Page 40 of Not Your Romeo
“Do you mind? We’re having a family discussion!” she screamed at me.
“Yeah. No.” Zig’s tone instantly dropped and hardened, “You don’t want to talk, Jo. You came to perform, and we ain’t buying tickets to your shit show. Get the fuck out of here. You can call later when you’re capable of civil conversation and reasoning.”
He turned, collected me by the shoulders and shut the door behind us. I was so unprepared for all of that. I was amused, and shocked, on top of my original feelings of disrespect.
Ultimately, I knew she had to be hurting. Sammy was her daughter, and it was a fucked situation.
“You should talk to her,” I whispered.
“I will,” he promised, planting a kiss to my hairline, “When she is calm. What kind of class schedule did you have today?”
“Just one, but it isn’t until two. Finals are next week; I should probably shock everyone and attend.”
He nodded. “Makes sense. Get ready, we’ll get the French toast, and I’ll drive you. Maybe we can do something after?”
“Yeah.” That sounded better than the mess of late. Any plan did, really, and besides, I was looking forward to getting to know Ziggy better. So far, I’d been a little surprised by what I’d found, and I didn’t have too many complaints.
As much as I wanted to push the thought from my mind, I was getting attached to that grouchy, alpha-asshole.
I fought a smile as I hurried upstairs to clean up and find some clothes.
Chapter Eighteen
Spreading Her Wings
Ziggy
I never saw a fight clear the air so quickly, but Ro seemed like a new woman. I hardly had a chance to check my phone while we waited for French toast, she didn’t stop talking. Oddly, it didn’t annoy me the way chatty people normally did.
“I can’t believe you were married to her long enough to have five kids, Jesus.” Ro laughed.
I shook my head, “To be fair, I wasn’t here that long. I was deployed most of the time we were married.”
She flubbed her lips like that didn’t mean anything, “You know, I had a friend in middle school. Her mother was a prison wife. She said if her husband wasn’t incarcerated so frequently, they’d have been divorced long ago, you imagine that was the story with you two?”
I laughed and shook my head slowly, “I don’t know. Maybe I’d have been a better partner, or maybe I’d have been a worse one if I’d have been more physically present. It’s possible we’d have never fallen apart, but just as likely we’d have grown tired of each other eventually anyhow. I try not to look back. I just accept shit for what it is and try to do better tomorrow. What else can we do?”
“What about your parents?”
“Are you sure you’re a gardening major? I’m getting shrink vibes.” I narrowed my gaze playfully.
Ro grinned and shook her head, “I just mean, are they alive? Still married?”
“Both gone, they were still married.” I summed up for her, as the food arrived.
She smothered her food in syrup, and we dug in. She was right, they were really good with that powdered sugar on top.
When we finished, I checked the time and was pleased to discover it was only noon. I slid my phone out and shot off a quick text to Sauce.
Who is working?
“Come on.” I tipped my head encouraging her out of the booth as I dropped a tip on the tabletop and led her to the van.
“We can go back to the house if you want. I don’t have to be there for two hours,” Ro offered, as my phone went off again.
I glanced down at Sauce’s response and grunted.
Moxie.
