Page 27 of Double Dare

“I raised you. I know how your mind works. I forgot to remind you all to have a little shame sometimes. Like, just a tad.” She smirks. “Hit me with it. I can take it.”

I blow out a lungful of smoke. Here we go. Sex confessions to my mom on the front porch. Again. “We were all fucking around in the truck one night, and Kade and Laken touched. Accidentally at first because it was close quarters, but then…fuck, I full-on gave him permission to kiss her while I…fucked her.”

She looks at me, trying really damn hard to school her features. “Ah.”

“Ah?” I raise a sarcastic brow. “Am I the one to finally break Mom?”

She scoffs at me. “Honestly, I thought this conversation would come a lot sooner. Do you regret it?”

I shake my head and stare at the bay. “No. We were drunk, so that helped, but now we’re not drunk and…I feel like I’m supposed to regret it.”

She barks out a condescending laugh. “Got it.”

“Got what? Spill it, woman.”

“So, boundaries got crossed, yeah?” she asks; I nod. “And instead of being pissed at Kade for touching your girlfriend, you’re mad at yourself because you’re not mad at him? So backwards.”

I rub the back of my neck with my cold hand. “Yeah, I guess that sums it up.” Ridiculous.

We both watch Kade pull in, park in front of the house, and climb the steps. He starts bitching about a client at work, and then he notices the vibe on the porch.

“This a therapy sesh? Want me to fuck off?” he asks, mocking me.

“How’d you get Laken off last night?” I ask.

Kade glares at me, then at Mom, then at both of us. He grabs the smokes from Mom’s lap and lights one. “What the fuck, Jed?”

“He already told me, baby,” Mom says.

“Way to include me in that confession, you dumb fuck.” He takes a drag and leans against the railing. “I went down on her.”

Mom refuses to cringe. “That bother you?” she asks me.

No. I mean, I expected it, so I’m not really shocked. More smug that I fucked her after he went down on her and was the last one to get her off. “No,” I sigh. “Which is fucked up, right? It should bother me.”

Kade rolls his eyes, which gets my back up. “As long as you realize she’s still my fucking girlfriend.”

“Yeah, well aware of that part, you fuck.” He turns his back on us.

I didn’t mean it like that. I more meant that I’m still going to be here no matter what changes happen. I wasn’t staking some possessive claim, just reminding him that no matter how this turns out for him, he’s never going to have her to himself. I don’t clarify because…fuck him.

“You sure this is a good idea, Kade?” Mom asks him. “You’ve been trying to move on, and now you’ve jumped right in.”

“I’m a sadist,” is all he says.

“What?” I sit up straighter. “What’s that mean?”

“You really think I’m dumb enough to believe this is going to go somewhere? I’m going to have to watch you marry her, knock her up, and start a life with her. I’m not fucking stupid, Jed.”

But now my back is up for a different reason. “If you’re not in this for the long haul, don’t fuck around with her feelings like that!”

“The long haul? She’s yours, Jed!”

“I fucking know that!”

“So do I!” he butts in. “You going to share her with me forever?”

I guess I sort of thought that’s what this was. Does he have a different idea? I’m not just going to let him fuck her and then hurt her when he leaves. He’s in love with her, always has been, and now he’s backing out of that?

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