Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
“You are beautiful,” my mother said again.
True.
“Owen has told me so much about you that I couldn’t wait anymore. I told him if he didn’t bring you over soon, I was going to pay a visit myself.”
Also true.
I had been planning to anyway, but fear of spooking Atlas had made me hesitant. Since I’d never been in a relationship before, I’d found myself second-guessing if it was too soon.
My mom had essentially taken the choice out of my hands when she tried to come to the hospital after I told them about Atlas’s accident.
It had only been my reminder that the stress of meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time was the last thing someone with a fresh head injury needed that had kept my mother away. My father had been no damn help since his soft ass couldn’t seem to ever say no to my mom. I knew he was firmly on her side for whatever she chose to do.
I could still hear my mother’s threat ringing in my head.
“As soon as she’s healed, I want you to bring her by the house. Don’t make me have to get your father involved, Owen Rashaad.”
Like me, my mom never issued a promise she didn’t mean, so I’d given her a date and time as soon as the doctor cleared Atlas. I made sure to schedule it before the reopening so that if things went south, we’d have an excuse to leave as soon as possible.
Kareena’s panic had been easier to manage since she was too weak to travel. I’d been sneaking down to Ossella these past few months to check on Atlas’s mom and make sure she was seeing a doctor as agreed. I also tried to talk some sense into her about telling Atlas the truth to no avail.
I had almost broken my promise after Atlas’s accident.
I hadn’t believed that Atlas was telling the full truth about hitting her head and losing consciousness. The doctor and the cut on her head had already confirmed she’d hit her head, but I wondered if it had occurred after she’d passed out.
The underwater current had been strong enough when I dove in to save her that anything was possible.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry about earlier,” Atlas apologized. “Owen didn’t tell me we were coming, so I was caught off guard and reacted badly. I hope I didn’t disrespect your home or make you think less of me.”
My mother waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. While I love my son more than any mother could, I’m under no impression that he’s an angel. I’m sure you were right to feel cornered.”
“Sometimes I think he’s the teenager, and I’m the dirty old man,” Atlas teased, making water squirt out of my nose while my father pounded the table as he roared his amusement at my expense.
My mother, who had a great sense of humor, let out a trilling sound that I hadn’t heard in a long while—so long my father’s green eyes were practically glowing with awe as he watched his wife laugh.
His head slowly turned, and then he stared at Atlas like she was the second coming.
Ever since my mom’s accident, her days alternated between extreme highs and lows. Still, nothing had made her as happy as her only son bringing a girl home finally.
Or anyone really.
I’ll never forget that time my mom had gotten it into her head that I was gay, and that’s why I hadn’t brought anyone home to meet her. She made it clear that she and my father loved me no matter what, and after I caught on, I made it clear they had no choice and that my sexual preferences steered firmly toward women.
“Oh, Michael,” my mother said after we started to dig in. “I forgot the syrup.”
My father immediately set his fork down to do her bidding.
“Oh, no, Ms. Heidi,” Atlas said when my father started to stand. “You and your husband worked so hard already. Owen isn’t doing anything. He can get it.”
My chewing slowed as my gaze slid to Atlas, who tilted her head and silently dared me to object.
Sliding my tongue over my front teeth, I nodded and stood to do her bidding.
“Oh, I like you,” my mother said with a wink. “I think you’re exactly what my brutish son needs.”
Now that I’d met Rowdy’s parents and it had gone better than expected, I was just grateful to have it over with. Meeting Sutton’s parents hadn’t gone nearly as well since I’d met ice cubes warmer than his mother, and his father had wandering eyes.
It was just after noon during my shift when I heard the shop’s front door open.
It was my first day back in two weeks, so I was behind the reception desk, catching up on emails and paperwork that Tuesday had understandably been too overwhelmed to keep up with.