Thirty-Two

Genesis

My mother smiled as she watched Kye push Jagger in the baby swing he’d hung from the tree that had broken my arm and ruined his eighth birthday party. Dad was sitting out in his hammock chair on the other side of the tree, looking content with life.

“I can’t believe he’s already three months old,” she said wistfully, then turned her gaze to me. “He’s moved you into the Mafia house,” she said teasingly. “I guess that gamble paid off.”

There was so much I could never tell her. She’d worry herself to death if she knew the things I’d seen. But what I could tell her was how the wild boy next door had become the man I used to dream he’d be.

“Yes. The gamble was the best thing I ever did. I’ve never been this happy, Mom. He makes me feel cherished, loved, wanted.”

She leaned forward and held my gaze. “Does he make your chest flutter when he walks in a room?”

I laughed and nodded my head.

“Good. That’s what you hold out for. Well, that, and does he satisfy you in the bedroom?”

My eyes widened in shock. “MOM!” I gasped.

She lifted a thin shoulder. “What? It’s a legitimate question. Although, with all the womanizing he did, I am assuming he knows all the tricks.”

I covered my face with both hands. “Mom, stop talking right now,” I begged.

She laughed as I dropped my hands back to my lap.

“Sex isn’t the key that holds a relationship together. That is trust and respect. But it’s the glue that keeps things from going dark when times get hard. Not just because of the pleasure either, although that is a perk. It’s the connection deep in your soul.”

I just smiled and shook my head. I could not believe Mom was talking to me about the importance of sex in a relationship.

“Just please don’t give me any details,” I pleaded.

Mom winked at me, and I burst out laughing.

Kye looked our way, and when his eyes met mine, the flutters were in full force. He puckered his lips in a kiss, then smirked. Jagger slapped the tray on the front of his swing and giggled. I dropped my gaze to him to see he was looking at me too. His toothless grin melted my heart.

“Nothing else like it in the world,” Mom said beside me.

“What?” I asked, not looking away from my two boys.

“Seeing the smiling faces of the man who owns your soul and the child who claimed your heart.”

It was true. The joy that those two brought me was unlike anything I’d ever known.

Quinn’s name lit up the screen on my phone. I had muted it for the movie I was watching with Trinity and Aspen. The guys had gone to handle something today and still weren’t home. I held it up so that they could see why I was leaving the room. Jagger was asleep in the bouncy seat, and I knew they’d both keep an eye on him.

I headed for the patio door and answered the phone as I stepped outside.

“Hey, you,” I said, happy that she was finally calling me.

I’d been trying to get her on the phone for weeks. All she had been able to do was text me. Work and school had been keeping her busy.

“Hey,” she replied. “How’s life?”

“Wonderful,” I admitted, although today had been a little stressful. The image of a gun being pointed at Kye’s head was still too fresh.

“Jagger looked so big in the picture you sent of Kye pushing him on the swing.”

“I know. I feel like I’m going to blink, and it’ll be his first birthday,” I told her.

She chuckled. “Ah, my bestie has gone and gotten all domestic. Mommy life, cooking, hot man in the bed at night. You know, I was wondering since Kye is now your man and not your best friend, does this mean I get to take over the best-friend role instead of backup?”

“Yes,” I replied, laughing. “I guess you do.”

She let out a dramatic sigh. “Good. Because I need to tell you something, and I want you to remember I am your best friend now.”

The way her voice had changed from lighthearted to serious concerned me.

“Okay,” I replied. I couldn’t come up with one thing that she could tell me that she needed to pull the best-friend card on.

“Ugh, I am trying to figure out how to start. I’m tired of avoiding you. I miss you. I want to talk to you. I just know I have to tell you this before it eats me alive,” she said.

She had been avoiding me? What in the world was this about?

“Quinn, there is nothing you could tell me that would upset me.”

A short, unamused laugh came over the line. “I am hoping that’s true.”

“Spill it. Get it over with. Then, we can talk about life. I want to know all that’s going on with you,” I told her.

“Well, that’s kinda what this is about. All that is going on with me. My life.”

She was silent for a moment, and I let her think. Clearly, this was bothering her. Whatever it was, she had worked herself up over it.

“Genesis,” she said firmly.

“Yes?” I asked, unable not to smile at the seriousness in her tone.

“I’m dating … Bowie,” she blurted out, then sucked in a breath.

That, I had not been expecting. Not even a tiny little guess. Holy crap.

A bubble of laughter burst out of me as a grin spread across my face.

“You’re laughing. Is that an angry-psycho laugh or a this is great news laugh?”

“It’s a I was so not expecting that, but I think it’s great laugh,” I replied.

“You do?”

“Yes! Bowie is a great guy. He was just never the right guy for me.”

“Oh, thank you, baby Jesus. I have lost sleep over this. I was so afraid you were going to be hurt that I’d started dating him and not even asked for your permission.”

“Permission? Why would you think you had to do that?”

“Girl code. You were engaged to him, and three weeks after y’all broke it off, I went on a date with him. I broke all the girl codes ever written.”

I walked over and sat down on a lounge chair, then leaned back. “Tell me all about it. I want to know how it happened,” I told her, unable to get the smile off my face.

“Well, he came over one night, asking if he had left a book in your old room. He thought it was in the closet. I knew there was nothing of yours left here, but I let him in …”