Page 61 of The Masks We Burn
My heart cracks open in my chest, pouring everything on the ground for her to see. “I’m scared.”
Her soft smile doesn’t wane, and it lights a small candle of hope I’d long since hidden away. “And that’s okay. But you have us to help you see it through. And you will see it through, babe. That’s just how you were built. So when you’re ready, we’re here to listen.”
She hugs me again, letting me cry ugly tears in her hair until I finally let the last little bit of any reservation I had wash away with them.
* * *
“We haven’t had a girls’night in so long!” Remy squeals, flopping down on the couch with two new bottles of wine. We’ve already run through three and it’s only a matter of time before we start dropping like flies. I know my eyes are already heavy as hell, but it’s been nice.
It has been forever, and I forgot how much fun it was to let loose and catch up. Nothing has changed in the few months since our time at Anger Valley in terms of life choices. Remy’s estrangement from her father has left her happier than she could possibly imagine. Not to mention, she and Blaze are still crazy in love. Lily’s plate is finally starting to clear, with only a few things left to do before graduation and the wedding until she’ll have a break before starting classes for her master’s degree.
And then there’s me. After being one-hundred-percent transparent, something I would have never done if William hadn’t taught me how important talking is, I feel… lighter. They listened as I told them how my mom gave me an ultimatum—move home and agree to get married to a well-off man, or get cut off.
I explained how backward it is, and how my mom really thinks she’s doing the right thing. While my dad is somehow scared to speak up and just bows to whatever she says.
“Have you ever talked to your dad privately?” Remy had asked. “Maybe without your mom there to contest everything, you could get through to him.”
“Of course. He and my mother moved here from Russia, and he said she’s the only reason they made the move. That he trusts while she seems abrasive and cruel, she’s never led him wrong. He also says she loves me and wouldn’t have me marry the man with the most money. That she’d only select guys for me to date until I found the one. But every time we talked, it didn’t seem like she was setting me up for a blind date but rather an arranged marriage.”
After that, we grabbed more wine and eventually turned the conversation to Will.
“So, what’s going to happen after you both graduate?” Lily asks, leaning back into the couch, her eyelids blinking slower. She’s losing the battle to stay awake.
I shrug. “We go our separate ways, I guess.”
“You guess? So you haven’t gotten closer with each other? There’re no feelings between you two?” Remy’s voice comes out almost pained. Like hearing we aren’t madly in love is tearing her up inside.
“Honestly, I haven’t asked him. I like things how they are. It’s a partnership with an end goal for the both of us. He’s already gotten his with being in Dad’s club, of course, but in only two more months, hopefully it will be done and over with.”
“Amora, all that sounds fine, but you don’t have any feelings toward him?” Lily questions, taking another sip from her glass.
“Why does it matter?”
“Because.” She hunches forward, setting her glass on the table before pulling up the covers around her shoulders. “I just don’t want you missing out on something great because you’re so worried about your mom being right.”
“But she would be,” I counter.
“No. She wouldn’t. Having feelings for him doesn’t mean you’re dependent on him,” Remy adds, making me narrow my eyes at her.
“But it does. I don’t want to depend on anyone for anything. And that includes my happiness. Whenever I do get serious about someone, it will be a nice addition, but not a necessity. Think of it as if my house is built on my foundation, and he’s just the decorations.”
“Amora!”
I ignore them both, standing up and sliding on my slippers. “Besides, William doesn’t like me like that, and I’m going to put us all out of suspense and prove it.” I feel like a teenager about to ask a boy if he like-likes me, but I’m curious now.
Remy watches as I open the front door. “And if he does?”
Lily yawns before I can answer, waving me off. “Girl, just say you want some dick. Goodnight.”
I smirk before slipping out. “‘Night.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Anything you noticed?” Bellamy asks as he jogs over to where I’m sitting on the bench.
My mind and the phantom pain in my knee haven’t quite let me step out on the field yet, but at his suggestion, I’ve watched from the sidelines. It’s something I never had to do in my days playing ball unless defense was up, and I’ve almost forgotten how important it is. It gives you vital information on not only the mistakes and plays of the other team, but that of your own.
“We should rotate out every two plays. The kids on the offensive line need to push at the sleds more because they’re too easy to break right now. And that kid over there on the side getting water, try him as kicker. Twenty bucks says he’s got some power in those legs.”
