“Why?” she whines. “What did I do?”
“You were supposed to be taking the bus, but you arrived home with some guy who is too old for you!”
“He’s—”
“He’s driving!” I cut her off before she can come up with some lame-ass excuse. “That automatically makes him too old. You’re fourteen! You shouldn’t be kissing anyone yet.”
“Ew! Zoey kissed a boy.” Olly sticks out his tongue.
Logan and Cole whip a look at her, their heads moving in unison. “Who?”
“None of your business.” Zoey makes a face at them, then turns to scowl at me. “And I’m not too young to be someone’s valentine. He made me a card and everything.” She waves it inthe air, and it’s taking everything in me not to snatch it off her and tear it into little pieces.
Shit! I can’t believe my daughter is kissing guys now.
And double shit, I can’t believe I forgot Valentine’s Day. Am I blind? They advertise that shit all over the place, but I’ve been too preoccupied with my own stupid shit to register that I needed to get my ass organized.
And now I have no time to do anything.
“The least I could do was kiss him.”
Zoey’s words register, and I snap my head to look at her. “Is he your boyfriend?”
She shrugs. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” I flick my arms wide. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Dad just said hell!” Olly jumps on his toes with a gleeful grin.
“Thank you, Oliver,” I growl and force a closed-mouth smile when he reaches for my hand.
“Why are you so grumpy?” His big, sweet eyes gaze up at me. All soft and caring, just like his mother’s.
“Because he thinks his daughter is still four years old!” Zoey snaps.
“No, it’s because they didn’t get to the Super Bowl,” Logan explains.
“That’s not it.” Cole shakes his head. “It’s because he’s forgotten Valentine’s Day, and Mom will be pissed.”
“Cole just said pissed!” Olly points at him.
His big brother glares down at him. “Shut up, squirt.”
Olly gasps, and I give my oldest son a little grunt. “Watch it.”
“Sorry, Dad.”
Tipping my head at Olly, I quietly demand a little more. Cole rolls his eyes with a sigh. “Sorry, Oliver.”
“That’s okay.” Olly, the ever-adoring younger brother, grins at him, but I’m too busy staring at Logan, who has taken it upon himself to look thoroughly horrified and disgusted with me.
“I can’t believe you forgot Valentine’s Day. What is wrong with you?”
“Stop it,” I growl, pointing at him, then wagging my finger around the room. “All of you! Stop looking at me like that! Shit!”
Olly sighs, lets go of my hand, and grabs the swear jar off the counter, giving it a jingle.
Cole crosses his arms and leans against the archway with a smirk. “We should really figure out some kind of digital system for that thing. You know, like tap your phone and go. It’d be way more efficient.”
