Page 14 of A Sudden Response

Eric sucked ice cream off his finger. “Thank God, I thought it was just me,” he said with a sigh. “Seriously, Mom, what the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking,” she said as she expertly sliced and placed four slices of cake onto small plates, “that it would be nice to see my youngest son settle down and give me grandchildren before I die.”

“I’m only thirty, woman. Besides, I don’t see you trying to rush Nathan into getting married.”

“I don’t have to set Nathan up-”

“Something I truly appreciate, by the way,” Nathan muttered.

“-because he puts himself out there and doesn’t have a problem keeping a steady girlfriend,” their mother finished as she began scooping ice cream onto the plates, making sure to give Nathan an extra scoop of chocolate swirl.

“Fine, but you don’t do this to Joe either,” Eric said as he grabbed two spoons and stabbed them into the large slice of cake.

She waved his comment off like it was nothing. “I’m not worried about Joe. She dates when she wants to. When she’s ready to settle down, she will.”

“How exactly is that different from what I’m doing?” Eric demanded, shaking his head in disgust.

“Because you, my baby boy, have never had a steady girlfriend.” She held up her hand when he opened his mouth to argue. “Beth doesn’t count. You dated for maybe a month before you got engaged, and then, you were together for another two weeks and I don’t think I saw you treat her as anything more than just a friend. You keep all your relationships casual. It’s past time you had a serious girlfriend. Then, we can work on getting you married,” she said with a hopeful smile.

“I just haven’t met anyone that was worth getting serious about. Has that occurred to you?’ Eric asked.

She smiled. “That’s why I invite women over, so that you have a chance to meet someone new.”

“Mom, I meet new people every day,” Eric pointed out.

“It doesn’t kill you to let me help you,” she said, placing two plates in Nathan’s hands.

“Well, maybe he’d be more receptive to your matchmaking if they weren’t frightening as hell,” Nathan pointed out.

“She’s not that bad, is she?” Alice asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

When they both glared at her, she said, “Well, she seemed so nice at the grocery store. We talked a few times and she said that she would like to meet a nice guy, so,” she shrugged her shoulders, “I thought I’d introduce the two of you.”

“I’m touched,” Eric said dryly.

“Here,” she said as she shoved one of the plates in his direction. “Bring this to Camie so that I can get the coffee.”

Grumbling, Eric carried the plates into the living room. He found Camie sitting on the loveseat, glaring at him like he’d justforgotten their anniversary. Without a word, he shoved the plate in her hand. He ignored her gasp of outrage and walked over to one of the overstuffed grey couches, wondering where Joe was.

It had been a good twenty minutes since she’d discovered that he’d smothered her with a pillow. Such a drama queen, Eric thought as he plopped down on the couch.

“Where’d Joe go?” he asked around a huge spoonful of cake and ice cream.

Caitlyn cleared her throat as she said, “She left.”

“Left?” Eric asked, placing his bowl down on the coffee table as his gaze shot over to Camie, who was still fucking glaring at him. Oh, he was going to spank Joe’s ass raw for this. He couldn’t believe she’d leave him with this woman just because he may have inadvertently smothered her. Nothing he did to her warranted this. Oh, when he got his hands on her-

“You should have just said that you were gay instead of wasting my time,” Camie snapped angrily right around the time that Nathan and their mother walked into the room before she got to her feet and stormed out of the house.

What the hell?

Gay?

Him?

Not a chance in hell.

Three pairs of eyes turned on him as the sound of the front door slamming shut echoed throughout the suddenly quiet house.

---