“Yes,” she said after what felt like an eternity had passed, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute. “More than once, I’ve felt just like that. But that was before you came along. Before your dad and I figured out we couldn’t live without each other.”
“How upset is Daddy right now?” I asked, that lump filling my throat again.
“Don’t worry about your father right now, honey. He’s a big boy. A few angry words tossed at him when you were hurting aren’t going to kill him.” Lifting one hand, she pushed back a few strands of hair that had fallen from the knot on top of my head before cupping my face. “Listen to me, Mia. I love you more than life itself. If something ever happened to you, it would destroy me. When I nearly lost you, not once but twice, I came close to losing my mind. I did some things I’m not proud of to ensure your safety. But maybe… Maybe I took things a little too far.”
“Momma, it’s okay. I get where you were coming from. I would probably do the same if I were in your shoes. I just… It’s time to cut the strings.”
Her smile was weak, but she nodded. “Maybe it is.”
“Does that mean—”
She dropped her hand from my face and inhaled deeply. “If this means that much to you, then I will make it happen.” My heart lifted. “But there will have to be a few rules.”
The happiness in my chest evaporated, and my face fell. “What kinds of rules?”
“No Rodger and no Marcus, but I need you to check in with me every day. No excuses. If you don’t check in by a certain time every day, we’re going to have issues. Like me showing up at your dorm, making sure you are okay. And Rodger moving in to the dorm room next door.”
“I can do that,” I promised readily.
“I get to vet your roommate. If they don’t pass a background check, I get to pull some strings and find you one who does pass one.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“You have to keep your grades up. If you fail even one class, you come home and go to a school closer to home.”
“Sure. I don’t foresee that happening, but okay.” I sat there, patiently waiting for her to give me a hundred more rules, but surprisingly, there were none. “Is that…all?”
“For now,” she said with a heavy sigh.
“But what about Daddy and the others?” I worried. “They won’t go for any of this.”
Her smile grew stronger. “Oh, honey. Haven’t you learned by now that I call all the shots around here?”
“But it’s going to cause trouble between you and Daddy.” I could already imagine them arguing about it, and my guilt returned tenfold.
“Let me worry about that. All I care about is your happiness.”
I threw my arms around her neck, hugging her so tight, neither of us could breathe for a moment. “I love you so much, Momma. This means everything to me. You don’t even know. Thank you so, so much.”
She stroked her hands down my back. “I love you too, Mia. I hope you always know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, baby.”
Chapter 1
Mia
August
Stretching the tightness out of my shoulders, I pulled on a pair of Converse, excitement making me almost giddy despite the fact that I still had an English class to get through.
Later that evening, I would be starting my job. The first one I’d ever had. I couldn’t wait to get to Cora’s School of Performing Arts after my afternoon class and start teaching all the little kids to fall in love with dance as much as I did when I was five. That was why I wanted to start my own dance school once college was over, to see the joy and excitement on other kids’ faces when they realized dancing was everything.
“You haven’t stopped smiling since you woke up,” Lyla grumbled from where she was sitting up in her twin bed, watching something on Netflix on her iPad. “It’s way too early for that kind of enthusiasm.”
Laughing, I grabbed my little ballet slipper pillow and tossed it at her. She caught it deftly without even lifting her gaze from the screen and tossed it back. I was so surprised she was able to catch it without taking her eyes off the K-drama she was watching, I was taken off guard when the pillow hit me square in the face.
“Umph,” I grunted and carefully replaced my cute little pillow that Momma had given me when I was twelve on my bed. “It’s noon,” I reminded my roommate. “I’ve already had a morning class, and you’re just waking up.”
“I had a late night,” she said with a shrug, pushing her long, gorgeous dark hair over her shoulder. Dressed in nothing more than a huge T-shirt that looked like it had seen better days, but I’d learned my roomie couldn’t live without, and half her makeup still on from the night before, because she must have been too tired to fully take it off, she still looked freaking perfect. I’d gotten to know her a little in the last week since moving in to the dorm with her, but honestly, I still didn’t know a whole lot. She must have passed Momma’s background check, though. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be roommates. “And morning classes suuuuck.”
Snickering at her melodrama, I grabbed my bag, book, and phone. “See you later, sleepyhead.”
She gave me a little finger wave, her eyes still glued to her iPad and her obsession. I’d heard so much Korean this past week, I was pretty sure I was starting to pick up some of the language. But I had to admit her K-dramas sounded more interesting than anything I could find without subtitles. I was going to have to check them out when I got some free time.
Whenever that would be, I had no idea. Between classes, studying, work, and my physical therapy twice a week, I didn’t have a lot of time left over for much else. I liked it that way, though. It kept me from missing home and thinking about all the things I couldn’t change in my life.
Like Jordan.
My heart squeezed painfully, and not for the first time, I pulled out my phone, my thumb tracing over his name in my contact list. I wanted to call him so badly, but I knew if I did, things would be awkward for the entire conversation, just as they had been every other time I’d given in and called my best friend since the night I’d ruined everything between us.
Refusing to feel sad, I replaced my phone and quickened my steps. My class didn’t start for another thirty minutes, but the English department was on the other side of campus from my dorm, and I knew it would take at least twenty minutes for me to walk it with my damn knee slowing me down.
By the time I got to class, I still had a good ten minutes left before it started, but there were only a handful of seats left. Tucking my cap down a little more over my face, I tilted my head up just enough to check out my options.
A group of giggling girls my age was sitting midway up with an open spot between themselves and some chick who looked both bored and annoyed. She kept shooting her neighbors glares that, if they’d been looking in her direction, would have shut them up.
At the top of the class, there were two empty seats side by side, but I didn’t want to put any extra strain on my knee when I would be dancing with the little girls later.
That left the middle of the front row where there were four empty seats but would put me front and center with the professor.