Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons 5)
“Don’t do that,” she said, shaking her head a little. “No man worth anything will make you believe that you have to make yourself smaller so he can feel bigger.”
“He did that,” I admitted, my voice nearly inaudible.
“I know he did,” she replied, her eyes sad. “I saw it. And I wanted to say something, but you were so dedicated to making things work with him that I didn’t want to make it harder for you.”
“Why do I keep finding these guys? Why am I such a magnet for men that don’t know how to stick it out?”
“None of those guys were right for you,” she said. “Maybe you should stop looking.”
I scoffed.
“Maybe you should let the next one come to you,” she said, ignoring the noise I’d made. “I swear, it always happens when you’re not looking for it.”
“Oh, what do you know?” I teased huskily. “You’ve been in love with Leo since you hit puberty.”
“Probably before that,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But we didn’t get together until I’d stopped pursuing him. It had to happen at the right time.”
“It feels like I’m never going to meet him, that one perfect guy made just for me,” I confessed. “Everyone else has paired off, and I’m always just in the corner standing by myself because whatever loser I’d been dating had dumped me.”
“We’re twenty-three,” she said with a chuckle. “You have so much time to find the right guy. The one who will give you babies and treat you like you’re the center of his universe.”
“What if I never find him?”
“Then I guess you’ll just have to move in with me and Leo and we can be sister-wives.” She smiled as I laughed. “But you don’t get to bang him. We’ll just get you a really good vibrator.”
Our laughter shook the bed and I wheezed, trying to catch my breath.
“Oh, my God,” she said, still laughing. “I forgot to tell you.”
“What?”
“I found a grey pubic hair.”
“What?” I practically shouted.
“Yep. Just hanging out down there, like, what’s up, old lady?”
I choked and laughed harder.
“I’m going to have to wax,” she gasped through her giggles. “But I’m afraid I’ll have more when the hair grows back in.”
“Sixty year old carpet and twenty-three year old drapes,” I said, barely able to talk through my chuckles.
“Oh, God,” she rasped, slapping the bed. “Why the fuck didn’t anyone warn us?”
“Because no one else discusses their pubes with us?”
“Well, they should!”
It took a while for our laughter to die down, but by the time it did, I felt a million times better. There was something to be said about quiet conversations in the dark with your best friend—they had the power to heal even the worst days.
“Thanks for coming,” I said as we settled back down.
“Of course.”
“Was Leo pissed that you were spending the night here?”
“Nah,” she said, shaking her head. “They can get by without me for one night. Gray was already asleep, and Leo said he was going to watch his stupid car shows and eat pickled asparagus in bed.”
“Ew.” I wrinkled my nose. “That’s disgustingly descriptive.”
“And he’s all mine, ladies and gentlemen,” she said, waving her arm toward the ceiling like a game show host.
“I want that,” I said with a sigh.
“Don’t worry, Rosie,” she said, pulling her blanket up around her shoulders. “I promise, you’ll have a disgusting man of your own someday.”
“Copper was disgusting,” I muttered as I closed my eyes.
“Wrong kind of disgusting,” she mumbled back.
Chapter 2
Mack
“Kara Louise MacKenzie, if you don’t get your ass moving, I’m leaving without you,” I called up the stairs as I stuffed my feet into my boots.
Swear to God, that girl couldn’t get ready in time no matter how early I woke her. When she was little, watching her move around like a zombie in the morning had been cute, but the older she got, the less cute it was. If she made me late for work again, her ass was grounded for a week.
Okay, she’d probably be grounded for a day. I wasn’t real good with the follow through, even though I knew I needed to be. It was hard to punish a kid who got good grades, treated others with respect, and smiled at me like I was a freaking superhero. My baby girl was a good kid, no matter how nuts she drove me.
“Kara!” I yelled again as I shoved my wallet in my back pocket. “Let’s go!”
“I’m coming,” she yelled, hopping down the stairs as she tried to push her feet into her sneakers. “I’m ready.”
“Tie ’em,” I reminded her as she stumbled to a stop beside me. “You know the rules.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, leaning over to finish putting on her shoes. “No shorts, no short sleeves, laces tied, no flip flops—”
“We’re ridin’ the bike,” I said, cutting her off as I grabbed our helmets off the couch. “You had all winter to wear whatever shoes you wanted.”