Page 104 of Loathe at First Sight

All I can manage in return is a loud moan.

“You keep riding me like this, I’m not going to last long.”

I look back at him and give him a sly grin. “Guess we will just have to do it again, huh?”

“Oh, believe me, princess—I am going to fuck you over and over again.”

thirty-six

Poundtown

Jack

“What if your mom hates me?” Liz asks as we drive to the retirement community where my mother now resides.

“She’s not going to hate you,” I tell her. “She’ll probably be happy just to meet one of my girlfriends who isn’t a gold digger.”

“But what if she does hate me?”

Joking I reply, “Well, who the fuck cares? She lives thousands of miles away.”

She looks at me with all the annoyance she can muster. “I’m serious, Jack. How close are you and your mom? If she hates me, are you going to ghost me or something?”

“Sweetheart, we live in a town that’s small enough to fit in a thimble. I couldn’t ghost you if I tried. But to answer your other question, sure my mom and I are close. But she’s never been one to try to influence any of my decisions—no matter how dumb they may be.”

When I see her offended face, I add, “Not that I think you’re a dumb decision.”

“Yeah, yeah. Nice save.”

“Will you please try to calm down?” I ask. “My mother is quite possibly the sweetest woman in the world. Even if she did feel some ill will toward you, chances are you would never even know. Hell, I would probably never even know.”

“Sounds like the complete opposite of my mother. If she has a problem with you, it’s going to be written all over her face.”

“Oh, whatever. Your mom has always been super sweet, too.”

Her eyes go wide. “Maybe to you! I’m pretty sure she likes you more than me. Guess that’s pretty par for the course, though. Everyone seems to like you more than me.”

I grab her hand and link my fingers with hers. “Maybe you just need to mend some fences.”

“Maybe,” she mumbles so quietly I almost don’t hear it. “Anyway, tell me more about your mom.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Uhm, how about anything? You have told me she’s nice. Besides that and the fact that it’s her birthday, I don’t know anything.”

“Well, her name is Judith. She raised me all on her own with not a lot of help from anyone.”

Liz interrupts. “Where’s your dad?”

“He passed away before I was born. He was deployed overseas and was killed.”

“Shit, Jack,” she gasps. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. Yes, it’s sad, but I didn’t expect you to know that, and I don’t expect you to feel bad about it. It’s just something that’s always been a part of my story.”

“Your mom never got remarried?”

I shake my head. “Nope. She was a teacher and a single mom to a son who was in every sport imaginable. She never missed a single practice, game, or anything else for that matter.”

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