Breaking Even (Sterling Shore 5)
Page 133
I’m going to love spending the rest of my life trying to break even.
The End
A Redo is the next book of the Sterling Shore Series, and it will be followed by Triple Dare—Corbin Sterling’s book.
Get a glimpse of A Redo right now, set to release in 2015.
A REDO
Chapter One
WREN
When the hell did my mother start locking her front door on a Sunday afternoon? I’m already running late, and she promised me she’d have all the groceries bought that I would need to feed a child. I apparently suck at being a father, because I can’t even manage to buy food the kid likes.
“Mom?” I prompt when I walk in, but there’s no answer. The massive house doesn’t exactly carry sound very well, and I don’t have time to track her down.
If I’m late, Allie might damn well cut my balls off before cutting me off from Angel. But if I bring Angel over here to get the groceries, my mother will never let us leave. I need to figure out a way to bond with my estranged daughter if I’m ever going to be in her life. And my mother hogging her attention isn’t the way to do it.
Jogging toward the kitchen, I make a mental note to get a new phone.
Mine has been freezing up all the time, and I didn’t even realize it had gotten so late until I was rushing around. My phone was still stuck on one even after it was past two. Stupid piece of shit.
Large canvas bags are still resting on the counter in the kitchen, and I sigh in relief. I grab the first two and... drop them both back to the ground as my jaw falls unhinged.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask the man who is walking into the kitchen with my mother’s robe on—her pink, far-too-short, satin robe.
“Oh, Wren. Sorry. Didn’t know you were here,” Ray Fucking Drivel—or Capperton or whatever in the hell he’s calling himself these days—says on his way to the fridge, acting as though I shouldn’t be shocked out of my damn mind right now.
I watch, unable to form anymore words that can possibly relay how confused I am in this moment. After he opens the door on the fridge, he bends over way too far, revealing much more of his body than I’ve ever wanted to see, and I whirl around to fight back a gag.
“Why are you naked under my mother’s robe?”
“Because my clothes are in the wash,” he says as though it should be common knowledge.
“And your clothes are in the wash because?”
“I got them dirty when I was crawling under the house.”
The more questions he answers, the more confused I become. But before I can truly interrogate him, my mother walks in, her eyes widening as she tightens the strings on her long, black satin robe.
Oh hell no.
“Wren,” Mom says in surprise. Her hair is ruffled, her face is flushed, and her lips are swollen. I’m going to be sick. “I would have thought you’d be here sooner.”
I gag silently when I think of what I might have heard if I had gotten here earlier. Mom reads my horrified expression and shakes her head vigorously. “I meant much earlier. I thought you’d go shopping with me so you could do it on your own next time.”
Ignoring the man who is pouring a glass of orange juice, making himself entirely too comfortable in my childhood kitchen, I take a steadying breath before trying to answer.
“My phone messed up again. Lost track of time,” I say through clenched teeth, feeling my body tense all over when Ray slides his arm around Mom’s waist and tugs her back against his front. When she giggles and leans against him before stroking his face, I gag out loud.
“Oh, Wren. Stop it. I’m a grown woman.”
“And he’s a fucking con artist! Last I checked, you’re exactly the sort of woman he targets.”
Ray cocks an eyebrow at me, but doesn’t act offended, which only pisses me off all the more. But Mom... Shit. She looks like she’s ready to beat my ass.
“Wren Prize, I love you, but you don’t get to judge people for making mistakes in the past.”