The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Author:Christina Lauren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2024-05-14T00:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

ANNA

I have always been an oversharer. Whether I slept badly, am experiencing some minor tummy upset, or have strong emotions about the ending of a long-running TV series, chances are, if you ask, I’m going to tell you how I feel. If someone doesn’t really care how I am, then why not just say hello and go about it? I prefer honesty, I prefer openness, I prefer real. I know I’m lucky to have been raised by a dad who impressed upon me the importance of sharing my emotions, but I don’t think I realized just how lucky until I was surrounded by a half-dozen dysfunctional Westons.

It’s not that family breakfast the next morning is awkward, exactly, but the elephant in the room—that Ray Weston is a controlling, narcissistic asshat and his entire family has to make excuses for his behavior and accommodate his moods—is impossible to ignore. Everyone is walking on eggshells. People cut their food delicately, with intense focus, asking about the weather, remarking upon the size of the waves down on the beach, laughing loudly at his jokes that aren’t particularly funny. Charlie is getting married in a matter of days; she is about to embark on the emotional journey of her lifetime with a man who gazes at her like she’s made of stardust, and somehow Ray is the center of attention. No one is asking Charlie and Kellan anything about their nerves, their hopes, their shared dreams.

Just watching ten seconds of this family at a meal, even if Liam had told me nothing at all about them, I’d know Jake Weston was the charming underachiever who evaded his father’s attention, Alex Weston was the intense pleaser who chased his father’s attention, and Liam Weston was the golden child who naturally exuded the kind of capability and virtue that a narcissist gloms onto and takes credit for. I’m sure West rarely rocked the boat, and I’d bet all the money he’s paying me that his decision to pursue a doctorate and the almost five-year estrangement that followed was his first real bird flip to his shitty dad. Which, good for him.

And yet, here we are.

Next to me, West stares out at the water, chewing a bite of egg-white omelet so thoroughly I think it ceases to exist as matter. When he senses my attention, he blinks over to me, gaze unfocused, and returns my smile with a distracted, flickering one of his own. But even if he’s mentally aloof, physically, he’s close: his shoulder is pressed against mine; he eats with his left hand and has his right hand planted firmly on my upper thigh. It’s supposedly all for show, but news flash, Dr. Weston: nobody can see your hand under the table.

It didn’t surprise me that he put himself back together almost immediately after our hug yesterday. He’s clearly been taught that feelings are bullshit and the only action that’s acceptable is one which benefits his father. “I’m gonna grab more coffee and then we can go,” he says.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.