Talked to Ryker. He’s been briefed by Tanner. He’s all over the church lady.
That means you broke your promise to me. Right to my face, you promised. You lied.
You know what that means, Merry. You shared my shit. That means we’re over in every way we can be over.
DONE.
They were over?
There was something between his mom and Merry to be over?
She’d told him there wasn’t.
But she hadn’t told him the truth.
She was protecting him.
Again.
Ethan felt his heart beating real hard.
There were words in the message line that hadn’t been sent.
I fucked us up, baby, and I’m so fucking sorry.
She called Merry “baby.” She didn’t call anyone “baby” unless she liked them a whole heckuva lot.
It said I fucked us up.
His mom and Merry were an us!
And they were fighting.
“Kid! You want hash browns for breakfast or what?” his mom called.
She was coming his way.
Ethan bit his lip.
Then he hit send.
Real quick, he typed in, Don’t text. If you forgive me, come see me.
He sent that too.
Then, super quick, he moved to his gramma’s text string just as his mom hit the kitchen.
Screen out, he waved her phone at her. “Gramma wants us to plan a family dinner.”
“I’ll get right on that after we get back from DC for the dinner the president and first lady are putting on in our honor.”
Ethan burst out laughing.
His mom was totally funny.
And because of that and all the other cool that was his mom, Merry would come. Ethan knew it.
No texting. Merry was like Colt. He was a real dude. Ethan was sure he didn’t play games. Ethan knew this because Merry hadn’t messed around when he was worried about that guy who was running around with a gun in their neighborhood. Even if his mom was trying to play things cool for Ethan’s sake, Merry kept close to look out for Ethan and his mom. So Ethan knew Merry wouldn’t mess around with stuff like that. Not stuff that was important.
Stuff like his mom.
They’d talk. They’d make up. His mom could be stubborn, but Merry would break through.
They thought he was a kid. They thought he didn’t see. They thought he didn’t hear.
But he saw. He heard. He watched, because he sensed what he was seeing was how it should be and it felt good, being around the way they were.
That being that sometimes Feb could be stubborn too, and Colt broke through. So could Vi, and Cal always broke through too. Rocky was full of attitude—she was Merry’s sister so he knew all about that—and Tanner always just thought it was funny, and when he laughed at her, Rocky didn’t get ticked. Her face got all soft like she loved him even more because the way she was made him laugh.
Ethan’s mom was super funny. She’d make Merry laugh all the time.
So they’d make up. Merry would see to that. Merry was in no way a stupid dude, and any guy would want a lady who’d make him laugh all the time. Ethan knew that for certain. He knew it because Colt did, so did Cal, Mike, Tanner. And when Ethan found his babe, that was what he would want too.
And after they made up, they’d stop hiding things from him so his mom could protect him like she did when that bad guy effed her over so bad.
Then…
Then…
Then Merry would be around all the time.
And she’d finally be happy.
Chapter Nine
Hangin’ in There
Cher
Wednesday Morning
I was in my living room, vacuuming, an activity that for some reason in a house with only a thirty-four-year-old woman and a ten-almost-eleven-year-old kid living in it, had to happen more than once a week.
As was my way, to take my mind off something that was not my favorite activity, not to mention it was right then officially a week (and a couple of hours) since I’d let loose on Merry, fucked up everything between us, and I hadn’t seen or heard from him at all, I had my music up loud.
I liked rock ‘n’ roll.
There was some guitar-twanging country that didn’t drive me up the wall.
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