Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel(65)

 

“Hello, Sister!” Jersey screams, jumping into my arms. “You’re finally home!”

 

I bury my face into his nasty, stinky hair and smile so hard it hurts my face. I have to spit pieces of Jersey-made confetti out of my mouth but that doesn’t diminish my happiness one bit. I think it makes it bigger.

 

My parents come up and put their arms around all four of us. Teagan tries to step away, but they pull her in too.

 

“I’m sorry, Mom,” I say, trying not to cry, trying to be an adult and apologize without the drama.

 

“You’re forgiven, sweat pea. I’m just glad you’re home.”

 

So much for being an adult. I fall into a mess of tears and snot and all the other attractive things that come along with a full-on emotional breakdown.

 

Teagan hugs me hard before detaching herself from the love pile-on. “You are so on your period right now,” she says into my ear just before pulling away and walking to the door. “Later, Torreses! I’ll be back!”

 

“You can’t stay for pizza?” my dad asks her.

 

“Nah. Maybe I’ll have some leftovers.” She shuts the door before my mom can hound her into staying.

 

Jersey and my dad leave me for the kitchen after a few more tight squeezes all around. I walk arm-in-arm with my mom and follow behind them.

 

“You’re not mad at me?” I ask.

 

“Maybe a little. But I’ll get over it.”

 

“Mom?” I pause, stopping in the hallway. We’re the only ones there, the rest of the family already swarming over the pizza boxes ahead of us in the next room.

 

“Yes?” She reaches up and moves my hair over my ear.

 

“How did you know that Dad was the one guy for you? I mean, was it perfect right from the beginning?”

 

She gives me a sad smile, the wrinkles around her eyes going deeper. “No, it wasn’t. I suppose some people have that kind of relationship, but with your dad and me it was fits and starts. Nothing has ever been easy in our life together.”

 

“Are you sad about that? Do you regret it?” I search her eyes for honesty. She’s not joking or messing with me, I can tell. She looks tired, but happy.

 

“Not for a second.” She hugs me to her tight. “Your dad is the best thing that ever happened to me. Look at the wonderful children he gave me.”

 

I snort over her shoulder. “Yeah. One that cusses like a sailor and another one who lights hospitals on fire.”

 

“Guess what boring is,” she says.

 

“What?” I’m confused.

 

“Guess what boring is,” she says again.

 

“I don’t know. What’s boring?”

 

“Boring. Boring is boring. Who wants a boring life?”

 

“Me?”

 

“Bullshit,” she says. “Only assholes want boring lives.”

 

I laugh and cry until I reach the pizza. Then I just inhale cheese and pepperoni like it’s going out of style, all the while surrounded by the love of my ridiculously not-boring family.

 

There’s only one tiny little thing missing from this picture, but I don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about that one little thing. No use worrying about parts of my life I cannot change. I have a future to get to, starting when Teagan shows up later to pick me up.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

A LONG, HOT SHOWER DOES a little bit of good for my mood, although it doesn’t fully restore it. I don’t think that’s even possible at this point. There’s too much unresolved in my life and too many unanswered questions about my near future. But at least the horror that was my hair is now gone.

 

I’m sporting long, smooth locks with a light curl to them instead of a helmet o’frizz. I use the straightening iron to get every last bit of crispiness out of my dark, kinky hair. As ridiculous as it sounds, I want to try and fix things that can be fixed. My life is a mess, but my hair? … Not so much. At least I have that going for me. I just wish I could care about my eyebrows too, but I don’t. I keep looking in the mirror and wondering what Mick sees when he looks at me. It makes me sad when I realize it’s probably nothing special.

 

“Hey, ho,” says Teagan, walking up the hallway and stopping in my doorway.

 

“Hey, ho,” I say back, pulling a cardigan over my arms. “Time to make like a baby and head out?”

 

“No, time to make like a hockey player and get the puck out of here.”

 

I take my purse from the bed and sling it over my shoulder. “You sure this is a good idea?” I ask as we head out the front door. I’m so not looking forward to going over to Rebel Wheels right now. The only reason I’m going at all is for Teagan. I don’t want anything I’ve done to get between her and her man-meat.