Page 24

Then he says, “But…I could give you some relief, if that’s something you want.”

“You just want to see me naked.” I poke him in the center of his hard chest.

“That’s a given, but not if you prefer I don’t.”

I laugh again but then hesitate.

“I understand. This is a to-be-continued moment,” he says before I can say anything. “You need time because this is sudden.” He presses a kiss on my forehead and then I walk him to the door. He glances at the table where my keychain is as he tells me he’ll see me in town tomorrow.

It wasn’t that it was sudden. I wanted to sleep with Maverick. What made me hesitate was the realization that I fell for him and I’m feeling vulnerable. He made me into a fake girlfriend. And while he’s been caring and gentle tonight, I don’t think he sees me the same way I do him.

As soon as his truck disappears from view, a car from the opposite direction pulls into the driveway.

Emberlynn gets out followed by my sister Sunny, and then my mother.

My mother walks toward the house not impeccably put together the way she normally is. Her hair is a mess, and her blouse is smeared with dark red streaks.

I frown. “What happened?” I ask as they make their way inside.

“Floozy happened,” Sunny says.

“What now?”

“First, that vile woman is not expecting a baby. She lied,” my mother says. “Second, she threw her drink in Ms. Carter’s face.”

I gasp. Ms. Carter is a sweet elderly woman who would give anyone the shirt off her back. “She…did that?”

Sunny nods. “Apparently, Floozy wants to become an influencer.”

“And Ms. Carter was sitting on a bench in the town square when Floozy wanted her to move out of the shot of her pictures,” Emberlynn says.

“Wait.” I’m trying to wrap my head around everything. “So…she’s not pregnant? But she told everyone she was.”

My mother eyes me for a long moment. “She also said she slept with your boyfriend.”

“Ex,” I say automatically.

“Anyway,” Sunny says, “Mom is going up to stay with Aunt Kyra for a few days to cool off before she makes a mistake that’ll put her in jail. That’s according to the deputy.”

“I’d have gone to jail.” My mother tips her chin. “When I saw that woman throw her drink in Ms. Carter’s face, it wouldn’t have been neighborly of me to just stand by.”

“So you….” I trail off.

“I was very polite and told Floozy it was not right.” My mother presses her lips together.

“Well, you have a way with words.” Sunny laughs. “You slapped the shit out of Floozy.”

“Language,” my mother chides.

“Is that Floozy’s lipstick?” I gesture to her blouse.

“That’s mine. Floozy told me about sending you,” she lowers her voice, “that dirty video of her and your boyfriend.”

“Ex,” I say again.

“Mom went looking for him next and when she found him, she took her lipstick and wrote dirtbag all over his car. And tiny dick.”

My mother clutches the top of her blouse. “I most certainly did not write that part.”