FALLING FOR MY MOM'S FIANCÉ

a

feels heavy there, like a secret I didn't ask to carry. When I look up again, Philip is already walking away f

ter echoing off the high ceilings, the clink of glasses mixing with quiet conversation. My mom is still by the cake table, talking an

the empty glass on a passing waiter'

e doesn't turn when he hears me approach, but I know he's aware I'm there. T

enough only I can hear it over the music. "Ethan has a habit of sayin

an see the way his shirt collar sits against his throat, the faint shadow of stubble along his jaw

ugh that I can count the silver threads in his black hair, see the way his eyes catch the light from the window.

ing no room for doubt. "But that doesn't mean I'm not

ter now, and I press my palm against my chest to steady

s holding a slice of cake, feeding a bite to a woman in a purple gown, her face bright with

ee weeks out of every month, never home for dinner, never there for her when she needed him. She felt invis

would leave early in the morning, the way Mom would sit at the dinner table alone, pushin

. She needed someone to see her. I mean to really see her. I tried to help them work through it. I talked to Robert, told him he needed to be the

, my voice ba

n't want help, he thought he could fix everything on his own. Monica was too tired to keep t

in my chest but underneath it, something else is building, something low and warm

was getting divorced, I told her I'd be there for her no matter what. That's all it was supposed to be. But then we started

iend of two years, who spends every night at the office, who forgets my birthday and never ask

My dad's been through a lot. Did you ever think about t

etween us, close enough that I can feel the heat from his skin. "I know you hate me. And maybe you're right to. I know I can't mak

with something that makes my breath catch in my throat. I can feel his breath on my cheek, warm and steady. I can

hear it-thump-thump-thump against my ribs, matching the beat of the music from the stage. The noise of the party fad

gainst my arm; light, careful, like I'm something fragile.

you don't know wh