“Okay, so Archie decided she wanted to buy the Bronco Jokerand I restored.She came around to work things out with Tyra.Someone told meshe was on Chaos, I went in and Tyra was trying to hold the fort consideringshe knew what was going down, since she took my check for the Bronco, andArchie was making it clear she didn’t understand what was going down.So I wasforced to tell Arch I’d already bought it for her, and was waiting for theperfect time to give it to her.She was a little miffed that I did that.”
“Miffed andloud,” Dutch added.
Now the asshole was grinning.
“As you both know, she tends to be chill,” Jag remindedthem.“It’s just on certain occasions when she’s just…not.And likeshe doesn’t hesitate to communicate anything, she doesn’t hesitate tocommunicate when she’s not.”
“You do know that women are capable of purchasing their ownmodes of transport,” his mother pointed out.
“If you think you have anything to say that Archie hasn’talready shared, you’d be wrong,” Jag told Keely.
“I further heard she drove away in that Bronco,” Keelydrawled.
That was when Jagger smiled.
His ma shook her head, came to him and took his left hand inhers.
She brought it to her and opened it, palm up.
Jag didn’t pull away or make any attempt to hide what heknew someone else had shared with her.
He’d grown up with this.His family was huge, and hisfriends were his family.Therefore, it was practically impossible to haveanything to yourself.
Not that he’d hide what was in his palm.
A new-ishtat.
The infinity symbol.
One continuous stroke that saidThe girl across the wayas well asThe guy across the way.
He had another new tattoo, it was even smaller, and it wasin a place that she couldn’t right then see.
A smallA.had been added at the beginning of thetat on his chest.
His mom pressed the pad of her thumb to the side of thestill-healing mark.
She then lifted her gaze to him and said softly, “I’m soglad I raised a son who would buy his girl a kickass truck.”
“Ma,” he whispered, reading her vibe.
She glanced over her shoulder at Dutch then back to Jag.“And I’m even more glad I raised two sons with exceptionally good taste.”
He already knew his mom dug Arch.
But this…
Jagger swallowed.
Keely let him go abruptly and turned back to where she’dbeen standing at the counter.
Jag looked to Dutch whose long body was still sprawled atthe table, but the feel of him was no longer “Hanging at Ma’s.”
It was “Keeping an Eye on Ma.”
Feeling Jag’s attention, Dutch shifted his to his brother.
They shared a look they’d shared often over the years, andthis look happened anytime they felt they needed to keep their eye on their ma.
