“Ithink we should ease him into it,” she decided after a few moments of silence.“He doesn’t need to know right away that you’re his—”
“Oh,so when do you think that’d be a good idea, exactly? When he’s alreadyattached? ‘Cause God, that’d be fucking awesome. ‘Oh, hey, kid, by the way! Youknow, we’ve been getting along swimmingly for the past six months, and Ithought I’d just break it to you over s’mores, that you’re also my kid. Oh,what’s that? Yeah, I’ve been lying to you. Uh-huh, yep, your aunt thought it’dbe—‘”
Withher lips pressed firmly together, she shut me up with a single glance. Itdidn’t take a body language specialist to know that Tabby didn’t like beingtold what to do. I couldn’t imagine how this woman, designed to thrive in herstructure and control, was managing with a fifteen-year-old kid. It’d been awhile since I was that young, but fuck, I remember enough to know I was alittle rebelling bastard. The talking back, the power struggles, and the hormonaloutbursts.
“Iget it,” she practically growled under her breath before releasing her fieryexhale.
Shereached forward and daintily picked up the porcelain cup. As she sippedlightly, I was scheming. Plotting ways to unravel all of those tightly boundlayers and reveal the disaster undoubtedly underneath. To dirty her up and makeher live. She needed a slice of greasy pizza. A big fucking hamburger. Buffalowings. Hard-shell tacos. God, some cookie crumbs would’ve been refreshing rightabout now, just to see her relax, as she placed the mug back on the table andrepositioned her carefully crossed legs.
Ormaybe, she really just needs to be fucked.I swallowed andblinked away the thought, hoping my dick would get the memo.
“Maybeyou’re right,” she admitted with a notable amount of reluctance. “Maybe it’d bebest to just … get it over with right away.”
Pressingmy hand to my chest, I tipped my head with exaggerated compassion. “Tabby, Iknow that must’ve taken so much for you to say. Thank you. Just …” I wiped awaya phantom tear. “Thank you so much.”
Onegroomed brow twitched as her emerald eyes squinted in my direction. I wonderedwhat her laugh sounded like. If she had one.
“Youdrive your bandmates insane, don’t you?” she asked astutely, shaking her head.
Ishrugged, quirking my lips into a smug grin. “It’s a gift.”
“Sureit is.” So curt. So sharp. “Maybe you could meet Greyson tonight, if you aren’tbusy. He’d probably love it.”
“Ah,well, I thought I’d head downtown for some good ol’ cow tippin’, but if you’regonna twist my arm, I guess I could clear my schedule,” I deadpanned with astraight face, and hot damn, there might’ve been the faintest glimmer of amusementtwinkling in those gemstone eyes.
“Great.I pick him up from school at three, so maybe you could meet us for dinner,” shesaid, reaching for her purse and pulling out a planner.
“Wait,are you actually penciling me in?”
“Idon’t want to forget,” she explained pointedly, pulling a pen from the spiralbinding.
“Youwould actually forget dinner plans a few hours after making them?” I cocked adisbelieving brow, but when she turned to me with her stony expression, Irelented. “Well, shit. Okay. You know, they have these cellphone apps that helpwith memory loss. My mom—”
“Howdoes five work for you?” Her words carried along her irritated sigh.
Grippingthe back of my neck and squeezing, I tipped my head. “Hmm … yeah, I guess I canfit you in between watching the grass grow and—”
“Great.”She snapped her planner shut and stuffed it back into her bag before turning tome. “Can I be very honest with you for a moment?”
“God,please,” I breathed with relief. “I thrive on honesty. Unless I’mbullshitting.”
“I’msure you think you’re charming and funny, and I’m fairly certain thisobnoxiously arrogant, rock star thing gets you laid on a regular basis,” sheraked her scrutinizing glare over me. “But in the short time I’ve known you, Ican very plainly tell that you reached the age of thirteen and there, yourpersonality and maturity have stayed. If I wasn’t at my wit’s end, I honestlywouldn’t want you anywhere near my nephew. But, because I’m desperate, I’mwilling to give this a chance.”
Iraised my eyebrows with honest intrigue as she continued, “But you are on aprobation period, Mr. Morrison orMoore—whatever your name is. So, ifyou doanythingto influence him negatively or hurt him inanyway, I reserve the right to demand you remove yourself from his life. And Ireally don’t care how much he admires you professionally. The last thing thatkid needs is for some flaky man-child to break his heart. Do you understandme?”
Byall accounts, I should’ve been infuriated by her feisty little speech. I shouldhave stood up and announced that the next time she saw me, it’d be in court. YetI wasn’t mad, nor was I going to make any threats. Because, underneath that cast-ironexterior, was a woman who cared about her nephew and only wanted to help him.And because she’d been so refreshingly and beautifully honest.
Leaningtoward her, the creak of leather slicing through the silence around us, I broughtmy eyes within centimeters of hers. Our foreheads nearly touched and the bittercoffee floating on her hot breath tickled against my lips, so strong I couldalmost taste it.
“Youshould let yourself be honest more often,” I whispered, as I watched theunrelenting stone in her features begin to chip.
***
HogHill was, for lack of a better phrase, total shit.
Thetown had a coffee shop, one real estate agency, a library, an Italianrestaurant, and a drive-thru burger joint I’d never heard of called Billy’sBeef & Buns. That was the extent of their exciting downtown, while the restof the place seemed to consist of mostly farmland, a few blocks of appealingsuburbia, and a Wal-Mart.
Nowonder a kid around here would go insane. There was nothing to do, unless theyhad some killer afterschool reading programs at the library. But I wasn’tholding my breath.
