’s been a long day,” I sighed, heading for the stairs. I needed some major hot water therapy.
My shower ended up turning into a bubble bath. The hot water started filling the tub, brewing a mound of white bubbles as it did so. Just as my foot hovered over the water, I heard the distant ringing of my phone.
“Shit,” I hissed, wrapping a towel around my body and running to my bedroom. I prayed that the loud ringing wouldn’t wake my mom.
Originally I had planned on quickly answering and hanging up on whoever was calling, but when the caller ID read Fox the second half of my plan was soon disregarded.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Em,” came the velvety voice. Shoot me now. “Everything okay? You seem winded.”
“Uh, yeah. What’s up?” I responded.
“I was gonna talk to you about Valentine’s Day,” he said.
“Oh?” My heart skipped several beats. Valentine’s Day..? The day of love..? What of it, handsome?
“Yeah, um, Nina was suggesting we should visit the hospital and hand out carnations.”
I rolled my eyes. Way to get excited, Emery. “Right, right. We found someone to sell us the flowers cheap?”
“Yup.”
“Okay… so is that all?” I slowly made my way back to the bathroom. The tub was getting dangerously full. I quickly shut it off.
“Is this a bad time, Em?” he smirked.
My cheeks colored. “Um, define ‘bad time’.”
“You busy? Getting ready for a bath or is there some other purpose for the running water?” I sensed curiosity in his tone.
“Look Fox, it’s been a long day,” I sighed. “The snowboarding beat me up, I just had some serious Dr. Phil moments with both of my parents and I want to relax. I’m not about to make small talk with you, alright? It is a bad time, ‘cause I’m ready to hop into my tub. What do you want?”
It was silent for a moment.
“So… does that mean you’re naked right now?”
“Ugh! Goodbye, Fox,” I growled, stepping into the tub and easing into the hot water.
“Oh my God, you are! Aren’t y–”
I pressed the red button and discarded my phone onto the towel by the tub. Surprised at how honest I had just been with Fox, I merged my head under water for a bit.
When I came back up sputtering, I groaned.
“Why does he have to be so hot?” I murmured to myself, wiping the bubbles from my eyes.
Chapter 30
“Roses are red, Asphalt is black,” Fox said, palm-steering the car at an intersection. “Why is your chest as flat as my back?”
I momentarily frowned, self-consciously looking down at the V-neckline of my blood red long-sleeved shirt. This made him chuckle. I had no choice but to retaliate.
“Dimes are silver, pennies are brass,” I said with a straight face, puffing my apparently non-existent chest out, “Why does your face look like your a–”
“Em,” he interrupted with a warning tone, “Don’t corrupt my sister.”
We both looked at each other as the car stopped at a red light and laughed at our own stupidity. Holly joined in for no reason, flashing her two-and-a-half pearly little teeth.
“Admit it – I won,” I smirked. Then I sneezed.
“Bless you. And not even,” he grinned, “If anything you complimented me. I’d say both my face and my lower backside are pretty equally amazing features.”
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