I knew I should filter some of the shit that came out of my mouth, but I didn’t bother.
I dressed in a way I knew people thought was more than a little skanky, but I liked it. It made me a dick magnet of the extreme variety, but even knowing this, living and breathing it, I still didn’t change. I just couldn’t bring myself to tone it down. I liked the way it looked—it was me—and I’d learned the hard way to be nothing but me.
And I ate lots of candy.
I followed my son, sharing my wisdom, “The diet pop negates the candy bars.”
“It sucks that that makes sense and is probably true,” he muttered, turning the corner into the snack aisle. Another bad habit…for both of us.
“Considering your concern for my nutrition, maybe we should skip this aisle and go straight to the carrots.”
He lifted his eyes and gave me a look.
I grinned at him.
He rolled his eyes, the ends of his mouth curling up, and went right to the microwave popcorn.
I followed him, thinking about how in a couple of years, he’d be taller than me. A year or two after that, his voice would drop. A year or two after that, he’d be dating. A year or two after that, he’d be on his way to building his own life.
In other words, this time was precious.
Every moment was precious—I knew that—but this time it was even more.
I’d had ten, nearly eleven years where he was mine. I shared him because I was generous that way.
But still, he was all mine.
That time was more than half over.
Seven more years and…
“Theater style or cheddar?” Ethan asked, breaking into my thoughts.
“Uh…duh,” I answered as my phone in my purse rang. “Both.”
That was when Ethan grinned full-out at me.
Yeah, Trent had given him good. My boy would be handsome when he got older because he was cute as hell right now.
Though, those were my eyes that were bright with humor, so my genes didn’t fall down on the job.
Ethan got both kinds of popcorn and tossed them into the cart.
I dug my phone out of my purse and looked at it.
The instant my eyes hit it, the balm of being with my son disappeared and that thorn drove in deeper, twisting, the prongs at the sides tearing at flesh.
The screen said, Merry Calling.
I dropped the phone back in my purse.
“Who’s that?”
At his question, I looked to my kid.
I did not lie to him. Lies were bad and I didn’t want him to catch me in one and be disappointed or get the idea lying was okay (this was going to be hard to keep up if Trent and Peg actually pulled their bullshit).
I tried to give it to him straight. Sometimes I softened it. Sometimes I shielded him from things he really didn’t need to know or was too young to know. But as best I could, I gave it to him straight.
This had led to us having some awkward conversations, especially the last year or so. He was growing up, as were the kids around him. Shit happened, was heard, seen, watched on TV, or caught in movies, and Ethan had been taught he could come to me with anything.
So he did.
And I gave it to him straight.
So when he asked the question that was simple to him but not to me, I did what I always did.
“Merry,” I answered.
His brows went up. “Why didn’t you take the call?”
He asked because he knew Merry was a friend. He knew this because, being a friend, we had occasions to be together outside me serving Merry drinks at J&J’s, times when Ethan was around. Parties. Barbeques. Picnics. Basketball and football games Colt would organize with adults and kids. Hanging at the carnival at Arbuckle Acres during the Fourth of July. Heading out with Colt and Feb and their speedboat to a lake.
Merry was in his life. Merry liked kids, dug Ethan, and often passed a ball or Frisbee with him, teased him, shot the shit with him, ruffled his hair, squeezed the back of his neck, laughed when Ethan was funny, made Ethan laugh by being funny.
Hold On
Kristen Ashley's books
- Holding the Dream
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Moon Island(Vampire Destiny Book 7)
- Illusion(The Vampire Destiny Book 2)
- Upon A Midnight Clear
- Son Of The Morning
- MacKenzie's mission(MacKenzie Family Saga #2)
- Loving Evangeline(Patterson-Cannon Family series #1)
- A Billionaire's Redemption
- A Convenient Proposal
- A Dishonorable Knight
- A Headstrong Woman
- A Passion for Pleasure
- Atonement
- Beyond a Doubt
- Beyond Control
- Cavanaugh on Duty
- Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds)
- Conceal, Protect
- Conflict of Interest
- Confessing to the Cowboy
- Dreams Don't Wait
- Explosive Attraction
- Find Wonder in All Things
- Forbidden Fires (Bondage & Breakfast)
- Galveston Between Wind and Water
- Game On
- Gone with the Wolf
- Honor's Players
- Illusions of Love
- Intaglio Dragons All The Way Down
- Just One Song
- Living London
- Lone Wolf (Shifters Unbound)
- Love Resolution
- Lyon's Crew
- Mountain Moonlight
- Need A Want Companion Novel
- Of One Heart
- Once a Bad Girl
- Once a Thief
- Once Again a Bride
- Once and Again
- Once Touched, Never Forgotten
- Once Upon a Kiss
- Once Upon a Prince
- One Desert Night
- One More Kiss
- One More Sleepless Night
- One Night of Misbehavior
- One Night Standoff
- One Texas Night
- Only Love (The Atonement Series)
- Operation Endurance
- Primal Bonds
- Questions of Trust A Medical Romance
- Reflection Point
- Retribution
- Savage Redemption
- Second Chance
- Secure Location
- Someone I Used to Know
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Soul Bonded
- Sunset Seduction
- Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters)
- Sweet On You
- Tempting Cameron
- That Carrington Magic
- The Bridgertons Happily Ever After
- The Demon's Song
- The Dragon and the Pearl
- The Lone Rancher
- The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret
- Translation of Love
- Twisted Perfection
- Vision In White
- When Love's Gone Country
- The Lost Tycoon
- Down on Her Knees
- Love, Your Concierge
- A Demon Made Me Do It
- Campbell_Book One
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection
- A Question of Honor
- Blood on Copperhead Trail
- Passion and the Prince
- Top Secret Twenty-One
- Dungeon Royale
- Make Me Bad(Private Lessons)
- My Fair Billionaire
- Writing Our Song:A Billionaire Romance
- Kissed by Moonlight
- Redemption in Love
- The Masterful Mr. Montague
- Diamonds are Forever
- Every Second with You
- If You Only Knew