Page 102 of Full Tilt
Beverly stood up, gathering plates. “Who wants dessert?”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
It was nearly eleven when we said our goodbyes. Beverly pulled me in for a long hug. “I’m so happy to have met you. Come back next Sunday. Every Sunday. Can you?”
I nodded, melting in her embrace. “I’d like that.”
She released me and turned to Jonah. “I’ll see you next week, honey?”
“Of course,” he said.
He kissed her cheek and she patted his. She held still then, her gaze unapologetically memorizing every detail of his face.
I looked away, my eyes stinging. I felt a shift in my soul as I was exposed to this moment between a mother and her son. For the whole drive home to my place, I couldn’t think of anything to say. Words wouldn’t capture it. They might even ruin it…
“What you said to Theo was amazing,” Jonah said.
“It was the truth.”
“But it was new. Dad is so hard on T and he’s grown deaf to hearing me defend him all the time. He needed a fresh perspective.”
“I was worried I’d crossed a line.”
“Not at all.”
“I heard faint echoes of my dad in your dad. Don’t get me wrong, yours is nothing like mine. It’s just I know how Theo feels.”
“Never good enough.”
“To say the least. Does he really want to open his own shop?”
“He does, but unless he gets a big chunk of cash for a down payment, he needs a co-signer on a loan. That’s a huge point of contention between him and Dad. My parents had to take out a second mortgage to help cover my hospital bills because my insurance only went so far.”
“Oh.”
“Theo would never complain about that, of course. It’s just our parents have always been one hundred percent supportive of me, and less so with him. The balance is horribly skewed.”
Jonah pulled into the lot of my apartment and parked.
“It must be so hard for him,” I said.
Jonah brushed his knuckles over my cheek. “I think you won him over a little tonight. And my parents loved you. I knew they would.”
“It was a good night,” I said. I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed into his lap, straddling him. “Let’s end it with a bang. “
“Literally or figuratively?” Jonah murmured, his hands sliding up my thighs as our mouths met.
“Both.” Our kisses quickly became more heated, even as a passing car lit up the interior of the truck and the steering wheel dug into my lower back.
“This isn’t as easy as it looks in the movies,” Jonah said, breathing hard. “Change of venue?”
I nodded. “Upstairs,” I said, then added in a husky Southern drawl, “Take me to bed or lose me forever.”
Jonah’s brow furrowed.“Body Heat?”
“Top Gun.”
