Page 59 of Off Limits

I was tempted to say no, but that would just prompt her to start the guilt trips, and I really wasn’t in the mood to go through that right now.

Asa: what time?

Mom: Before lunch on Saturday so we have time to get ready. We’ll be back Sunday afternoon.

Of course it was an overnight thing, and it didn’t escape me that she hadn’t asked if I wanted to babysit or if I was available. She just assumed I’d do it because I always did.

At least overnight babysitting was easy. The kids were in bed early, and that gave me the rest of the night to do whatever I wanted.

Asa: Fine

Mom: be here by eleven

I waited to see if she had more to say, then tossed my phone onto the couch cushion beside me after my screen went dark, my bad mood intensifying.

I didn’t have any plans for the weekend, and I actually didn’t mind babysitting the kids, but I hated how she never bothered to ask and instead commanded me like I was her nanny. I was used to it after all these years, but it still hurt that my own mother didn’t give a shit about me and only cared about what I could do for her.

I really didn’t need this on top of everything else going on in my head, but when it rains, it pours, or so they say.

The sound of the front door closing knocked me out of my spiral, stopping my thoughts from going any darker.

“Asa?”

“In the living room.”

Dex appeared in the doorway a moment later.

Why did he have to look so good? He’d showered before he left work, and his damp curls fell around his face, framing his too-handsome features and making him look like a fitness influencer.

“Why does your face look like that?” he asked, tilting his head as he studied me.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re about to rip someone’s head off.”

“Maybe because that’s exactly how I feel.”

“Any head in particular?” He leaned his hip against the door frame and crossed his arms over his muscular chest.

This was usually when Dex would make a hasty exit or a crack about me being a moody bastard with resting bitch face and antagonize me until I lost it and snapped at him.

The fact that he wasn’t doing either was weird, and I had no clue what it meant. Or if it even meant anything at all.

“The usual suspect.”

“Your mom?”

I nodded.

“What did she do this time?”

“She summoned me for babysitting this weekend.”

Something flashed in his eyes that I couldn’t read, but it was gone a second later. “You do that a lot?”

“Babysit? Constantly.”

“Really?”

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