“I didn’t say anything to him,” she said under her breath. “I felt like I needed to tell you first and let you know what you’re up against.”
She rested her hand on my shoulder and leaned in close. “Just tell me that you’ll guard your heart. I don’t want to see you get hurt again, sweetie. I remember those phone calls all too well after Ross broke the news to you.”
“Mom, I will. I promise,” I said, just wanting to get out of here and talk to Brax. “Plus, Brax and I aren’t that serious anyway. We’re just having fun together. He’s making me forget about Ross and trust me, I need that.”
* * *
Brax
My heart skipped a beat. I had walked up to the Hathaway’s front door, my hand moving to the doorbell, when I heard Mandy’s voice. “Mom, I will. I promise. Plus, Brax and I aren’t that serious anyway. We’re just having fun together. He’s making me forget about Ross and trust me, I need that.”
“That’s a relief,” Mandy’s mom replied. “I don’t want you getting in over your head so soon.”
In over her head? Mrs. Hathaway had been like a second mom to me, and it killed me to think that she didn’t approve of me dating her daughter. Aside from the fact I was just shy of five years younger than Amanda, I couldn’t see why she would be bothered by us dating.
“It’s not that serious,” Amanda said. “I know the last thing I need is to have my heart broken by a bad boy with a dangerous reputation.”
I lowered my hand from the screen door to my side and debated on what to do. Since I hadn’t heard from Toby, I wanted to clear the air between us. I had been stunned to see Mandy’s car in the driveway, and yet strangely excited. I had hoped that we could finally act like the couple I thought we were.
I lingered at the front door for a second, waiting to hear more. My pulse was pounding in my ears. And here I thought we’d had something real.
The same woman who had lain in my arms last night, who had told me she loved me, was now saying that we were just having fun together. That she wouldn’t fall for a guy like me? A bad boy with a dangerous reputation? What the hell?
Wow. And here I’d thought we had more than that. I had been invested one hundred percent in this relationship. Apparently I was the only one. After all, I was only a distraction for Mandy. Someone to help her get over the loss of her fiancé, a man she would probably take back in a heartbeat.
I was the first to admit I didn’t have the best reputation when it came to commitment. I’d had a lot of women in my time. I had hoped to prove to Mandy that I cared for her in a way I hadn’t cared about those other women. Trust would always be a huge issue with her, and I had done my best to make sure she knew that I wouldn’t hurt her.
Apparently not enough though. Or maybe she hadn’t even been interested in commitment. Maybe all she wanted was a piece of ass to make her feel better about herself.
Well, mission accomplished.
Resisting the urge to knock on the door to see the look on her face, I instead took a step away from the door and started walking back to my truck.
Was that how Toby felt, too? That I wasn’t good enough for his sister? I’d heard his warning loud and clear, and that’s why I had felt the need to come by and talk to him.
Granted, I didn’t know what it was like to have a sister, and maybe I wouldn’t exactly love the idea of my best friend dating that sister just in case the relationship went sideways, but I would sure as hell support the relationship if they really cared about each other.
And I really cared for Mandy.
I loved her…and I thought she loved me. She had said she did. Or had that been a lie, too?
My father’s words to me shortly after my eighteenth birthday came back to haunt me. ‘I know you hate me for leaving you and your mom, but it was complicated. The relationship had just run its course, and I couldn’t give any more. Women are hard to understand. You see that already. Look at you—you’re already a chip off the old block.’ He’d given me a pat on the back, like that was something I was supposed to be happy about.
Amanda had called me a bad boy, a term I had heard cross her lips more than once. Apparently Mrs. Hathaway, a lady I loved like a second mom, was worried for her daughter, so my reputation must scare her.
I ran my hand through my hair and was stunned to see it was shaking.
It’s not that I felt like I was a bad boy or a womanizer in any way. Granted, I hadn’t felt an intense relationship with any of the girls I’d dated…until Mandy had come along.
Or maybe I’d underestimated the Hathaways’ affection for me. It was all right that I was friends with their son, but being with their daughter was different and not entirely acceptable.