Page 106 of Come to Me

I can barely take it. I press my body against hers. Thrust into her one last time.

And that's it.

I groan, releasing everything inside her.

I don't know if I've ever come that hard. I feel weak afterwards, my body trembling.

Alyssa collapses on the bed and I collapse next to her, returning to our earlier position--her back against my chest, my arms around her waist.

We lie like that for a long time.

She pulls my arm tighter around her. "I shouldn't have freaked out like that."

I press my lips into her neck and melt back into her. She takes deep breaths, her chest rising and falling with them.

"I wish I could say she hasn't always been like that, but..." It's barely more than a whisper, and there's so much pain in it. "You probably think it's pathetic."

"You're kidding, right?"

She shakes her head. Damn. How can she be so hard on herself?

"Then tell me. How is it pathetic?" I ask.

She takes another deep breath. I run my fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face.

She turns, her gaze moving to the ceiling. "When Mom got home from work, she wasn't really there. For a while, when I was a kid, we'd eat dinner together. TV dinners usually, or maybe pizza delivery. But it was always in front of the TV. It's not the most tragic thing, not the hardest. But it was the only time we ever spent together."

I press my fingers against her palm. She leans into my shoulder, wrapping her fingers around my hand.

"I knew better than to ask her for any favors. If I needed school supplies, I'd walk to the store with the cash she kept in the dresser. It wasn't so bad. I always liked the aisles of notebooks and pens. I had so many damn pens." She takes a deep breath, her gaze moving over the room.

She's had to do everything on her own for so long.

Alyssa turns towards me, her eyes connecting with mine. "This story presents one of your least favorite people in a favorable light."

"My father?"

"That would makeperfectsense." She rolls her eyes. "No, it's Ryan. Of course."

"He was your best friend."

She nods. Her fingers skim my cheek. It's so soft and warm. She's here. She's mine.

"Mom promised to drive me to the Homecoming dance. I had no way of getting to school that late. Walking at night was questionable, and it way too cold in November to do it in a dress and heels."

I see where this is going.

"I didn't even ask her. She promised. She said she wanted to see me dressed up. To see me blossom into a woman. I should have known better when she broke her promise to take me shopping for a dress. She woke up late, hungover, and started drinking early."

I squeeze her fingers, soaking in the sweetness of her touch.

"That night, I put on my dress and makeup. I did my hair. She was going to take pictures. But, when I came downstairs, she was already drunk. She'd been home an hour and she was already drunk. She forgot what day it was. Asked where the hell I thought I was going dressed like a slut."

I brush her hair from her eyes, trying to control my anger.

That excuse for a woman should never have been a parent.

"She told me to change. I accused her of being drunk. Locked myself in my room, crying my eyes out. It was half an hour into the dance when he called me."