Savior Complex: A Small Town Love Triangle Romance

“Language, darling,” my mother says. “I’d feel sorry for you, except for the fact that you don’t even need to work. My mother set you up for life when she wrote my sister and me out of the will. You could spend your days, I don’t know, finding a nice husband instead of wasting your time making coffee.”

“Poppy,” my aunt murmurs, but she’s also smothering a laugh.

“A husband?” I snort out loud. “Why settle for one man when I can have them all?” My mom’s smile drops, and I can see the pleading in her eyes, but I’m suddenly having way too much fun here. I help myself to the food, bypassing the salad and green beans completely as I plop a huge mound of potatoes on my plate, followed by steak. If this is going to be my last dinner in this house, might as well get my fill. “Hell, just last week, I was with Sebastian, this guy who did a funny little thing with his tongue. What was that?”

“Nina!”

“That’s right. He could roll his Rs.” I attempt to do it now, but my vodka tongue gets in the way, making me sound like a dying frog. “Whatever, it was just a very, very nice skill to have, if you know what I mean.”

I wink at Jordy as if she does, in fact, know what I mean. My cousin looks like she hasn’t taken a breath since we sat down. Brayden on the other hand, is doing his absolute best to hold in a laugh, using his napkin to cover his mouth as his eyes meet mine.

“Antonina Dorotea Chance, that is enough.” My mother stands. Her tone brings me back to reality, and I immediately sit back in my chair. “You may be a whore on your own time, but in this house, you will act in a civilized manner.”

Whore. The word cuts through me. She knows what happened back then. She knows that’s what they called me. And the way she’s looking at me now, it’s obvious she not only believes I’m a whore, but also finds satisfaction at my obvious recoil.

“Excuse me?” Brayden looks at my mother like he can’t believe what she said.

“I apologize,” my mother says, dabbing the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “Nina isn’t at many family dinners, so she doesn’t often know how to act civilly.”

“There’s definitely a lack of civility here, but I don’t think it’s Nina.”

“Brayden, please,” Jordy murmurs.

“I mean no disrespect,” he continues, ignoring Jordy’s pleas. “But in my experience, mothers do not call their daughters what you just called yours.”

I look at my plate, suddenly wishing I could fall through the floor. I can barely stand up for myself in this house, and it’s my family. But Brayden is an outsider–a guest—and when I look up again, he’s also the only one who’s looking at me.

“Are you okay?” he asks. For a moment, I forget everyone around us as our eyes stay connected. Forget that there’s any barriers between this electric connection between us. Be with me, I think, and I feel my eyes sting with tears.

“Nina?”

His voice brings me back to reality. Back to the family table where I’m all alone, and he’s sitting next to my cousin, his ring on her finger. And yet, he’s still making me feel safe, even around my own goddamn family.

“Let’s change the subject,” Aunt Lil says, sunshine dripping from her voice. “I happen to know of two people getting married soon, and we have plans to make.”

“Mother, we’ve talked about this,” Jordy groans, though she places her hand in Brayden’s, that giant ring glinting from the chandelier light. I can’t take my eyes off it.

“I’m not talking about you two, though I do wish you’d settle on a date so we could start making all the arrangements. I’m talking about Poppy and Steve’s nephew Ethan, and his beautiful bride, Claire.”

“Oh, that gorgeous girl.” My mother sighs, sitting back in her chair. “She’s going to be a knockout in that dress. I mean, you can’t even tell she’s had a child with how slim she is.”

Apparently that’s what matters most.

“Did you hear it’s on a boat?” Aunt Lil gushes. “They’re doing one of those evening cruises for their wedding so they can get married at sea.”

My mom and aunt continued dreaming up perfect wedding scenarios, from the colors they should choose to the menu. Meanwhile, I make good work of my plate. I’ve finally stopped seeing double, but I’m ravenous, which always happens when I drink. Or when I’m uncomfortable. Or when I’m absolutely rocked by devastation. Right now, I’m all three, but I’m trying to put on the performance of a lifetime that I’m fine.

No one is paying enough attention to me to care one way or the other, so I grab seconds and go to town.

In between bites, I steal glances at Brayden and Jordy, trying to figure out how the two of them ended up together. At this moment, Brayden is making small talk with my dad as my mom and aunt yammer on. Meanwhile, Jordy seems more interested in pushing food from one side of her plate to the other without actually eating. She seems just as uncomfortable as I am, and for a moment, I forget that we hate each other. The honest truth is, I miss what we used to have.

She catches me staring at her, and I sense her softening, like she’s mulling something over. Maybe she also regrets our rift and misses the bond we used to share. I don’t want to make the first move, just in case I’m wrong, but I’m dying to test the waters. Maybe offer a small smile. Or tell her she looks nice. She does look nice. Perfect, in fact. I start to open my mouth to tell her.

“You have something on your face,” she says loudly, and the conversation stops around us.

“Excuse me?” I feel my cheeks heating up, and my hand flies to my face where I feel dried mashed potatoes near my mouth—and not just a little bit. The whole table is looking at me, even Brayden, and I feel like I’m going to die.

“Honestly, Nina,” my mother sighs.