And then across his broad chest.
That was weird, right?
That would have been a weird thing to do.
Good lord, what was wrong with me?
“It’ll be fun,” he coaxed, when I didn’t answer him. “We can reminisce about how mean you were to me in high school.”
“Levi, it’s sweet of you to offer, but—”
“But you’d like to pay?” he jumped in, a teasing smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “I insist on paying, Ruby. It’s not that I don’t believe in all that equality stuff, it’s just that I’m the one dragging you away from your very busy life and so I feel like it’s my duty to provide sustenance and libations.”
Feeling increasingly flustered, I ran a hand through my wild hair. It got tangled halfway through and I had to tug my fingers free. “It’s not that, it’s just that—”
“Mommy!”
Oh no.
Oh shit.
“Mommy!”
Max.
Levi and I turned at the same time, both of our eyes wide—mine with fear and his with confusion.
I caught Max as he threw himself at me, launching himself so his arms landed around my waist. “Mommy!” he squealed happily.
Wrapping my arms around his back, I raised my eyebrows at my mom. She looked as rough and haggard as eight miles of bad road. Her graying hair was piled haphazardly on top of her head and her oversized Pink Floyd t-shirt was shoved into a cheap pleather skirt. There was a shadow of the beauty she used to be in there somewhere, but for the most part, Maxine Dawson was as intimidating as they got.
“He wanted some chicken.” She shrugged. “He was getting a little jittery after all the candy. I figured he could use some grease.”
There were just so many things in that explanation I wanted to tackle. For instance, why all the candy? She was the adult. She could stop the candy at any time. Also the grease—pretty sure that wasn’t going to solve his sugar high.
Instead, I hugged Max tighter to my body, shielding him from Levi’s watchful gaze. “Chicken? I thought you were more of a spaghetti guy.”
“There’s spaghetti?” He rested his chin on my belly and looked up at me.
“At Lorenzo’s. With meatballs.”
He pushed away from my body and before I could stop him, he’d spun around to face my mom. “Grammy, you never told me there was spaghetti.”
She shrugged again. “I figured your mom could get you the chicken for free.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Levi’s head whip back and forth between my mom and son. Max was my mini me. Except for those green eyes, he was my spitting image. My dark curly hair, my straight nose, my non-dimpled smile. Sure, he was taller and smarter than most of the kids in his class and incredibly athletic for his age, but that could have been passed down from any man.
Levi’s words bounced around in my head, feeding the panicked fire in my gut.She’s obsessed with finding the right match to carry on the Cole family name.
That so wasn’t me. I wasn’t the right match. I wasn’t the right candidate to create a Cole legacy.
I ruffled Max’s hair with my hand and loved the feel of his bouncy curls. I did make a great kid though. She couldn’t argue with me about that.
Quickly reaching into my apron, I pulled out a ten-dollar bill. “Here, Mom. Take the boy for some spaghetti. I’m done in about an hour.”
“Can we get ice cream, too?” he asked me with big eyes, and I melted on the inside.
“Yeah, maybe.” I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Be good for Grammy though, yeah?”
