Author: Abbi Glines

A nervous knot formed in my stomach. The mention of my dad threw me off. He had “heard” about Mase? Only diehard fans had heard of Mase. He stayed out of the news. I wasn’t sure what to think.

Adam turned his grin back to me. “I’ll see you tonight,” he said.

I nodded and he turned to walk back the way we came before Mase got too close to us.

“Get in. I want lunch and I don’t want it here. I need real food,” he said as he stopped in front of me. I climbed into his truck.

“Tennis instructor?” he asked

I nodded, still thinking about Adam’s comment about Mase.

“You like him? He’s sure got the hots for you. The dude’s tongue was almost hanging out.”

“Where are we eating?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

“Hooters. Now answer me, do you like the guy?”

I let out a frustrated sigh. Mase was like a dog with a bone. “He asked me out.”

“That don’t answer my question,” he replied.

“Fine. I think I like him.”

“You think?”

I growled and shot Mase a frustrated glare. “I don’t know. He seems nice and sincere but I’ve been down this road before. Guys like me because of Dad. It gets old, and I’ve let myself get hurt this way before. I’m older and smarter and more careful now.”

Mase frowned. He didn’t understand this problem. He had women throw themselves at him because of him, not Dad. He was beautiful and no one really knew he was Kiro’s son.

“You think that dude is interested in who your daddy is?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Did you say yes?”

I nodded.

“Well you must think there’s something to him then.”

I did. Until he knew about Mase.

“He knew about you. When I said you were my brother, he already knew Kiro had a son. Only diehards know about you.”

Understanding lit Mase’s eyes as he turned onto the main road and headed out of town. “I see. Yeah, that’s odd. But maybe he isn’t really a fan; maybe he’s just heard the Rosemary gossip. This town knows more about Slacker Demon than anywhere else since Dean’s son grew up here. They feel like they have some sort of inside scoop. He’s probably just heard rumors since he lives here.”

I hadn’t thought of that. He probably saw many of the band members as clients all the time. He could’ve heard something through the country club grapevine. Rosemary did have a close relationship with Slacker Demon. I let out a relieved sigh and leaned back against the seat. That made sense.

“Feel better now?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Good. But if I’m wrong, you just say the word and I’ll rearrange his face for you.”

I just smiled. Not because I didn’t believe him. Because I did. Mase was rough. He was Texas tough, and I’d learned a long time ago that was a whole other kind of tough. It was how a little boy grew up with an absent father. His stepdad was a Texan. He owned a ranch and wore boots and a hat all the time. He was big and tall and loud and I loved him. Even when I was a shy little girl, he always made sure I felt like family when I went to visit.

Out of the three of us, Mase had been the lucky one. He had a mom who adored him. A stepdad who treated him like his own. Maybe that was why he was the best of us. At least I wasn’t the worst. Nan held that title. But then she’d been given the worst life, from what I could tell.

A small part of me felt sorry for her. But only a very small part.

Grant

Iwalked into Rush’s after only knocking once. I wasn’t in the mood to wait. Blaire came walking down the stairs with Nate on her hip and a handful of her hair in his mouth.

“Grant?” she said, looking concerned. I hadn’t barged in as if I owned the place since Blaire and Rush got married. It was no longer my brother’s bachelor pad but their house.

“She let me talk and then she said okay and forgave me and left. Nothing else. No questions. Nothing. Then . . . then fucking Adam said he was taking her out tonight. I stopped by the café to get a bottle of water and he was talking to someone else and I overheard him. Adam! He’s . . . he’s . . . just . . .”

“He’s a nice guy,” Blaire finished for me as she tugged her hair from Nate’s fists. Then she handed him to me. “Take him. But don’t curse. I need to fix myself something to eat and you can talk while I do that.”

Nate grinned up at me and I noticed one small tooth peeking through his bottom gums. “Look at you. You got a tooth, little man.”

Nate continued smiling as he reached for my hair. The kid had a good grip and I had too much damn hair. “Whoa, dude. That needs to stay on my head.” I reached into my pocket and grabbed my keys and handed them to him to distract him.

Blaire turned at the sound of him jingling them and reached to take them from him. “Those have germs. He puts everything in his mouth. He’s teething.” She walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer and took out some blue frozen-looking toy and handed it to him.

“It’s gonna freeze his hands,” I said, wondering what the heck she was doing.

“No, it’s meant for teething. It will numb his gums.”

This kid shit was more than I wanted to think about.

“Where’s Rush?”

“He went running on the beach. He’ll be back soon. He’s been gone for an hour. Now, back to Harlow,” she said, reaching into the fridge to retrieve food that didn’t look appealing at all. “She forgave you and let you off the hook and you’re pissed because she didn’t put up a fight and is now going out with Adam.”

Not exactly. She made it sound like I was being selfish.

“I just . . . wanted to talk about it more.”

Blaire looked up at me from where she was slicing a tomato. “Really? That’s what you wanted? Because most of the time when a guy is trying to give a girl the brush-off he wants no drama. Sounds like Harlow gave you the easy out.”

“I wasn’t brushing her off,” I said defensively as Nate threw his frozen blue thing onto the floor and began clapping as if he had just done something fantastic.

Blaire smirked. “He wants you to pick it up. Be warned, this is his favorite game. He’ll treat you like a dog. He will keep doing it as long as you fetch it.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Well what the he— I mean, heck do I do then?”

She shrugged. “Be his favorite uncle and pick it up or be the party poopero and ignore his game.”

Dammit. I reached down and got it and handed it to him and he beamed at me as if I was the most wonderful person in the world. The kid was cute. And at the moment I felt pretty damn special . . . until he threw it on the floor again and began clapping.

“He’s a manipulator,” I told her as I bent down to get it.

“Or you’re a sucker,” Rush said as he opened the back door and stepped inside. He smirked at me, then went over to Blaire to kiss her openly right there in front of me and the kid.

“I need help. Let her face go, you’re gonna eat it off,” I grumbled.

Rush went a little longer on the kiss just to be an ass, then shot a look over at me. “This about Harlow again?”

“Yes,” Blaire said, pressing one last kiss to his lips before going back to the tomato.

“Dadadadada,” Nate said happily, and Blaire and Rush both froze. Blaire dropped her knife on the bar and covered her mouth.

Rush stared at his son with an emotion I didn’t understand.

“Dadadadada,” Nate said again.

“Ohmygod he did say it,” Blaire said as tears filled her eyes and she laughed out loud.

Rush walked around the bar and took Nate from me as if I wasn’t even standing there. “Hey, buddy,” he said with awe in his voice. Nate patted Rush’s chest. “Dadadadadada,” he said again.

Blaire made another happy cry sound and Rush grinned. “That’s right, buddy. You can say it now, can’t you?”

I looked over at Blaire and I realized this had to be Nate’s first word. I was witnessing a special family moment and I needed to leave. This was their time with their son. I would talk to Blaire later.

Blaire ran around the counter and wrapped her arms around Rush’s back. “Who is this, Nate?” she asked, and once again he happily answered.

I didn’t say anything as I slipped out the door and headed for my truck. I quickly sent Rush a text.

“Tell Nate I said congrats on his first word. I’ll talk to y’all later. That was a moment y’all needed to enjoy alone.”

•

It was after eight and all I could think about was Harlow’s fucking date. Why? I had let her go. I had told her I couldn’t commit to her. No dating. No nothing. I just had one damn good memory to cherish. The best. Now I had to move on. If I was scared to be involved in more than a shallow relationship then I needed to embrace my fate. I just wasn’t going to be shallow with Nan. That was too fucked up.

Harlow was looking for more. I was looking for less. So, I headed to the closest honky-tonk. I’d find a hot little number who just wanted a good time and take her home. I didn’t want the strings of a girl from the club. They were all fucking looking for more than I wanted to give.

I was familiar with this place. It was go-to when I wanted to get out of Rosemary. They had good cover bands and cold beer. College girls were always in abundance from the local state school.

Walking in, I scanned the place until I saw several promising opportunities then made my way over to the bar. Lynette was bartending tonight. She was a looker for someone old enough to be my mom.

“Hey, handsome. Haven’t seen you all week. Thought you might have left town again.”

I flashed her a smile that I knew wouldn’t make her blush. She was too hardcore, but I knew she still liked being flirted with. “Can’t leave you for too long,” I replied.

“Bullshit.” She grinned and set a tall mug in front of me. “That’s the best we got on tap tonight.”

“Thanks, sexy,” I replied and winked.

Lynette let out a bark of laughter then walked over to help someone else. I turned to look out over the room. Two pretty blondes with matching black halter tops and red leather miniskirts were sending me flirty little smiles. They weren’t twins but they were trying real hard to be. The matching outfits were a nice touch. Not to mention they had some killer legs. They weren’t in Harlow’s league, though . . .

No! Fuck no! I interrupted my own thoughts. I wasn’t going to compare girls to Harlow. Those two were hot. They had nice plump tits about to fall out of their barely there tops. And the spiked heels were doing it for me. I shoved off from the bar.

“Figured those two would get your attention,” I heard Lynette say in an amused tone.

I glanced back at her. “You know me well.”

She just shook her head and fixed another drink.

Both girls tried to strike sexy poses as I approached them. They wanted it. This would be too damn easy. I needed easy tonight.

“You two here all alone? Looking like that?” I asked then took a sip of my drink. I wasn’t going to give them any dumbass lines.

They giggled and glanced at each other. “Yes,” they both replied.

So they were doing the answer at the same time thing. They had this twins bit perfected. I was impressed.

The band began to pump out a deep, heavy, sexy sound and I set my beer down. “Dance with me,” I said and walked past them onto the floor. I didn’t have to look back to know they were following me.

I wanted to see how good these two really were. They were promising a lot with those bodies and the way they were dressed, but their dance moves would tell me if they were worth my night. Besides, I wasn’t drunk yet. I needed more alcohol for this.