Page 3 of Mafia Captor

I shoot back a text.Off-roading with his friends would probably involve beer. That would be a hard no.

Where areyou headed bud

His text comes back lightning fast.

the gym

the girls love the Rover

Funnyhow when he wants something he can get back to me right away, but it took him three days to let me know he could house-sit this weekend.

Should I let him?

I run a hand through my hair, debating. He’s a good kid. Responsible. I’ve made sure of it. He’s crazy smart and recently switched to online school, ready to knock out his senior year even though he’s only 16. I should cut the kid some slack. He needs to get out.

You feed Bastian?

Lopsy got her meds?

Threw the ball for Sasha?

He replies with:

twice plus treats

yes but she wasn’t happy about it

like a zillion times

say yes

That kid.He makes me laugh.

Fine

Wear your seat belt

And don’t trash my Rover

Two letters come back.

ty

As with halfof my kid brother’s texts, I have to look up the meaning of them. Ty? Short for thank you. I don’t understand kids these days. How long does it take to type out two words?

Back to the problem at hand. If I ask Ashely to come with me, my mother finally gives me what I’ve been begging her for since my dad died. Ask Ashely to come with me and I’ll face ribbing from four brothers and pestering from my mother. And I’ll be risking having her hang around long enough to leave a toothbrush, forcing me to have that skin-crawling discussion yet again.

My gut twists at the idea of inviting another woman into my life. The whiskey lining the bottom of my stomach suddenly grows sour. Nope. Not worth it. I’ll send Ma the RSVP in the morning. Yes for one. This Boston Bull will be charging in solo. Just as headstrong and just as much a pain in the ass as I’ve been for my entire life.

I fucking hate Valentine’s Day. It scares me to death. If you’re seeing a woman, you’ve got to pull out all the stops. If you’re not, everyone shoots you looks of sympathy all day. Asking a woman out for a first date on V-Day? Yeah, that’s gonna lead to ideas of leaving toothbrushes.

So, yeah. The tightly wound girl in the sexy little black dress needs to move to the back of my mind. Ma will have to be disappointed.

As Ma said, I know how to get what I want. She’ll give in eventually. Not worth risking a date over.

I’m staying single.

ChapterTwo

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