Page 21 of Cougar

“So this is where the party is.” My mother’s voice echoes from behind us before she circles around to stand in front of us.

“Mother, what are you doing up?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I’m worried about my baby girl.” She drops down in the sand, legs crossed. “Guess I’m not the only one.” She sniffs the air, then looks over at Bass. “Is that marijuana?”

Bass gives me the side eye. “Um….”

She tsks. “Well, are you gonna share?”

I choke out a laugh as Bass passes her the joint. “Mother, what are you doing? You don’t smoke pot.”

“Who says I don’t?”

The three of us watch in fascination as she brings the joint to her lips and takes a drag. She looks down at it as she spins it between her fingers and exhales. “Good shit.”

I fall against Bass and laugh my ass off, his body shaking with laughter beneath me.

“I love this family,” Alex says with a laugh. “Mimi, you just skyrocketed to the top of my list as the coolest person ever.”

My mother grins and points at him. “Just don’t tell Mac.”

A few minutes later, my mother stands up on unsteady legs and brushes the sand from her pajama pants. “Come on, kids.” She holds out her hands, one to me and one to Alex. “There’s a birthday cake in the kitchen with your names on it.”

* * *

I head to my room and fall back on my bed. We demolished the entire birthday cake. Turns out no one in the house was able to sleep—my father was at the counter with his glass of milk, while Grace was putting on a pot of coffee. We kept the conversation light, and my mother did most of the talking. A few times I caught my father eyeing her suspiciously and I wanted to burst out laughing. She wasn’t fooling anyone. My mother was high as a kite and my father knew it.

Reaching over to the nightstand, I pick up my phone to check the time and see a text from Cam that came in fifteen minutes ago.

Cam: Sorry for the late text. Just wanted to check on you and wish you a happy birthday.

I can’t believe he remembered my birthday.

Me: Thank you.

Cam: What are you doing up?

Me: Can’t sleep.

A moment later, my phone lights up with Cam Parker’s name on the screen.

“Not a fan of texting?” I ask by way of answering.

“I’d rather hear your voice.”

I blink at his words, so matter-of-fact and without a hint of flirtatiousness.

“You’re sweet. I can’t believe you remembered my birthday.”

“I can’t take all the credit for that. A reminder popped up on my phone.”

“Oh.” I snort. “It’s the thought that counts.”

“Yeah,” he agrees with a soft chuckle.

“What are you doing up so early?” I pull the phone away from my face to check the time. It’s just after 5:00 a.m. in Heritage Bay.

“I’m getting ready to go for a run. I was thinking about you. I talked to Liam late last night. He told me about Jay. Is she gonna be all right?”

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