Page 54 of Moonstruck
“I don’t think my son had anything so frivolous on his computer,” Bev said. “He wasn’t into that artsy stuff like Zane. He spent his time on important things like schoolwork and extracurriculars. He even did volunteer work with your father’s foundation. You would have loved my Gage.”
Asa squeezed Zane’s hand harder, like he could feel the sting of her words and their effect on Zane’s heart. “Our computer expert would just like an opportunity to see if she can find all the things Gage loved. If Gage’s grades and extracurriculars were his primary focus, we’ll make sure that is highlighted, front and center. But it would really mean a lot to us—to my father—if we could just borrow his laptop for a few hours. We can clone the hard drive and have it back almost immediately so it’s not out of your sight for long. I promise it will come back to you in exactly the same way it left.”
Once more, Asa laid that big smile on his mother. Zane could tell she was wavering. She loved Gage more than anything in the world, but Gage was dead and Thomas Mulvaney’s attention would be social capital she could cash in on with her bridge club for months if not years, especially if Asa was telling the truth and they really were doing life together.
Finally, his mother sighed. “Okay, sure. Why not? But I want final say in what goes into his memorial. I wouldn’t want people getting the wrong idea about my son.”
“Absolutely,” Asa assured her.
She gave a single nod, then stood and left the room. Zane sagged against the couch. Asa leaned down and nuzzled just behind his ear. “I could kill her for you.”
“How would you do it?” Zane asked, breathless. The idea of Bev’s death felt like a balm to his jagged heart.
Asa seemed to think about it. “Um, poison?”
Zane shook his head. “Too quick.”
"Drowning?"
Zane made a face. "Not painful enough."
“Vat of acid?” Asa countered.
A startled laugh escaped. “Are you trying to kill my mom or take out all the toons in ToonTown, Judge Doom?”
“Did you just make aWho Framed Roger Rabbitreference?” Asa asked, looking at Zane in awe.
“I love that movie,” Zane said, blushing for some reason.
“Me too,” Asa murmured, leaning down to kiss his way along the shell of Zane’s ear.
“Tell me more ways you’d kill my mom,” Zane said on a gasp.
“Aren’t you afraid she’ll catch us making out on her pristine sofa?” Asa purred, dropping Zane’s hand to skim fingertips along his inner thigh.
“Please, you could fuck me on the dining room table and she’d just try to find a way to capitalize on the event.”
Asa made an appreciative sound when he felt Zane starting to harden behind his zipper. “There’s an idea.”
“Fucking me in front of my mom? Um, no. Boundaries are a thing.”
Asa shook his head. “Uh-uh. Fucking you bent over my dining room table. I miss being inside you.”
Zane flushed. “You were inside me last night.”
“I know, it’s been hours. I’m going to die,” Asa intoned dramatically.
Zane snorted. “I highly—”
“Here you are,” Bev said, holding Gage’s laptop in front of her as if it was an offering.
Zane jumped to his feet, not missing the look of amusement on Asa’s face as he clasped his hands together in front of his crotch. What an asshole. Asa stood much more languidly, taking the laptop from her and leaning down to kiss his mother’s paper-thin cheek. “Thanks, Bev. I’ll have this back to you in no time.”
His mother’s cheeks turned pink and she fluttered her lashes. “Please, call me Mom.”
Un-fucking-believable.
Zane was unusually quiet when they left his mother’s house, staring out the passenger side window once more. Asa was quickly learning that when Zane was truly hurting, he turned his anger inward. Asa wished Zane would just yell or scream or make hostile accusations. Anything was better than the silence that Asa knew meant Zane was tearing himself to shreds.
