“Swear to me right now,” she states, strengthening her voice, “that whatever this is, it isn’t something you and Oliver have cooked up to screw with me even more. I honestly don’t think I can take another thing. Especially not that.”
My jaw clenches and anger makes the vein in my temple pound. She has every right to be suspicious of my motives. Fuck knows I would be too if I were in her situation.
“That’s the second time you’ve brought that up. I’ve given you no reason to trust me, but I’m asking you to do so now anyway. Oliver has not one damn thing to do with whatever is going on between us. In fact, I think it’s safe to say this is not something he would be okay with.”
After several tense seconds, she nods. “Okay.”
That one word has my shoulders relaxing.
She leans back against the door, resting one hand on the steering wheel and laying her other arm around my shoulders. She looks out the windshield to the big screen in front of us.
“My parents brought me here once. Funnily enough, the movie we saw was Iron Man.” She looks at me, her lips curling wryly.
“No shit?” Small world.
She smiles, and the weight on my chest doesn’t feel quite so heavy. “Yep. It was my first and only time going to a drive-in theater.”
I recline my seat back a couple of inches and pull her closer to me. She lets go of the steering wheel and places her hand on my chest.
“The night my parents brought me here was the last night we ever went to the theater. Mom had just found out she was pregnant with Danielle. She started her affair not long after Danielle was born.”
“I’m sorry,” Rylee says quietly.
I shrug. “I got over it a long time ago. Mom and Dad divorced four years ago.” I twist my neck to dislodge one of her hairs stuck on the bristles on my chin. “The guy she cheated on my dad with is some big business mogul. She was his secretary. Her affair came to light when Dad and I went to visit her at the office. We saw them kissing outside her car in the parking garage. Mom left; didn’t even try to work it out with Dad. When she left, she left for good. I’ve only seen her a handful of times since then. And she’s seen Danielle even less.”
“What a bitch,” Ryle
e mumbles. Her eyes go wide and she slaps a hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she mutters, the word muffled.
I kiss the back of her hand. “Don’t be. It’s the truth. She stopped being a mother to Danielle and me long before she left, so it wasn’t that much of a shock.”
She slowly drops her hand back to my chest. “That’s why you don’t like people with money, isn’t it?”
“It wasn’t until I heard them arguing one night that I found out Mom resented Dad because he wouldn’t let her have an abortion when she found out she was pregnant with me in college. She was pre-law and was forced to quit during her sophomore year when she almost miscarried. The doctors ordered bedrest. She never forgave him.”
Her hand bunches my shirt into her fist. “It takes two people to get pregnant. She took that risk just as much as your father did when they slept together. She’s just as much to blame as he is.”
“She doesn’t see it that way.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but your mom is blind. And selfish,” she adds vehemently.
“You’ll get no arguments from me.”
“Is she still with the mogul?”
“Yes. They married six months after the divorce went through.”
“Please tell me she didn’t have any more kids.”
I rub circles over her jean clad thigh. “No. She can’t. After she had Danielle, she had her tubes snipped and tied. Didn’t even bother to tell Dad she had it done.”
“Your mother sounds like a real piece of work. I hope you know that.”
I grunt. “I’ve known for a while now.”
“What about your dad? Did he ever remarry?”
“He’s dated a couple of women, but nothing serious. I think the shit that went down really fucked his head up.”