As Smith, Mr. Wade, and Billy argued obscure mutants and villains, Hector and Lafayette backed away.
“Who knew the big guy was a nerd?” Hector asked.
Smith smirked. “A super nerd.”
Billy and Mr. Wade grinned, and Billy said, “I bet there’s already a Marvel hero out there with that ability.”
Smith looked at Billy and his grandfather, his good mood restored. “Mr. Wade, do I get a bonus if I noogie your grandson?”
Wade stared down at the boy. “For that slight on Doctor Bong, I think you have to.”
The restof the day passed swiftly. The Jackson brothers made no more mention of Smith’s new brothers, though they did tease him unmercifully about being a nerd. So Smith got them back by digging on them for pussying out on their significant others. Lafayette had a boyfriend, and for a time Smith had worried for the guy, about what Cash might do if he found out.
Turned out his brother was an equal opportunity asshole. Gay, straight, woman, man, white, black, and everything and everyone in between, Cash poked fun at everyone.
Smith couldn’t care less about orientation. In the Corps he’d been good friends with a guy who’d had a crush on him. Smith had found it flattering, the idea of being wanted by anyone a compliment, though he and his friend had never mentioned it.
Was that why he liked Erin so much? Because she liked him back?
The idea bothered him while he drove home, tired after a full day. So he wasn’t in the best mood when he returned home and listened to his voicemail. He had five messages on his cell phone. And none of them had been from Erin.
The first two he deleted. Friggin’ telemarketers. The next one was from Evan, bugging him about dinner at “their” aunt’s again. Smith would call him back tomorrow. The last two froze him in his seat, and his mind blanked.
He replayed them, wondering if he’d been hearing things.
“Boy, you know it’s me. Your mother. Not your real mother. Margaret. I need you to help me move. My back isn’t so good anymore. And I can’t exactly afford to hire an outfit to move me.” She blathered on about how he owed her and his responsibilities as a good son, which shocked him.
The following message was worse. “I know you’ll think about deleting this, pretending you didn’t hear it. But guess what? I know something you’d die to know. I have a letter fromyour father. Yes, the man who fucked your mother and knocked her up. Allen Smith. He left a note for you six months ago. If you want to read what it says, you’ll do what a good son should and help me out. I did my best to raise you, but you were such a selfish, egotistical…”
He tuned the rest out, replaying the part about his father.
Did he believe her? Could he afford not to? But did he want to learn anything about the fucker who’d cheated with Angela then disappeared? The same man who’d done nothing to help him and left him to Margaret Ramsey to raise?
Stirred up, he sat on his weight bench and curled twenty pounders for a while. The mindless reps helped him deal, so when he received a text inviting him to Erin’s, he felt in a good frame of mind to visit.
He knocked on the door, and she let him in to a tiny apartment filled with the smell of something amazing.
He didn’t know what to say.Why did you ignore me all day? Am I being needy? Are you done with me now that we’ve had a marathon fuckfest? What should I do about the shitty woman who’s now blackmailing me?He settled on, “Hi.”
Erin gave him a shy smile, and he hated that he wanted to forgive her anything if she’d still like him.
“Hi.” She looked nervous, clutching her hands tightly in front of her. Then she groaned and darted into his arms for a kiss that shook him. “I wanted to do that all day. I also wanted to text you a bazillion times. But I thought that might be too clingy, so I didn’t. But I missed you all day today. I’m sorry.”
It took him a moment to understand her rush of words, and when he did, he felt ten times the man he’d been thinking he was. He put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up so he could see her eyes. “Is it bad that I missed you all day too?”
Her slow smile mesmerized him. “Good. I wouldn’t want to think I’m forgettable.”
“With those witchy eyes? No way. You scare me.”
She frowned. “What’s wrong with my eyes?”
He picked her up and settled her on the kitchen counter. “They’re mesmerizing. I look into them, and I can’t look away.”
She locked her hands around his neck. “Oh. That’s okay then.” She drew him close for a kiss.
As usual, just her scent aroused him. The feathery touch of silk lips against his own made him hungry for more. But he caught her softening, a subtle care in the way she kissed him.
He drew back, studying her for some clue to the way she watched him. With caution and something more.
