Rex was playing it cool. He lounged with his arm flung across the back of the bench seat in his leather jacket, floppy hair, and cocky smirk.
Roman was playing it cool, too, but not on the same level as Rex. My younger boy still had a boyish way about him, but watching the looks the girls were sending him, they liked it. It just meant that between them, my boys had all the girls in town between the ages of fourteen and seventeen covered.
A thought occurred to me. “Is your mom giving you rubbers?”
“What the fuck?” Rex exclaimed.
Roman’s cheeks heated.
“You think I wasn’t your age once?” I reminded them. “I looked like you, too, but I was more of a little asshole, which meant I had even more tail chasing me.”
Roman ducked his head, which told me he was a virgin, thank fuck.
Rex’s lips twitched, which told me he wasn’t.
“You gettin’ it regular?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I do alright.”
“You better be wrappin’ it up, boy,” I told him, a thread of warning in my tone.
“I’m not stupid,” he shot back.
“You’re sixteen, and you look like that,” I pointed out. “Of course you’re fuckin’ stupid. What’s the expression? Young, dumb, and full’a cum.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Roman said reassuringly. “He only does it with older girls.”
I rubbed at the headache forming in my temple and sighed. “Well, I guess I should be thankful for that at least.”
“So I like older women,” he said with a shrug.
There was no arguing with that, seeing as I was the same at his age. Though I knew his taste would change as he got older. Mine did.
“He gets his wraps from his buds at school,” Rome told me knowingly. “Mom’s usually too high to notice if we need...” He must have seen my face harden because the words trailed off.
“Shit,” Rex cursed under his breath.
Bree was getting high? I knew she was using because I had contacts in town. They had told me they’d seen her scoring, but I thought it was recreational. If I’d have known she was doing that shit in front of the boys, I’d have stepped in before now.
I felt my mouth go tight as I leaned over the table toward them and bit out, “Tell me.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Rex murmured. “I’ve got it under control.”
My lip curled into a snarl, and I repeated, “Tell me.”
Rex shot Roman an accusing glare before turning back toward me. “She’s been partyin’ more than usual, is all. I already sat her down and told her to calm her shit. She promised she would.”
My jaw clenched so tight I thought it would shatter. “You shouldn’t be dealin’ with that, Rex. The reason I know that is ’cause I had to live with the same shit, and I swore if I ever had kids, they’d have a better life. If your mom’s usin’ when you’re around, I want you both outta there.”
“Can’t leave her,” Rex declared. “She needs us. Not leavin’ her on her own to deal with that prick.”
My chest began to burn. “What’s he done?”
The boys shot each other a look.
“You'd better start explainin’, boys,” I cut out. “Or I swear to God, I’ll catch a plane to Cali and find out myself.”
“I’ve dealt with it,” Rex said, his tone almost accusing. “You don’t gotta worry. She’s not your problem; you left her, remember?”
