Savior Complex: A Small Town Love Triangle Romance

“I would not be with Betty. I loved your mother. But you’re right, the wedding would have been called off if your mom wasn’t already pregnant, all because I made a mistake.”

“Fuck me.” I run my hands through my hair. My whole life feels like a lie. I realize just how orchestrated my life has been, and how obviously spineless I’ve been to not make my own decision. How my mom probably didn’t even love my dad when they got married, not after what he did to her. She’s had to live with this decision her whole life, and if that’s not bad enough, now he expects me to do the same.

I pick up his damn ledger and throw it across the room. Papers scatter through the air like leaves in the wind, twirling in their descent while I breathe fire.

“Control yourself, Son.”

“Why, so you can tell me how you stepped up and were a man by forcing mom to marry you, so I should too? News flash, Dad, I’m not you. I should have never agreed to marry someone I wasn’t in love with.”

I slam through the door before he can say anything else, almost running into my mom on the other side. For a moment, I stand frozen, realizing she’s heard every word we said. I feel terrible that this is the way she finds out her marriage is based on obligation rather than love. But I can’t burden myself with this, so I push past her, but not before she grasps my arm in an effort to make me stop. It would take nothing to brush her off and keep going, but this is my mom, and I’m not going to do that to her.

“Let me go,” I say.

“No. Come back in the office and have a talk with us.”

I look at her, and I see the conviction in her eyes, the sheer strength of her—and I fold.

She leads the way, and I take my place on the leather couch while she perches herself on my dad’s desk, ignoring the papers all over the ground. Her hand rests on his shoulder, and I want to pull her away from him, to protect her from his lies.

“I love your father very much,” she says, “and he loves me.”

“But—”

“He loves me,” she repeats, firmer this time. “Yes, it’s true that when we got married, it was not the ideal situation.” She shakes her head. “Rather, it grew into the ideal situation. But on that day, it wasn’t what we thought it would be. I was still upset that he’d gone back to Betty. He was still battling unresolved feelings from that relationship and if we were doing the right thing. We weren’t sure we loved each other enough to get married. But there were greater forces at work, and we knew for the sake of you, we had to at least try.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” I mutter.

“No, we don’t. If our marriage was based solely on you, it never would have worked. But we grew to love each other. Your dad is my best friend, the person I can go to about anything. I trust him with my life.”

“And I trust her with mine,” my father says. “Together, we’ve made this beautiful life, and it’s all because we chose to make it work.”

“But I’m not you,” I point out. “I never should have listened to you. Did you know that Jordy and I barely knew each other when we got engaged? We weren’t even boyfriend and girlfriend. We’d only been messing around when you got in the accident and I had to move home. We’d agreed to end things before I found out she was pregnant.”

“And your father talked you into marrying her,” my mom confirms, looking down on my dad with new understanding. “Oh Pete, really?”

“It’s the right thing to do,” my father grunts. “Especially now.”

“Why, because she can no longer have kids?” My mom shakes her head. “Pete, the only reason two people should get married is because they’re in love.”

“But look at us.” My dad tilts his head up at her. “We never would have discovered how good we are together if we hadn’t gotten married.”

“Not everyone is us,” my mom points out. She waves her hand in my direction. “You should have never told Brayden to marry Jordy.”

My mind is reeling from all of this. Five years of pretending, hoping my heart would catch up only to realize it likely never will. I look at my parents and realize I will never have this with Jordy. Even now, knowing what they went through in the beginning, I can see how deeply they care for each other. I think of the home I was raised in, the love that surrounded me and my sisters as we grew up, and how tight we all became after Amber was gone.

I think of the separate lives Jordy and I lead now, and how I just can’t imagine either of us molding into the other’s dreams. We don’t fit, and one of us will lose if we keep trying.

Then there’s Nina. I don’t know where things will lead for us, I don’t even know if she’ll speak to me again. All I know is that in all the time I’ve known her, it’s been the closest to forever I’ve ever felt. This weekend sealed those feelings, but it’s my time with her that has helped me know what it’s like to fall in love with your best friend.

“I can’t stay with Jordy,” I whisper.

“Is it because you’re in love with Nina?”

I dart my eyes to my mother’s, and she rolls her eyes. “Come on, anyone can see the way you two are with each other. I just wish you hadn’t acted on that while you were still involved with someone else.”

“Did someone tell you?”

She and my father exchange a glance.