“Wow,” I said. “I need to be careful what I say around you.”
“And wear,” Alice laughed.
“And that’s my cue,” I said and headed for my truck.
It took me a few minutes, but I finally found an old T-shirt crammed in the storage underneath the back seat. Then I got into the front and called Bronze.
15
PRESLEY
Ihurried to my bedroom to get ready, and Ariel did the same. Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about what to wear. She’d asked me about the self-defense class a few weeks before. Since I knew I was going to be in content viewed by far more people than had ever viewed anything of mine collectively, I immediately started shopping for an outfit. But my mother was right. It was going to take me more than a few minutes to get ready because I had to take a shower and wash my hair. I had oily hair that needed to be washed every day. While the extra oil kept my hair looking healthy, the daily shampooing and maintenance were a pain in the ass.
When I got out of the shower, I cracked my bedroom door open and asked, “Mom, do I have time to dry my hair?”
“Yes! You've got plenty of time. Ink’s friends won’t be here until noon. He said to tell you he’d see you at the clubhouse. He went home to take a shower and get some things ready for the class.”
“Okay. Do you want to order something for breakfast while I finish in here?”
“Already taken care of. Ink placed an order with Irene’s Diner for delivery. He said it would take twenty to thirty minutes.”
“If I’m not out when it gets here, go ahead and start without me,” I said and returned to my bathroom. Since I had some extra time, I got back in the shower and shaved everything that needed shaving. Then I got dressed and dried my hair.
By the time we were loaded up and headed to the Blackwings clubhouse, my nerves were in high gear. I’d had time to think about learning self-defense techniques from Ink and his friends while being watched in real time by my mother’s followers.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” my mom asked. “We can say you became ill after breakfast and had to stay home.”
“Yes, I do. I guess I’m a little nervous. I’ve only done a handful of live streams with you, and you’ve grown substantially since the last one.” And the man I’m starting to develop feelings for will be watching me potentially make a fool of myself.
“I think it has more to do with a different audience,” my mom laughed. “What do you have to be nervous about anyway? He’s already spending the night.”
“What?” I asked in surprise. “Wait. Yes, he spent the night last night, but he slept on the couch. How did you know that?”
“I’m a mother. A shirtless man is standing in your living room with his protective pants on at o’dark thirty. It wasn’t hard to put together.”
“The pillow and blankets helped, too,” my dad said from the driver’s seat. “I’m more interested inwhyhe had his protective pants on.”
I sighed and told my parents about the events of the previous day. “I honestly haven’t had a chance to call and tell you about the detective. I didn’t mention it at your doctor’s appointment because I was still trying to convince myself I was being paranoid.”
“I’m glad Ink was there with you, but I want you to call me the next time some asshole is giving you a hard time. I don’t care who he is or what time it is. You call me,” my dad said.
“I will,” I promised. “I was going to call you, and I would have if Ink wasn’t available, but he sort of volunteered himself.”
“Because he has his protective pants on,” my mom practically squealed.
“Why is Nana so happy about these protective pants?” Ariel asked my dad.
“Because she thinks you’re finally gonna have a real dad,” my dad said comically.
“Okay,” I said and straightened in my seat. “We’re almost at the clubhouse. Can we save the new daddy and protective pants chatter for after the class, when Ink isn’t around?” I asked, though it wasn’t a question. I didn’t think I could handle my parents’ light-hearted teasing and well-meaning intentions along with all the other unique stressors.
“We’ll be on our best behavior,” my mom promised.
My mother’spromise to behave vanished into the ether when she walked into the gym at the clubhouse and saw our instructors.
“Oh, Presley,” Mom said quietly. “You deserve a finder’s fee for this. Pick a number. One through twenty.”
“Seventeen?” I said, unsure of what she was doing.
