Page 136 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

“Um, just a reminder,” Oliver says, his voice light with amusement, “we’ve been a little busykeeping each other alive.Birthdays kinda take the back burner in a situation like ours.”

“True,” Elliot mutters while he rubs his face tiredly.

“Are you okay, Ell?” Rhett asks. He’s been looking out the window this entire time, probably watching to make sure Kathleen and Joe actually leave, but now he turns to face us. “That was pretty intense.”

“It was a long time coming,” Elliot says. “Honestly, I’m mostly sorry that it took this long.”

“Do you think they’ll stay mad?” Oliver asks. “I know you’re not super close, but I don’t want you to lose them if that’s not what you want.”

“I don’t care anymore,” Elliot says.

“Ell, come on. You do, you just—”

“I don’t,” he says firmly, his gaze snapping to Oliver’s. “What I care about is the three of you knowing that I love you. I know what I feel. I know what each of you means to me. Fuck my mom for saying that shit. She’s wrong about me, and she’s wrong about the three of you.”

“She really hates that you two aren’t close, doesn’t she?” I ask.

Elliot nods. “We never really were—not in the way she thinks, anyway. Our relationship hasn’t been anything better than toxic since I learned how to think independently. I mean, she’s my mom. I used to think her and my dad were the coolest people on the planet. But then I got older, and they put so much pressure on me. I wasn’t allowed to be my own person.”

“Kathleen tried to tear us apart when she realized how close we were getting,” Oliver says.

A small smile tugs at the corners of Elliot’s mouth. “I threatened emancipation.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Damn.”

“I was only fourteen at the time,” Elliot says. “But I promised my parents that the second I was old enough, I’d detach myself from them in every way possible. My mom was terrified I’d follow through.”

“And that’s how we got to go on fancy vacations every year,” Oliver says as he throws his arm around Rhett’s shoulders.

I laugh. “You’re joking.”

“No.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Elliot lets out an embarrassed laugh. “I may have been a bit of a brat back then.”

“A lot of a brat,” Oliver corrects.

“An entitled-as-hell brat,” Rhett adds.

“Can’t say I regret it, though,” Elliot says as his gaze moves from me to Oliver and Rhett. “I couldn’t’ve made it through high school without you two.”

“Oh, we know,” Oliver says with a wink.

“Wait,” I say slowly. “You threatened emancipation when you were fourteen because she didn’t want you to be friends with Oliver and Rhett?”

Elliot nods.

“But she still treats you like you’ll eventually see sense and want to leave them fourteen years later?”

“Yup.”

“She’s the type of mother who thinks no one is good enough for her son. Except her, that is.” Oliver rolls his eyes.

“It’s gross,” Rhett says darkly.

“And I don’t know, maybe she’s right.” Oliver shrugs. “But Elliot chose us.”

“And I’d do it a thousand times over,” Elliot says as he steps up to Oliver and frames his face with his hands. “I’ll always choose you three. You aren’t mistakes. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.” Turning to Rhett, Elliot takes his hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why she thought she could say all that shit.”

“You think we aren’t used to it?” Rhett says with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, she’s never said the quiet part out loud like that. At least, not to me and O. But c’mon, Ell, we’ve all known how she felt for years.”