As much as she wanted to give chase like she always did, that would put her too close to the hottie in front of her.
Best to avoid temptation.
“Then let’s fill your belly,” Jayce said. “What do you want?”
“Burgers and fries,” Archer said.
“Always,” she said. “The kid should be a cow with as much beef as he wants.”
“Real men eat beef,” Jayce said, snickering. “That’s what we always told my mom.”
“See, Mom,” Archer said. “Jayce gets it. I just like it better than chicken, but Mom makes me eat everything.”
“A well-rounded diet is good for everyone,” she said primly.
Archer was walking ahead of them. “It hurt you to say that, didn’t it? Because I remember the girl who’d rather eat candy than anything else.”
“Shhh,” she said, putting her finger to her lips. “Don’t say that too loudly.”
He laughed at her antics. He always did. It was nice to feel relaxed enough to let them out.
“My car is in another lot,” he said, pointing his thumb in the other direction.
“Archer,” she said. “Jayce’s car isn’t by ours. Where do you want to go to lunch so he can meet us there?”
“Bull City,” Archer said. “You know that.”
“He’s got a favorite as you can see.”
“It’s one of mine too,” Jayce said. “I’ll meet you two there.”
Jayce turned and jogged away, her eyes on his back, dropping to his ass in the jeans he was wearing. Loose enough on him to move while playing and not giving her much of an idea of what his body could look like underneath.
He was bigger than she remembered. Grew more handsome into a man with a rough growth of beard. His hair wasn’t fussy, but it was styled. Had a bit of product in it also.
Nothing that she would say was fancy, but definitely not the roll-out-of-bed-and-go type she tended to end up with.
If not them, then it was the scholarly type.
She was over men, she reminded herself, and wondered why she was putting so much thought into Jayce’s appearance.
3
WELCOMED HIM HOME
“Ibet you put on three pounds,” Jayce said at the end of the meal. “That burger was massive.”
“I told you,” she said. “I’m not sure how he does it, but he never sits still.”
Farrah ran her hand over her son’s head, but he dodged out of the way like a typical boy would do when he didn’t want others to see his mother giving affection.
Jayce remembered those days. The embarrassment of a parent showing their love when you wanted to act cool.
Stupid but normal.
“Sounds like your mother when she was a kid,” he said.
“Tell me about Mom,” Archer said. “She makes it sound as if she’s perfect and I don’t think she is. At least she doesn’t look it in the mornings.”
