Page 50 of Swinging for the Deep End

“Then why?”

I step closer to her. I tower over her. “Maybe because my mother was a single mother and I saw how hard it was on her. I look back and remember how much of a pain I was and she never faltered for a second. Yet I know somewhere deep inside herself she wished she could have had a little break here and there.”

I walk around Piper and run a hand through my hair.

I’m not too thrilled I just blurted that out to her.

Then again, I’m about to do two things I actually enjoy in my life.

First - play some pinball, hit an arcade and act like a kid again.

The second… get on Piper’s nerves just little bit more.

12

Piper

The mama bear in me wants to rush into the arcade, grab Saxon and get the hell out of there. Except I know that’s not the mama bear at all. That’s Petty Piper. A nickname I gave myself a long time ago that nobody else knows about (except you and me now). Petty Piper loves to cause destruction on different levels. You know how it goes. I can be a bitch to someone on the phone for no reason, and then feel guilty later. Or I can take it to another level. I once dated a guy who only chewed on the right side of his mouth. And then he would sit there and slap his tongue against the right side of his mouth, then wince and wink. It drove me nuts. So Petty Piper told him either chew with his entire mouth or never call again.

That guy definitely never called me again.

In other words, Petty Piper wants me to get Saxon out of the arcade because I don’t want Cutter near my son.

Why?

Because.

That’s not a good reason.

It’s good enough for me.

As I walk toward the arcade, I look at the table where Saxon and I had been sitting.

Sure, I can sit down. Sit alone. Have a meal to myself.

How fun.

At a pizza place, huh?

I shake my head.

I shove Petty Piper aside and let reality speak the truth.

Which is… Cutter Buckley is nothing more than a stranger to me. And certainly to my son. I don’t know anything about him. I don’t care about athletic fame or his big contract. Also, I’m not sure where Saxon is when it comes to being around guys.

What if he suddenly clings to Cutter or something?

I step into the arcade room and there’s nobody there but Cutter and Saxon.

“Watch this,” Cutter says. “What you do is hold the button in, okay? Keep your paddle pointed up and let the ball come down…” Cutter’s face gets really serious. “Boom. See? Now I control it. Now you want to gently move the ball down and get the perfect angle to send it up the ramp.”

There’s a clicking-pop sound and the pinball screen lights up.

It’s a zombie game so the machine groans and growls with the gurgling cries of the undead.

“Amazing,” Saxon says.

He’s fascinated by Cutter.

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