“Thanks,” she whispered.
Brandon opened the sliding glass door and heard Matt crooning to Duke, telling the dog what a good boy he was. Matt had the animal sprawled on the kitchen floor, rubbing Duke’s belly. The lump in Brandon’s throat threatened to choke him when Matt looked up with an ear-to-ear grin on his face. The innocence in his son’s eyes almost had him telling Trish to forget it. That he wouldn’t allow her to drag Matt back to the hell he’d gone through after she’d left. But her broken please kept reminding him that she was only human and she was still Matt’s mother.
Matt must have sensed Brandon’s turmoil, because the smile on his face faded. “What’s wrong?”
Duke rolled back over and thumped his tail on the floor when he spotted Brandon. He held his cell phone out to Matt. “Your mother’s on the phone. She’d like to talk to you.”
The light in the kid’s eyes faded, darkening to the familiar confusion laced with anguish Brandon had seen too many times in the past. “Why would I want to talk to her?”
Brandon placed the heel of his palm over the phone so Trish wouldn’t hear them. “Just give her a chance, Matt.”
Matt’s jaw hardened, mirroring the same tug-of-war Brandon always felt when it came to Trish. “Do you want me to talk to her?”
Matt had never asked him that before, so Brandon had to think about it for a second. “The decision is yours,” he answered. “I know you don’t have warm feelings for her, but she’s still your mom. She sounds sincere this time.”
“What do you mean?”
Brandon held out the phone again. “Just talk to her.”
Matt’s throat worked up and down as he stared at the device. Then he took it, slowly sliding it out of Brandon’s hand and placing it up to his ear. “Yeah,” Matt greeted.
Brandon stood back while Matt walked out of the kitchen, then settled on the couch in the living room. Would Matt be receptive to the mother he didn’t know, after all these years? Would Trish try and backpedal by offering all kinds of excuses and justifications for her long absence?
The situation was so complicated and delicate that Brandon didn’t have the first clue how to handle it.
Matt’s deep voice floated from the living room. Brandon couldn’t hear what was being said and didn’t want to eavesdrop. As much as he wanted to know what Trish was saying to him, Brandon also knew it was between Matt and his mother. So he busied himself with dinner, preheating the oven and taking a bag of frozen garlic bread out of the freezer. When that only killed about ten seconds, he moved on to Duke and poured a scoop of food in the dog’s bowl. Duke slowly pushed to his feet and ambled to his bowl, his dog collar tags clinking together when he walked. Brandon ruffled Duke’s ears, then went back to the fridge for a soda. What he wouldn’t do for a beer, but with having a kid, Brandon hadn’t wanted to keep alcohol in the house. So he settled for a Coke, twisting the cap off and tossing the thing on the counter.
From the living room, Matt chuckled, followed by a short response. Then he stood from the couch, cell phone in hand.
Brandon eyed the phone but didn’t say anything. Didn’t press for details. “Quick conversation,” Brandon observed.
Matt shrugged and placed the phone on the kitchen counter, without making eye contact. Not good. “She had to go. She said she’d call me next week.”
Brandon pulled a sip of his soda. “You gave her your number?”
“Sure.”
Brandon nodded and ran his gaze over Matt’s too long hair and firmly set mouth. “Everything okay?”
Matt crossed his arms over his chest. “Sure.”
Brandon nodded again, because he was an idiot who couldn’t seem to do anything else. “Want a soda?”
“Sure.”
Brandon lifted a brow as he snagged another Coke from the fridge. “Can we try for something other than sure?”
Matt accepted the soda and twisted the cap and offered a half-smile. “Absolutely?”
Brandon returned the grin. “Smart-ass.” They drank in silence for a moment, while Duke munched away on his dinner, scattering kibble all over the floor. “Seriously, Matt. No BS. You know you can talk to me.”
Matt shrugged again and picked at the soda label. “I don’t know. She sounded kind of weird.”
“Probably because you haven’t talked to her in a while.”
“I guess.”
More silence.
“She said the first time she called you wouldn’t let her talk to me,” Matt said.
Why would Trish say that to him? Was she trying to make him out to be the bad guy? “I’m just trying to protect you, Matt. She’s hurt you too many times in the past.”
Red flushed into Matt’s cheeks. “No, I know. I mean, I understand why you told her no. But she’s still my mom. I don’t want to be a dick to her or anything.”
That was his boy. Always considerate of other people’s feelings. “Yeah,” Brandon agreed. Then he pointed the tip of his bottle toward Matt. “Except don’t say dick.” The oven dinged, so Brandon grabbed the bread and stuck it in to cook for fifteen minutes.
“I’m going to do some homework before dinner,” Matt announced before he left the kitchen.
Brandon watched him leave with mixed feelings churning in his gut. How far would Trish allow this to go before Matt got too attached again? And what would happen when she eventually stopped calling, like all the other times? Brandon would be left to pick up the pieces.
“You’re a sadistic bitch,” Stella bit out as a bead of sweat rolled toward her temple.
Annabelle only grinned. “Keep it up with the compliments. You’re so good at them.”
“Bite me,” Stella replied as she pushed through her last set of reps on the weight machine Annabelle had her on.
“And then do ten more,” she instructed when Stella finished.
She lifted her head off the machine and pinned her best friend with a glare. “Seriously? Are you trying to kill me?”
Annabelle rolled her eyes. “Oh come on. You’re barely breaking a sweat.” She smacked Stella’s sweaty shoulder.
Stella’s leg quivered as she rolled through another ten reps. “When did you get so mean?”
Annabelle tilted her head and offered a sugary smile. “When I met you.”
Stella huffed out a breath and stared at the ceiling. “One would think with all the amazing sex you’re having with the hot football coach that you’d be nicer. You know, to those of us back on planet Earth who aren’t getting any?”
“Well then go get yourself some.” Annabelle busied herself with some strap on the machine. “With Brandon, for example.”
Stella’s foot slipped off the weight. “What? Have you lost your mind?”
Annabelle laughed, then slapped a hand over her mouth.