Carly

 

THE NICE THING about Trent being in trouble was that I got an extra forty-five minutes to prepare dinner and get ready for work. Unfortunately, I averaged about five dollars an hour in tips at the coffee shop, plus my eleven dollar an hour salary, which meant I’d lost about twelve dollars from his shenanigans. I’m sure twelve dollars didn’t matter to most people, but it was a big deal in our world. Especially since I’d counted on that money to help pay Trent’s tuition.

“If you want to keep eating the good chicken nuggets, I can’t afford to keep leaving work early to pick you up,” I told Trent as we left his school. “You have got to keep your junk in your pants.”

“Mom, I was going to the bathroom. I had to take my junk out of my pants or I’d pee on them.”

It was a solid argument, but the kid clearly needed guidelines. “From now on, you take it out of your pants to pee, then put it away again. No more of this dancing around with your pants down in front of the mirror business. Who does that, anyway?”

“Dancing naked is fun. And I can’t just put it away. I have to shake it first.”

“What?”

“Lijah’s dad says you gotta shake it. Twice. That way you don’t get pee on your underwear. You can’t shake it more times, or you’re playing with it, and you’re not supposed to do that.”

I was in no way qualified to have this conversation, but I was determined to set boundaries so this didn’t happen again. “Okay, so pee, shake your junk twice, and then put it away.”

Two business men had just rounded the corner. They must have overheard our conversation because they snickered and shook their heads as they passed us.

Seriously, shoot me now.

“Can we stop for ice cream?” Trent asked.

“Have you lost your mind?” I asked.

He blinked at me.

“No, we can’t stop for ice cream. You’re in trouble and I missed work, which means we don’t have as much money as we need. We must be careful with the money we do have and only spend it on stuff we need. We don’t need ice cream.” I was probably telling him way more than his little five-year-old brain could process, but I was frustrated, and wanted him to see the consequences of his actions.

“I didn’t lose my mind.” He pointed to his head. “My mind is in here.”

Once again, I was losing an argument to a five-year-old. The kid was going to kill me, and ‘died of brain explosion’ would be listed as my cause of death. “You’re right, it is. But you’re still not getting ice cream.”

Trent pouted the entire way back to our apartment while I tried to figure out where I could come up with twelve more dollars. Truthfully, I needed a lot more than that. We still hadn’t recovered from our YMCA, lunch, and ice cream splurge on Father’s Day. I needed to pay Trent’s tuition first thing in the morning or I’d be looking at a fifty-dollar late fee, which I also couldn’t afford. If I didn’t make good tips at the bar tonight, I’d be screwed.

I sucked at adulting, but since I was already juggling my parental duties with two jobs there wasn’t much more I could do. I just wanted one day to go by where I didn’t feel like a complete and total failure. My chest squeezed as I allowed myself a quick minute to miss Robbie and Becca. Robbie hadn’t been much help with Trent, but at least he’d paid bills and could have answered Trent’s questions about how many times he should shake his junk. Becca, on the other hand, had been amazing. She used to watch Trent sometimes, so I could sleep. She’d even feed and bathe him. Now it was all me, all the time.

How the hell do I do this without them?

When Trent and I got home, Jessica was already there, straightening up the living room.

“Hey, what are you doing home so early?” I asked.

“I had a dentist appointment, so I took the rest of the day off. I was about to head to the grocery store. Do you two want to come?”

I had no money to spare, but needed a few things, and a ride was a rare opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I grabbed Trent’s seat and we piled into Jessica’s little Subaru. The grocery store lot was crowded, but Jessica squeezed into a tight parking spot. I reached for my handle right as Trent opened his door, slamming it into the Chrysler three-hundred parked next to us.

“Trent!” I shouted, shocked by his behavior. He never opened the door without me. Any door. He knew better. We’d gone over it more times than I could count.

The owner of the car was putting his groceries in the trunk, and he lost it. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” he shouted as he came around to inspect the damage. There was a tiny nick in the center of his rear driver-side door. He glared at my kid, positioning himself in the open doorway. “What the fuck did you do that for?”

My mommy instincts had me jumping out of the car and squeezing into the tiny space between them. “He’s a little boy and he didn’t mean to do it. Look, I’ll pay for the damage, but you don’t get to cuss at my kid.”

Trent’s eyes were bright as he fought back tears.

“You’re damn right you’ll pay for the damage! I can’t believe this shit. I haven’t even had this car for a month and you let your kid slam his door into it and you’re mad at me for cussing? I’m not dealing with your dumb ass. I’m calling the cops.” He pulled out his phone and backed up as he put it to his ear.

“Is that really necessary?” Jessica asked. “She said she’ll pay for the damages.”

“Yes, it’s necessary,” he snapped. “I don’t trust some bitch who can’t even control her bad little kid.”

“Don’t call my mom names!” Trent shouted. “And I’m not bad.”

The uncertainty in his voice told me I’d have to reassure him later. After the threat was handled. I took a deep breath and tried to approach the douchebag again. “Look, what do you want from me? My license? Will that help?”

“Yes. You can give it to the cops.” Turning his back on me, he spoke into the phone.

“What can I do to help?” Jessica asked.

Shaking my head as my stomach twisted in knots, I said, “Nothing. Thanks. Go ahead and go shopping. We’ll wait out here for the cops to arrive.”

“I’m not leaving you with this prick, Carly.”

I didn’t deserve a friend like Jessica, but I was so glad I had her. She stayed by my side until the police arrived and filled out their report. I handed them my Idaho license and they asked me for my address. I could have lied, could have told them I was still living in Idaho, but Trent was watching me, listening to every word I said. If I lied, he’d probably correct me and then I’d get a ticket for sure. So, I gave them my address and promised to get a Washington ID right away.

Once the police took our statements and wrote up the report, the asshole left. Jessica went into the store, but I was too upset to even think about shopping. I climbed back into the passenger’s seat and waited, worrying about how I could pay for this new complication to my life.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Trent said, sounding pitiful.

“I know, buddy. No more opening doors without me.”

“I promise. I don’t want to be bad.”

“Oh, buddy, you’re not,” I assured him. “You made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. That doesn’t mean you’re bad.”

Jessica offered to make Trent dinner, so I went to work, hoping to clock in early and make a few extra tips. I felt defeated, but knew I had to do something to keep moving forward. I couldn’t exactly roll over and let the world crush me. Not when I had Trent to look after.

When I arrived at the Copper Penny, Flint was in the break room restocking the time cards. “You wanna clock in early and meet with me for a minute before you go on the floor?” he asked.

That sounded ominous, and I couldn’t take any more problems today, but I went straight to my locker, answering, “Sure. Let me put my stuff away and I’ll be right there.”

As I locked up my purse and clocked in, my mind raced through the millions of things I could have done wrong last night. Had I made sure all the glasses were loaded in the dishwasher? Had I left liquor open? Had I swept? By the time I reached Flint’s office, my palms were sweaty, and I’d second guessed every task I’d ever done for him. If I lost this job, I didn’t know what I’d do.

The office door was cracked open, so I poked my head in.

“Come in,” Flint said, gesturing at a chair in front of his desk. “Sit down.”

Holding my breath, I did as I was told.

Flint finished typing something on his laptop, and then looked up at me. “Carly. You’ve been with us about four months now, which means I missed your ninety-day evaluation. I’m sorry about that.”

I released my breath, relaxing in my chair. A ninety-day evaluation was something I could handle. “No problem. You’ve been busy, Flint.”

“We all have, and we couldn’t keep this place running without employees like you. So, let’s get to it.” He read over his notes for a second. “Looks like you run a little late sometimes, but other than that I have no complaints. You’re a solid, dependable employee, a competent bartender, and our customers have nothing but good things to say about your service. I’ve been looking over our budget, and I can’t do much, but we do like to show our appreciation to the employees who perform well. I’ll be giving you a fifty-cent raise, effective immediately.”

A raise! At first, I was excited. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited about a raise? I was doing a good job, and not only was I not getting canned… I was getting more money. But then I remembered that more money was bad. Very bad. Trent’s school was for low income families and every month I received a grant that helped cover his tuition. Between my two jobs, I was already skating the threshold of what a family of two was allowed to make and still qualify, which was stupid since we were barely squeaking by.

Regardless, fifty cents more an hour would definitely push me over that threshold and I’d lose the grant. There was no way I’d be able to pay for Trent’s school without it. “Please don’t,” I blurted out.

Flint’s face scrunched up like he’d eaten something sour. “What?” he asked.

“Please don’t give me a raise. I appreciate it, I really do, but the wonderful thing you’re trying to do to show your appreciation will royally screw me over. I’ll lose the grant I get for my son’s schooling. This fifty-cent raise will end up costing me over four hundred dollars a month.”

“Oh.” He frowned. “Well, shit. What can I do for you then?”

I had no idea. My financial situation was somewhere between a joke and a tragedy. I shrugged, once again feeling the hopelessness of it all.

“Wait, I’ve got an idea.” He opened his top desk drawer, pulled something out, and slid it over to me.

A hundred-dollar visa bucks card!

Unable to believe my eyes, I blinked. Then blinked again. It was still there, staring up at me from the top of Flint’s desk, like some glowing beacon chasing away the gloom and doom of my day. A hundred dollars wouldn’t solve all my problems, but it would help me pay Trent’s tuition this month. “This is for me?” I asked, hesitant to get my hopes up until I knew for sure.

Flint nodded. “I know it’s not much, but—”

“Not much? It’s amazing! You have no idea how much I need this right now. Ohmigod, thank you!” I scooped up the card and slid it into my pocket before he changed his mind and took it back. Between the card and what I made in tips tonight, I should have money to spare. I briefly considered hugging Flint but wasn’t sure if that crossed any employee/employer boundaries and I still needed my job. Instead, I thanked him once or twice more, bowing to his laughter as I left his office. Then I hurried out to the front to get to work.

I was about halfway through my shift when Wasp sat at the bar and ordered a beer. “Hey stranger. It’s good to see you, but shouldn’t you be on lunch?” he asked.

Glancing at the clock, I realized he was right.

“Go,” Flint said, sidling up to me so he could step into my spot. “Dana and I have it covered.”

Wasp picked up his beer, stood, and met me on the other side of the bar before escorting me to the break room. Hurrying forward, he swung open the door for me, and stepped aside so I could precede him. About a dozen white cartons covered the table, and the smell of cooked meats and veggies made my stomach growl.

“I hope you like Chinese,” Wasp said, gesturing for me to come in. He pulled out a chair in front of one of the two plates he’d set.

He’d brought me dinner. My chest squeezed and my eyes burned at the sight. It was such a sweet, unexpected gesture that I had to swallow back my emotions before I could answer. “I love Chinese food,” I said, taking the seat he offered. Between the gift card and the free dinner, my day was beginning to look up. He pushed me in, and I checked out the spread, feeling completely overwhelmed. “Thank you, Wasp. This is… Wow. I don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything; just eat. You’re always too busy to go out, so I figured we could eat in. I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a little of everything.” He started opening containers and calling out their contents as he placed them around me. By the time he finished, I had a giant fan of delicious-smelling containers circling my plate.

Wasp sat across the table from me and scooped fried rice onto his plate. I followed suit, trying not to drool as I piled on my favorites, which was pretty much everything.

“My first job back home was at a Chinese restaurant,” I said, scooping out a patty of egg foo young before smothering it in gravy.

“Where’s home?” Wasp asked.

I almost let it slip but caught myself just in time. “Just a small town in the middle of nowhere.”

“Fine, you don’t have to tell me. We can talk about something else.” He sounded mildly disappointed, but not surprised. “How was your day?”

“Rough start, but it’s getting better.”

“Rough because of the helicoptering incident?”

I groaned. “That was just the beginning.”

Wasp listened as I told him about the grocery store parking lot, and as I spoke he got angry. “Bastard shouldn’t have spoken to you and Trent like that. What the fuck is wrong with people? Why didn’t you call me?”

Confused, I shrugged. Wasp and I had been talking every day and hanging out on the weekends, but this wasn’t his problem. “Why would I call you?”

“Because you shouldn’t have to deal with assholes like that. I could have handled the situation and even offered to have one of my guys fix it for him.”

I was so used to doing everything on my own that calling Wasp hadn’t even crossed my mind. Touched that he would come and help me, I didn’t know how to respond. So, I popped a pot sticker in my mouth.

“I mean it. I want you to call me when shit like that happens. You never know when someone’s gonna fly off the handle and turn violent.”

“You sound as if you’re speaking from experience.”

He nodded, a frown tugging at his lips. “I help vets, Carly. I’ve seen a lot of good men do stupid shit. That’s not a chance I want to take with you and Trent.”

His genuine concern about us was both sweet and unnerving and I shoveled more food in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to respond. I didn’t even know how to respond.

“You like it?” Wasp asked, gesturing at my plate.

“So much. I can’t even remember the last time I had Chinese, and this is great. These veggies taste super fresh. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m buttering you up to ask you for a favor.”

“Uh-oh.” I trapped a piece of broccoli and a bite of beef between my chopsticks. The guy had saved Father’s Day, brought me dinner, and wanted me to call whenever I was in trouble, but he seemed hesitant to ask me for this favor. “Must be a doozy.”

“Not really,” he replied, looking away as he played with his chopsticks like he was nervous. “My parents are coming to town this weekend and they want to take me out to dinner. I’m hoping you and Trent will join us.”

I about choked on a bite of rice. After coughing to clear my airways, I asked, “You want your parents to meet me and Trent?”

“Yeah.” He was still trying to sound nonchalant as he kept his gaze on his plate. “But not in a weird way. In a ‘hey, this is my friend and her kid’ sort of way.”

Meeting someone’s parents was always weird and uncomfortable, no matter the way. “Why?”

When his gaze found mine again, the confident pretty-boy joker I knew him to be was gone, replaced by something vulnerable. “Why not?”

He was always so cocky and confident that seeing him vulnerable made me want to wrap my arms around him and assure him that everything would be fine. Fighting back that urge, I said, “Because your parents are coming from out-of-town to see you. Trent and I will be intruding on your family time, and it’s weird that you’re okay with that. Tell me what’s really going on.”

He dropped his head. “Everyone in my family has their shit together. All four of my brothers are married with kids and animals and they wear suits to work and golf, just like the folks. I’m a grease monkey who’s never even had a steady girlfriend. I’m the black sheep, the odd ball. If my parents get me alone, it will be all awkward silence from my dad while my mom hounds me about leaving the club and settling down.”

“Oh.” I said between bites. He needed a buffer. “And you think having me and Trent there will make it less of an awkward nag-fest?”

“Yes. My parents are mid-western Catholic, all family values and good manners. They’d never ask about Trent’s dad or anything else that might make you uncomfortable, and they won’t point out all my failures in front of you. Hell, my mom will be so encouraged by your presence it might get her off my ass for a few weeks at least.”

“Your failures?” I asked, confused. “Wasp, you own your own house. You have a car and a bike. You have a good-paying job that you love, and you have enough disposable income to buy Chinese food or take me and my kid to explore a ship museum on a whim. You’re not a failure.”

The grateful smile he gave me made my chest squeeze tight. “Thanks, sweetheart, but I don’t think you understand how perfect my brothers are.”

“I’m a crap-lousy single mom juggling two jobs with no family, no car, and a tiny apartment that I share with the saint who took us in. My presence isn’t going to make you look any better.”

He bolted out of his chair so fast it hit the floor, then he marched over and pulled out my chair, turning me to face him. Weirded out by his bizarre behavior, I dropped my chopsticks on my plate and stood. “What?”

“Don’t say that shit about yourself,” he growled. “You’re an incredible mom in shitty circumstances, doing the best you can. I’ve seen grown men destroyed over less shit than you face daily, but you power through it like a boss. You work your ass off and you never complain and you’re sexy as fuck. Your presence makes me look like one lucky motherfucker.”

Before I could even begin to process his words, his lips were on mine. The connection brought a moment of confusion before sparks of desire ignited in my body. Wasp was kissing me, and it felt incredible. He snaked a hand around to the nape of my neck, and another to the small of my back, pressing me against him to deepen the kiss. His tongue danced around mine as the heat of his body set me on fire. Everywhere he touched me I felt branded, claimed. My nipples pebbled against his hard pectorals, sending jolts of need straight to my core.

His kiss was all passion and heat, and I clung to him, letting myself burn.

We eventually had to come up for air. Wasp leaned his forehead against mine as I tried to catch my breath. My heart and mind raced. I’d kissed a few guys before, but it had never felt so… consuming. I wanted more. I wanted everything he had to offer.

And that was dangerous.

Wasp had done so much for me and Trent. Now, he was asking for help, and I couldn’t turn him down. Especially not if there was a chance of getting another kiss like that. We were playing with a raging bonfire that neither of us could control. There was a chance it would burn us both to the ground, and I wouldn’t be able to pull myself out of the ashes again. Still, I couldn’t resist the flames. Squeezing my eyes closed, I accepted my fate and prepared to fan the fire.

“When’s dinner?”