Page 26 of No Mercy

“Can I be excused?”

Sam’s voice cut through my thoughts, and I glanced over at him. He was a polite little guy, his eyes locked onto his mom while he patiently waited for her response.

“Are you sure that you’re full? There won’t be any snacking later,” Allie said, smiling. Sam nodded vigorously. “Okay, then. Run upstairs and get your shower and put your jammies on. You go to school tomorrow.”

“Awe, Mom! Do I have to?” His little bottom lip turned down in a mock frown. He swung his head in my direction. “Did you go to school?”

I had, but I hadn’t been very good at it. “Sure did, kid.” Right up until they’d kicked me out of high school for fighting. I wasn’t going to add that, though.

“Did you like it?” Sam continued.

I knew the smirk on my face would tell Allie what I refused to acknowledge to our son. “There were parts of it that I liked.” Like the girls I had access to in high school before I’d been kicked out. Especially the so-called good little girls who wanted to get tapped at least once by the school bad boy, and I was as bad as they came.

“Sam, honey, go get your shower.”

With his head down and a little pout on his mouth, Sam left the table. Allie’s gaze followed him like a hawk, a tolerant smile on her pretty face. “He thinks by trying to put his shower off that his bedtime will be later than usual.”

I nodded with understanding. “So, you’re going to enroll him into school tomorrow?”

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that.” I put my fork down and gave her my attention. “You know the area better than I do. Are there any private schools close by?”

“What’s wrong with Sam going to a public school? You want our kid to go around thinking he’s better than everyone else? Why private?”

“There’s nothing wrong with public schools except that the classrooms are a little too crowded. Private school class rooms are usually smaller. The kids receive more one-on-one interaction with their teacher.”

I frowned. “Does Sam have a learning disability?”

“No.”

“Then public schools are good enough.” I could tell that Allie didn’t like my decision. Her face turned red.

“I plan on getting a job so I can pay−”

I shook my head. “It’s not about the money. I can afford anything Sam needs. I just don’t happen to agree that he needs to attend a private school. Especially when the only one in the area only goes up to grade one. After that he’d have to go to public anyway.”

The silence that followed told me that she was thinking it over. What I said made sense. It would have been different if Sam could attend private school long enough to benefit from the smaller class rooms and more one-on-one with his teacher.

“We both went to public schools,” I added. “And we turned out okay.”

She glared at me for a minute before bursting out with laughter, surprising me. “Yeah, we’re good examples of what public schools did for us.” I shrugged, taking a bite of bread. “I guess public school it is, then.”

Allie didn’t sound very sure of her decision, but I decided not to question it. No reason to beat a dead horse. I was just glad that she’d decided to get my input. As little as it was, it made me feel like a dad. I plowed the last forkful of spaghetti into my mouth while she scooted back her chair and got up.

“Will you be home tonight after your, ah, needs are taken care of?” she had the nerve to ask.

I looked up at her to gauge how serious she was. Her expression remained neutral, but something in her eyes, a vulnerability that she was trying to hide, kept me from snapping out my answer. I shouldn’t have given a fuck, but I did. She’d never know it, though. I couldn’t afford to give her that kind of control. As our gazes remained glued together I scooted back my own chair and got to my feet.

I shrugged. “Depends.”

“On what?”

“How many women it takes to satisfy my dick.”

Allie turned away but not before I saw the hurt in her eyes. “You’re a prick.”

I was a prick, but what did she expect? I liked sex, and she knew that. All my brothers did. We weren’t like women. Our hearts weren’t connected to our dicks. Relationships didn’t work for us, so we fucked any willing female that didn’t want strings.

I turned to head out, when Sam appeared at the top of the stairs. “Going out for a little while, Sam.” I waited for him to reach the bottom. “Won’t be home before you go to bed.”

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