Page 93 of Renegade

My skin prickled with lust until I remembered Monica was less than six feet away from me. That and the fact that my vagina was being held together with medical tape. “Well, stud, I’m good. You should be out enjoying your birthday. I just need to get some sleep and I’ll be good as new.”

Why wasn’t he out with his mother?

He peeked around me. “Is someone else here? I swore I heard someone talking to you.”

Moment of truth.

I could lie and say that it was the TV or I could just get it over with and introduce him. He didn’t need to know that she was involved in a gang. Maybe she was just Monica, recovering addict who came into a large inheritance.

It would be like Galveston where we made it up.

I swung the door open and ushered him in. “Mike, this is my mother, Monica. Monica, this is my boyfriend, Mike.”

He beamed and shook her hand while she shot me a grateful look.

Mom.

It was funny how such a small word could cause a shift in perception. As she and Mike talked, I realized it was the first time in my life that I felt like I was a normal person. My mom was meeting my boyfriend—no big deal.

If she could turn her entire life around, then maybe it wasn’t crazy to think that Betsy could learn to like me. Eventually, she’d come around, once she saw how good he and I were together.Right?

Chapter Fifteen

December 2014

“I thought we had an agreement,” Betsy hissed as she reached around Lauren to grab plates from the cabinet, barely missing her head as she opened it.

Lauren jumped out of the way and whispered, “We had an agreement that I wouldn’t go out for his birthday. You never said anything about accepting his invitation to dinner so I could meet his mother.”

I stood in the doorway and watched them continue bickering back and forth before jumping in. “Good to see that you two have met. I’m just gonna go upstairs and change clothes.”

They both froze and then slowly turned around to face me.

“You’re home early!” My mother exclaimed.

I’d pictured them meeting and instantly becoming best friends. Then again, my mother did hang around my father voluntarily, so her idea of a good time and mine differed slightly.

Lauren stared down at the counter, refusing to look at me. Even the tips of her ears were pink. “Lauren, can I talk to you upstairs?”

I didn’t miss the triumphant look my mother shot her as she left the kitchen. Meeting her mother had been a hell of a lot easier. Lauren had told me that Monica was a recovering addict, yet left out the part about the MC. Still, I felt like it was a step in the right direction. So much so, that I invited my mom out to meet her.

Once we reached my bedroom, I turned to her. “So, you met my mother on my birthday?”

She sighed, “Yes, I met your mother on your birthday. It didn’t go well. End of story.”

I loosened my tie. “Care to elaborate?”

With her head cocked to the side, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Am I being formally charged with something, Detective?”

Damn. My mother really got her riled up.

I fumbled with the last button trying to get my shirt off before making my way back over to her. “Darlin’, you know if I’m gonna question you, I’m using the cuffs to keep you compliant.”

When that didn’t earn me a grin, I started to worry. I pulled her into my arms and rubbed her back. “So, you and my mom don’t get along. Big fucking deal. It doesn’t change how I feel about you, Red.”

“I met your mom while I was performing a Brazilian wax on myself. She walked in right as I ripped the wax off, taking part of my labia majora…or was it minora… with me. She steri-stripped my lady-bits and then told me to stay away from you.”

Steri-stripped her lady-bits?

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