Page 116 of The Foul Out

That penetrated my haze. Heart dropping, I snapped my head around and assessed him. “Fuck.”

He nodded, his eyes downcast.

“You okay?”

“Not at all. I’m just trying to get through these next few weeks so I can get home and fix this shit.”

I felt that. I didn’t have the first clue how to fix things with Harper, but that didn’t mean I was giving up. No, it meant that I’d have to try harder, figure out a new plan. Because other than that first text conversation after she left, she hadn’t responded to a single message.

“What happened with you and Harper?”

I lowered my head and closed my eyes. “I was hiding something.”

Beside me, he choked on his beer. “Like another chick?” he asked, eyes wide, when he recovered.

“No.” I spat the word out. “It’s about my family. She found out and feels like I was lying. That’s a hot button for her, so she won’t talk to me.”

With a thoughtful nod, he took a long swig of his beer.

“What happened with Zara?”

Huffing, he set his bottle down on the glass tabletop a bit too forcefully. “I don’t have any idea, man. She thinks I don’t act like I want to be married anymore and that a separation will make me happy or some bullshit like that.” He scowled. “Didn’t seem to care that the only thing I want is her.”

“I feel that.” Sighing, I picked at the label on my bottle. “I know I’m miserable company, but if you need to talk…”

He lifted his chin and surveyed the guys horsing around in the pool. “Thanks.”

My phone buzzed on the table, and when my mother’s name flashed on the screen, my stomach sank. I’d ignored her calls for days, but I couldn’t keep it up forever. Honestly, I was surprised she hadn’t flown out to yank on my ear and yell at me already.

“I gotta get this.”

Standing, I picked up the device. Then I headed inside so I could talk to her in private.

“Hey, Mama,” I said when I’d pulled the sliding door shut behind me.

“About damn time.”

Sighing, I leaned onto the white marble counters. “I’m going to start this out simple. If you say one bad word about Harper Wallace, I will hang up, and I won’t answer again. Ever.” It wasn’t a statement I made or took lightly. But I meant it. Cutting my family off, especially my mother, would suck, but I wouldn’t stand by and let them utter even a single bad word about the woman I loved.

“I have nothing negative to say about your girlfriend.”

I coughed out a humorless laugh. “I’d love it if she’d accept that title, but she broke up with me, Mama.”

“That situation has been nothing but drama for decades.” She sighed, making the line between us crackle.

Surprise had me straightening. That wasn’t exactly the response I expected from her.

“Secrets, all of them, cause nothing but problems. And like I promised Bill, I’m done with them.” The click of her nails tapping, probably on her kitchen countertop, echoed through the phone. “Susan told me about James’s affair before I even started dating Bill. Maybe this is a PSA about falling in love with your best friend’s family member. Clearly, you and I have that in common.”

She and Aunt Susan had been friends since JJ and I were in second grade, but my mom hadn’t married Bill until I was twelve.

“Little late, Mama.”

“I was pretty sure of that by Christmas.”

My breath caught, and I spun and leaned against the cabinets for support. “What?”

“I know my son. You were moony after someone at Christmas. Always on your phone, pouting like you wanted to be somewhere else. And I don’t know how Aunt Susan didn’t recognize those kids on your Instagram. Even though you didn’t show their faces, the resemblance to JJ, Danielle, and the grandkids was obvious.”

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