“Sure,” Mom agreed, and I scooted off before she could say anything else. The last thing I needed to do this morning was start another fight with my mother over the man who had me tied in knots.
Somehow, I made it to work on time and felt slightly better. I could use another eight hours of sleep and a greasy cheeseburger, but that wasn’t anything really new. Katherine, the early-learning center manager and my boss, was in a mood today, and I was doing everything I could to pretend I hadn’t been out drinking and making a fool of myself in front of my ex.
“Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Taylor muttered under her breath while we were outside collecting the toys.
Stepping into the sandpit, I picked up shovels, forks, and buckets, tossing them into the mesh bag dangling on my arm.
“I thought it was just me she was pissy at,” I replied with a shrug.
“You? Why would she be pissy at you?”
“I don’t know. She just snapped a couple of times.”
“I think she needs to get laid,” Taylor suggested like it was nothing while I snorted, Jake’s image springing to mind instantly.
I’d loved the boy I’d grown up with, but there was no doubt about it, he was all man now. His stomach was a washboard of tanned abs and that dangerous V which made good girls do dumb things. His arms were sculpted, and his chest looked like it was carved from marble. But it was the scruff on his jaw, the mischief in his eyes, and the scent of his skin that had me craving him like I was an addict desperate for my next hit.
“And from that look on your face, she’s not the only one,” Taylor teased, setting the bike she’d been wheeling across the yard aside and turning toward me. “Spill, girl.”
I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Picturing Jake standing there in the middle of the night wearing nothing but his black boxers would have you smiling too. “There’s nothing to spill,” I lied.
“Yeah, right. I’m calling bullshit. You’ve got something going on, and as your best friend, I need to know.”
“Best friend, huh?”
“Well, obviously? Cass calls me Aunt TayTay, and I adore the munchkin. Which means, Aunt TayTay is available for babysitting anytime Momma needs to get her freak on with whatever hotty she’s hiding.”
I snort laughed. How could I not? When Taylor was talking so much shit, it was impossible to take her seriously. It’s probably why I loved her. She didn’t judge me for what she knew of my life, and I appreciated that more than anything. And the things she didn’t know… well, some secrets were better off kept locked away, even though I got the distinct feeling that sooner rather than later the cat would be let out of the bag.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I promised, shaking my head.
“Are you two done gossiping out there? The bookshelf needs to be sorted,” Katherine yelled across the yard from where she stood admiring her manicure with her nose scrunched up like she’d smelled something funky.
Taylor rolled her eyes, and I smacked my hand over my mouth to keep from giggling. Katherine certainly had that stick planted fair up her ass today, and I was trying to fly under her radar as much as possible. My hangover might’ve lifted, but nothing moved the bone-weary exhaustion kicking my ass.
“Be right there, Katherine,” Taylor replied politely. Thankfully, Katherine couldn’t see the face Taylor pulled as she said it, or she’d probably be written up with an official warning.
“Tonight, we’re going out, and you’re spilling whatever it is you’re hiding, missy,” Taylor directed, pointing her finger at me.
“Can’t tonight. Last night was…” Stupid. Amazing. Unbelievable. Terrifying. All of the above? “A late one. I already have big plans that involve laundry and an early night,” I told her.
“Boring!”
“You know it,” I confirmed with a wink before I carried the bag full of toys over and hung them on the hook in the storage shed.
“Fine. Be a boring old woman then. But Friday night…”
“Friday?”
“Yep. You, me, and Cass. Girls’ night at my place. I’ll supply the popcorn and the wine, you bring the juicy gossip.” Taylor lifted the last bike into the rack before heading inside, no doubt to sort out the books and keep Katherine from climbing on her broomstick and turning into the Wicked Witch of the West.
I made it through the day without getting fired or written up, and from how much of a bitch Katherine had been today, that in itself was a miracle. After picking Cass up from day care, we’d come home, and I was sitting on the floor in the bathroom, watching as she had the time of her life splashing around and soaking everything, including me.
Picking up the washcloth, I tried to wash her face, only for her to bat my hands away and drench me, leaving my pale pink shirt clinging to my skin.
“Cass, you’re making a mess,” I told her, earning me a squeal.
Seeing her like this, so happy and carefree, made everything worth it. Cass was my world, and right now she was having a ball, and all it took was an old plastic cup and my attention.
