Twisted Bliss (Imperfection Perfection #2)
C. A. Williams
“OH MY GOD, Nash. Please,” I groaned, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. I just needed it to stop. Immediately.
He grunted loudly, and his arm brushed against my stomach when he finally moved. “Della,” he stated hoarsely in a calm tone. Of course he would be calm when I felt like punching someone in the face. That was just Nash. “Quit your bitching.”
My eyes popped open and he grinned, balancing on his elbow as he hovered over me. I tightened my fist and pushed it roughly into his t-shirt covered chest, knocking him off of the couch where we had fallen asleep last night after a late-night movie marathon.
“Ow! Thanks for knocking me onto this hard-ass floor of yours.”
I opened one eye to peek down at him, making sure that he wasn’t actually in pain, and then closed it once again. “Let me guess. Mariah?”
“Yup,” he answered, his voice fading away as he left the room, most likely to call her back. She had him on one short leash since they got back “together.” We all knew the only reason they mended their relationship was the fact that Mariah was pregnant. Nash, though, never once complained about the whole situation. I liked to believe he was somewhat happy with her, but I guess I would never really know.
Things were a little awkward, to say the least, after Nash called things off between us at the end of the summer once he found out about Mariah. I was glad that I didn’t end things first. If I had, he would’ve known that it was because of Justin, and I probably would have lost his friendship.
Nash and I had known each other since we were little. Some would think, “Oh, the boy-next-door type of thing,” and at one time, I even thought of that as a possibility. He was one of my best friends, and even though we lost contact over the years after my mom divorced my dad and whisked me off to Connecticut, as soon as I was back, we easily fell into our old friendship. Although, Nash wanted something more, and we tried, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I was glad our brief hook up hadn’t ruined things between us.
Now, Nash was getting ready to be a dad, which was a little surreal for me, so I’m sure it was beyond words for him. He was still trying to be as much of a normal college guy as he could, though. Mariah was due in a few short months, so while she dropped out of school, Nash continued. They both moved in with his mom to save money, which was a pretty far drive from campus so a lot of the time he ended up crashing at the house I shared with Callie, Zoey and Mia. I highly doubted Mariah knew how much time he spent here and I’m sure he insinuated that he was staying with his old roommates, not me. I had no clue why he would willingly want to stay here, since most of the time I didn’t even want to come home if Mia was going to be here.
Yes, I was tighter than ever with Callie and Zoey, but Mia was another story.
My stepsister and I had never really been what you would consider close. Our parents married when we were both preteens, so getting a new sister wasn’t really that glamorous to either of us, plus Mia lived with her mother the majority of the time.
I always saw Mia as perfection; her grades were always excellent, she respected her dad and my mom, and she participated in every possible activity and club during high school. So, when I went through my rebellious phase, and ultimately wound up pregnant, which ended in an abortion, I think I despised her even more.
After I swallowed a handful of pills, I vaguely recall seeing Mia in my hospital room, peering over my bed to look down at me. I remember the pity in her eyes, with a hint of distaste, and it reminded me of the same expression my mother gave me. So, I simply didn’t bother trying with Mia.
Then, when I was finally starting to pick up the pieces of my life and get it back to somewhat of a working order, Mia was the one suddenly falling apart. Gone was the mousy girl who followed all of the rules and always made me seem like the problem child. She had been replaced by someone even worse than my former self, if that were possible.
My troubled relationship with my mom was in the midst of repair, and as I continued to change, she began to see me as the golden child. So, she felt that I could be the one to get the old Mia back since I had made such a drastic change in my own life, which is how Mia ended up living with my two best friends and me. Go figure that one out.
“Hey, I have to get going.” Nash tucked his phone into the pocket of his shorts and bent down, flicking a lone sock in my face.