Page 137 of Forgotten Prejudice

“Maybe I don’t have to tell him—Hey,” I whined after Mom smacked the back of my head.

“You can’t keep it from him, Ash. It’s not fair.”

My brows scrunched up. “He sleeps with other people all the time. Including the other night, after we agreed he’d stop doing that.”

Mom gave me a pitiful look before crossing her arms. “Just because he did something wrong doesn’t excuse you from doing the same.”

She had a point.

“You already know what I think about Soren,” she went on, not being subtle about the displeasure on her face. “He’s a piece of—”

“Mom.”

“Fine.” She moved her hand through her hair. “I won’t tell you what I think about him.”

“You mean you won’t tell me again?” I cut in. Over the years, Mom had never tried hiding her dislike for Soren. And that’s putting it gently. They’d had a long beef going on ever since I first introduced them, and while I understood both sides, I had sort of hoped it would vanish eventually. Not that it mattered, with Soren and I no longer being a couple.

Rolling her eyes, yet again, she continued. “Anyway, I don’t think you should be involved with both men at the same time.”

Thanks, Mom, as if I didn’t already know it.

Just then, my phone buzzed, and I saw it was a text from Soren.

“Speak of the devil,” I said, picking up my phone to read the text while ignoring the dozens of missed calls and messages from Kai. I wasn’t in the mood to speak to him, not yet, anyway.

“Hey, can we meet and talk?” Mom read out loud the text, her voice taking a deeper note.

“Is that supposed to be Soren?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

“I can’t sound as pretentious as him, but yeah, basically.”

I couldn’t help but smile as she started laughing. Putting down my phone, I sighed and buried my face in my palm. “Why did I have to shit where I eat? Soren is handling Diesel’s case. The last thing I needed to do was add sex into the mix.”

Mom grabbed my neck and squeezed me gently. “Sometimes sex just happens, babe—I mean, Ash.” She got up and walked back to the fridge to pull out ingredients for our lunch. “And if I’m honest, I think you should ignore Soren and give Kai a call.”

“Of course you’d say that.”

She turned to face me. “What’s up with that tone?”

“Nothing,” I hissed bitterly. “But since forever, you and Aiden have always given Kai the benefit of the doubt. Never holding him accountable for anything he did. And let’s be honest, he fucks up a lot, Mom.”

“But he’s a sweetheart.”

I snorted. “He most definitely isn’t. He’s selfish, and it’s because you keep smiling at him like that”—I pointed at her annoying smile—“that he keeps being selfish. I’m your son, Mom, not him.”

Now, it was her turn to pout. “You know I love you the most, Ash.”

“It doesn’t change the fact you ignore Kai’s defects and always encourage me to give him another chance.” It had been the same story throughout the years. Like when we were young. Despite how Kai treated me when I first came out, Mom forgave him rather easily. Too easily. Same with Aiden.

“And what’s bothering me the most is that you hated Soren from the get-go. You never even gave him a chance.”

She tsked before resting her hand on her waist. “That’s because he’s an arrogant bastard who manipulated you when you were far too young to know it.”

I never thought Soren was too old for me and, quite frankly, hated when she mentioned it. Yes, I was young when we met, but old enough to know better and make my own decisions. So when she, or anyone else for that matter, judged Soren for a choice I made, it pissed me off. It pissed me off because by doing so, they completely dismissed me as an individual and immediately put me in a box that didn’t fit. Was Soren always in the right? Of course not. But just like he loved taking control, I loved giving it, and slowly, we fell into a complicated relationship that, at times, was toxic. I wasn’t so naive that I couldn’t look back on those days and understand we were in the wrong, but if there was one thing I knew, it was that I loved Soren. I loved him from the bottom of my heart just as he loved me. The fact Mom couldn’t understand it wasn’t my problem but hers. And yet, I didn’t want to start a fight, so I got up from my chair and walked toward her.

“I’m not saying we were always the healthiest couple, but one thing was for sure: Soren always thought of me first.” I wasn’t angry with her but tried to have a decent conversation, which was new, considering it was about Soren. “And if I’m being honest with you, he’s changed, Mom.”

Her brows pulled close. “How so?”