Giving him one more quick kiss, I settle back against the couch as Mark finally joins us. “Everything ok?”
“Nanny Vee is at it again.”
“Didn’t you just leave there?” Pete grunts.
Mark nods. “I was with her all fucking day. If she’s not careful, she’s going to get herself kicked out of this home, andI’m not really liking the idea of finding her a new one that’ll put up with her shit.”
“My mom’s offer still stands,” Norm says as he finally relaxes next to me. “Move Nanny back into her house, and my parents will take care of her.”
Mark scrubs a hand over his skull trim as he sits on the loveseat I just made Leonor buy. “I know, and I really fucking appreciate it.”
“But you won’t do it.”
“Where would you live? Hell, where would I live? I love my grandmother but there is a reason I moved out as soon as I turned eighteen.”
“Her boobs,” all three of us say in unison.
It’s not really the reason Mark moved out, even if Nanny Veeisfree most of the time. They constantly argued about his mom back then and now that she’s slipping more often, Nanny brings her up more than Mark would like because she doesn’t always remember where his mother is. Since Mark’s mom has been in prison for the last twenty years, it’s still a touchy subject but for different reasons.
“Well, it’s still on the table,” Norman says with a smile. “My mom and dad love Nanny.”
Mark shakes his head with a grin. “Everyone loves that crazy old bat.” Then he lifts his eyes and gives our sweet boy a tender look I’ll be banking for later. “I really do appreciate it, and I’ll keep it in mind.”
“So, why the big dinner?”
We turn to Pete, who has no tact regardless of how sexy he is, and I roll my eyes with a smile. “We ran into some fans while we were out shopping.”
Norm sits up a little straighter. “Yeah? She did ok with it?”
“She did great,” I say, getting excited about it all over again. “It was like the old Leo. She was practically beaming at them while they talked about one of our shows, one where she?—“
“Flipped off your kit,” Mark says with a smile. “They always talk about that.”
I nod like an idiot. “They raved about that, then started praising the hell out of all of us while excessively calling Leonorhot.’”
“I’m not sure where to start,” Norm says before Mark stops him.
“Whoa, hold on. You took Leo shopping? How’d that go?”
“About like you’d expect.”
“So you’re gonna have bruises?”
I nod with a wide ass smile. “Totally worth it. We banged in the dressing room after we ran into those kids but that’s not even the best part.”
“Fucking Leonor in a public place isn’t the best part of today?” Pete asks skeptically. “I call bullshit.”
“Well, ok that was the best part of the shopping trip but the second best part was what she said to the kids we were talking to.”
“Which was?”
“They asked if we were working on anything new and Leo said no butwhenwe do, they’ll know.”
“Hot damn!” Mark yells before cringing, looking toward the stairs to make sure Leo didn’t hear him. And when he’s in the clear, he whispers, “Fuck yes,whenis a great fucking sign.”
“Yeah, but I haven’t pointed it out yet. I don’t want to spook her in case she didn’t realize what she said.” Because if Leo didn’t mean it and we do point it out, that’s exactly what’ll happen.
Mark gets to his feet, the biggest smile I’ve seen him sport in a long ass time on his face. “We’ll keep it quiet for a littlewhile longer but this is a good thing.” He walks toward the door and retrieves one case of beer and the package. “Getting her to practice with us, having her agree to go into town. These are good fucking things and now? The possibility of music so real it’s a subconscious thing? It calls for a celebration.”
