Perfectly Toxic (Sterling Shore 9)

“But since you’re here, you can see the girl version with all the dresses I’ve clipped out of magazines. Hopefully it’ll give you inspiration. I even have some pictures of Ethan as a baby and a little boy in here too, so you’ll see what an adorable child he was. It’s to give you incentive for children, because he really was the cutest kid ever.”

I soak it all in, letting her tell me about every embarrassing detail of this wedding she wants to take place soon. I also get to hear about all of Ethan’s worst moments.

“Oh, but it was adorable when he found out that the Saylor Moon panties weren’t for boys. He loved them so much, and it broke his heart when his father informed him they were for little girls and not boys. I’m not even sure where he found them.”

“That’s the best story ever,” I say with joyous enthusiasm.

Ethan groans numerous times, but he gives up on his incorrigible mother.

I notice, with some appreciation, all the quilts in all the pictures. Handstitched, beautiful quilts are in the backgrounds, seeming to be forgotten articles, but they draw my eye in.

Arlene is a quilter, and my smile grows as an idea forms. It’s been too long since I’ve met someone as open and sweet as Arlene.

After she finally closes the book and finishes with the embarrassing childhood stories, she stands and walks over to Ethan.

He’s pretending to be asleep now, and I’m in miserable pain from all the laughter I’ve held back when I wasn’t supposed to be laughing. She feels his forehead, shaking her head as she straightens and backs away.

“I’ll go grab some water and a sponge. Then I’ll be right back,” she informs me, which again has me restraining the riot going on inside me.

As soon as she leaves, Ethan’s eyes fly open, and he sits straight up.

“If you don’t stop her from attempting to give me a sponge bath, this thing between us is really fucking over.”

My laughter slips out before I can stop it, and I wipe away the tears as I stand and head toward the bathroom where Arlene is filling up a bucket of some kind.

“I’ll handle the sponge bath, Arlene,” I tell her, ceding this much for Ethan, even though I’d absolutely love to see him running from his mother while she tried to bathe him.

Her cheeks turn pink and her eyes widen.

“Oh. Oh my. I didn’t know you two were so at ease with each other’s bodies already. You said this was new.”

Her eyebrows are up in surprise, and I feel like an idiot. It’s not like I can tell her I let her son fuck me up against the wall before he ever took me out on a date. Have we been out on a real date? Now I’m basically admitting I’m sleeping with her son, after telling her this was new.

“I’m a bit modern,” I state, expecting that judgment to flare up at any moment.

Instead, her eyes drop to my hips, and she grabs them firmly, even shakes me a little. What the…

“You’re going to have to put a little weight on down here if you ever want to have my son’s babies. He was a big boy when he came out, almost split me in two. He’s also a strong man now. I’d hate for him to accidentally break such a tiny thing like you. Put on about fifteen pounds. That’s what I did when I decided to take on his father. He’s tall and strong like Ethan. The extra weight should help.”

I… Words… Yeah, no.

Horrified, I watch her as she drops her hold on my hips and beams at me again. “I’ll let you get to it then. I can’t wait to tell James what a lovely girl our boy found.”

No words. They’re still stuck somewhere in my throat.

With that, she whirls out, telling her son goodbye on her way out the door, and I sluggishly walk back toward the living room where Ethan is watching me with an amused smirk on his lips.

I drop to the couch beside him, putting myself right in front of his waist, and he pinches my ass, causing me to yelp. “Better grow those hips out,” he pokes. “I’m a big man.”

Now he’s the one restraining a laugh.

“Did your mother really just tell me to gain weight so I could handle you? That’s… ew…”

He bursts out laughing, then starts coughing before letting his eyes close and groaning.

“Yeah. Welcome to my world.”

Sex was taboo