by Jessa York
The marshmallows jumped out of my hands and landed on the floor. “Jack!” I yelled, finally able to make a noise. “Your mom is here,” I said in the calmest voice I could find. His face went blank and he spun around to see his mother on the couch.
“Uh, Ma? What’s going on? Are you okay? Did something happen?” Mr. Whipped Cream said and strode toward the couch to sit beside her.
“Oh, Jack, I’ve been a terrible mother,” she said and burst into tears again. I got out another cup and picked up the escapee marshmallows. This was going to be a long night.
14
Jack
It was after one o’clock in the morning, and I was bone fucking tired. Before I got home, my vision for the evening had been Harper, Harper’s hot body, Harper’s long legs, Harper’s long legs wrapped around my body…you get the point.
Now it looked like I was going to have to take my mom back to my place. Honest to God, my dad was still screwing with my life even after he cut me out of his.
“Let me talk to Harper for a second, and I’ll be right back,” I told my mother as I stood up. Harper disappeared after dumping our cups onto the table, and I hadn’t heard a peep from her since.
The small lamp by the bed was on, and she was on her side, that heart-shaped ass in full view. My cock—oblivious to how the rest of my body felt—woke right the hell up at that sight. Fuck, she was beautiful. Oh, how my fingers itched to rip that pretty little G-string off. “You awake?” I asked quietly, hoping like hell she hadn’t dozed off.
“Yeah, everything all right?” she said in a sleepy, sexy voice as she rolled over. Her long, luxurious waves were spread out on the pillow underneath her head. I couldn’t resist. My whole life, she was exactly what I pictured coming home to at the end of a hard day.
“I’m going to take Ma back to my place,” I told her, stroking her soft golden locks. A man could get lost in there.
“There’s a second bedroom. She’s welcome to stay here,” she said and yawned.
“She’s a TV addict, and right now especially, she needs it on twenty-four seven to keep her sane.”
“I should get a TV,” she mumbled, frowning at me like she was disappointed.
“No, you don’t need to get a TV every time my parents break up. Fuck, that sounds weird.”
As she sat up, her hand snaked behind my head and pulled me down. “I’m sorry. This must be tough on you.” Then she pressed her lips to mine for a gentle kiss. Everything in my body went on high alert. I wanted to deepen that kiss in the worst way.
Instead, I sat back and held her hand. “I’ve gotta take her now before I fall asleep.”
“Call me tomorrow?” she asked, her eyes cast downward, willing to sacrifice her joy for someone else’s.
“You don’t get me. I’m going, so we’re going. One thing I learned during our hiatus—I can’t sleep without your sweet body next to mine. And from the looks of things, if I’m lucky, I’ll manage to grab about three full hours if we leave now.”
The wheels were turning, and she looked me over to see if I was shitting her or not. She soon understood I was serious. “I’ll take my own car so I can drive back here in the morning?” she asked. Christ, she was cute.
“You’re not driving at this time of night. I have an abundance of cars available to drive. What I don’t have a lot of is you. Now, get that sexy ass up and pack a bag. We’re leaving as soon as you’re ready.” I kissed her quickly and got up. If I stayed any longer, I wouldn’t be able to leave.
Fifteen minutes later, with her hair in a messy bun, Harper emerged from the bedroom carrying a full backpack.
“Sorry, I took so long,” she said, truly apologetic. This woman would be the death of me. Here we were dragging her out of her bed in the middle of the night and she was apologizing to us.
“Don’t be silly, dear. This is all my fault.” Mom seized Harper’s arm and looked about ready to cry again. Fuck me.
“It’s nobody’s fault except…whatever. Let’s just go,” I said, completely done with this situation.
We tried our best to be as quiet as possible while we left, but Riley opened her door before we were even at the stairs. “Everyone okay?” she asked, wearing the shortest shorts I’d ever seen. Her tank top hugged her toned body…yeah, I noticed. I’m a guy. I look. But she was not my type. Harper definitely was, though. Where Riley was straight lines and muscle, Harper was soft curves and chest.
“All good. I’ll explain tomorrow,” Harper told Riley as she waved. The three of us marched off to my car. It seemed almost surreal. I didn’t know how many times in my life I wished my mother would pack us up and leave. Of course, she never did, but I hoped and prayed for it all the time. Like most kids prayed to get a dog or a bike, all I ever wanted was for us to leave my dad.
And now that I was edging up on thirty years old, my mother finally grew the kahunas to do it. Go figure.
We made small talk in the car. Harper knew I was tired, and she carried the weight of the conversation. Never was I so happy to see my building. In my mind, I kept subtracting how many hours of sleep I’d get if I could get to sleep by two o’clock, three o’clock, etc. And I could tell you, it wasn’t looking good.
By the time we got up to my place and had Ma settled in her room, it looked like I’d get a max of two hours and forty-five minutes if I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Harper
Jack was tired. The man worked incredibly hard and kept stupid hours. But what I witnessed tonight broke my heart. He was so exhausted, I didn’t know how he kept his eyes open. Even through this, he still asked me, “You hungry? Need anything before we go to bed?”
Always thinking of me and my needs. What more could a girl ask for? “Let’s get to bed. It’s so late, honey,” I told him and pulled him up the stairs, my hand in his warm, strong, calloused one.
When we got to his room, I was in my pj’s already, so I helped him. As I undid the buttons on his shirt, he said, “Are you making a pass at me?” The absurdity of it made me giggle. Jack’s mom came over in the middle of the night, announcing that she’d left his father after a hundred years of marriage. He drove her to his place where he knew she’d be more comfortable, and now he had about five minutes before his alarm went off and he was asking if I wanted sex?
“I’m getting you ready for bed. For sleep,” I clarified, holding up my index finger. “No funny business, mister.” I glared at him and poked my finger into his warm naked chest, serious about my statement.
“What if you do all the work while I watch?” he suggested, and I slapped him playfully.
“Sleep. That’s it,” I told him as I yanked off his shirt the rest of the way and got started on his pants.
“Party pooper,” he muttered, sounding drunk from lack of sleep.
“Yep, that’s me. No fun while I’m around.” His pants hit the floor, and he stepped out of them.
“Harper, you’re plenty fun.” He yawned, making his words even more convincing. That made me laugh again.
“In bed, let’s go,” I ordered and pulled back the sheets for him to get in. Resigned, he threw himself into bed, and I scooched in beside him. “Can you turn off the lamp?”
“Too tired. Can’t move,” he whispered, completely still, eyes shut tight.
Frustrated, I groaned and hefted myself over him so I could reach the button. Before I could lie back down again, Jack’s arm curled over my lower back and his hand and mouth went straight for my breast. A loud sigh came out of my mouth as he added the heat of his tongue, and in about thirty seconds I was a goner.
“I thought you were too tired?” I said, but it came out in a shallow purr. His hard thigh moved up between my legs, and I had to admit, the pressure that created was nice, too.
“It was a trap, and you fell right into it,” he said, moving on to the other breast now. Damn the man and his hands. And mouth.
“Hmm, I’ll have to be more careful next time,” I said, not meaning a word
of it, and we both knew it.
Jack left for work at an ungodly hour. There was no way I could open my eyes, let alone function when he kissed me goodbye. I just rolled over and slept for another couple of hours.
When the alarm on my phone went off, I had visions of throwing it out the window. But I figured Jack’s building managers wouldn’t like that much. Instead, I fake cried and sat up in bed. That’s when I heard it. Noises coming from downstairs. Talking noises. Very angry, pissed off talking noises. What the hell?
Slowly, I edged my way to the door and listened. It was definitely Jack’s mom and, holy shit, his dad? I zoomed back to the bed and picked up my phone and dialed Jack. He was going to have a fit. Answer…answer…come on…
“Are you as tired as I am?” he asked, sounding far too cheery for this time of the morning. Man, I hated morning people.
“You don’t know the half of it. Your dad is over here. I can hear him downstairs with your mom. What should I do?” I hopped from one foot to the other, unable to deal with the surge of adrenaline.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me. What should I do?”
“Fuck me. Don’t do anything. I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in two minutes.” He would, too, if he had parked out the front doors of the restaurant and then stopped in the loading zone at his place. The phone clicked off without him saying goodbye or anything.
They were fighting downstairs, but it hadn’t escalated. Yet. I decided to change clothes and brush my teeth so I’d be ready to run down there if I had to.
By the time I spat out my toothpaste, I heard Jack. Shit. Keeping my phone close at hand, I raced to the landing and hoped like hell this would end peacefully.
15
Harper
“…so you decided to waltz into my home uninvited?” I heard Jack retort, his face flushed and his hands ready to strangle his father.
“I’m here for my wife. This is no concern of yours.” John snarled back like a rabid dog.
“I’m not going with you. You chased all of my kids and grandkids away, and I won’t stand for it!” Elaine spread her arms wide and took in a ragged breath.
Where exactly did you go from here? They were each convinced they were right, and nobody was willing to listen to what anybody else said. Yeesh.
“I didn’t chase anyone away. It’s not my fault your daughter is so sensitive. I’ll call her up today and everything will be fine,” John said, not about to take the blame for anything.
“She’s not okay. Are you deaf? None of the kids are coming back. First, you treated Jack as though he wasn’t even your child, and now you’ve made the rest of them run as well. I can tell you something, John,” she spat out his name and placed her hands on her hips, “if it’s a choice between them or you, I pick them. No contest.”
John took a few steps back and looked like he’d been shot. His voice quieter now, as he narrowed his eyes and said, “After thirty plus years of marriage, you’re going to throw it all away?”
“Do not blame this on me. You’re the one who threw away this family, and it doesn’t look like you honestly care. All this time, everything always had to be your way. We all had to look the part so we’d impress your clients and partners. Well, a hell of a lot of good it did. It’s nice that everyone thinks you had the perfect family, when all these years your kids hated you.”
“That’s not true. Elaine, we had a good life. Sure, I had to work a lot, but…” he said and massaged the back of his head.
“A lot? You worked day and night. And honestly? Things ran smoother when you weren’t there. Do you hear me? We all liked it better when you were gone. That’s not the way families should be. And don’t look at me as if you’re shocked. You didn’t want to be at home either. You practically ran out of the house every day.”
“I…you can’t be serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
Jack stood there between them, silent. I stayed on the landing, trying my best to stay out of sight. This was between them, and the last thing I wanted to do was interrupt. Elaine was saying things she should have said thirty years ago, and the funny thing was, John looked genuinely surprised.
“You’ve left me and you’re not coming back? I was that shitty of a husband and father?” he asked, his voice cracking at the end.
“You’ve been a shitty parent, but I was worse because I knew better. I should have left years ago, but I kept making excuses for you. And the worst part is, it cost me my kids. The very people I was trying so hard to protect dropped me like a sack of potatoes. I’m going to work hard for them to forgive me, and I pray that some day they will. But I’m not making your amends for you. Not anymore. You helped create this monster. Now you get to fix it.
“And as for being a shitty husband? Are you really asking me that? Because I don’t think you want the answer. Most days I’m invisible to you, other than being your verbal punching bag. And most evenings? I won’t even go there.” Oh boy. Talk about laying it all out there. John looked gobsmacked, like you could have pushed him with one finger and that tall, intimidating man would have toppled like a felled tree.
There was no way to save face at this point, and even he knew it. “We’ll discuss this later,” John said before he turned and walked to the elevator doors, visibly shaken. Once he disappeared behind the silver doors, Elaine began apologizing profusely.
“I can’t believe that man. He has the gall to show up here unannounced? And think that I’m just going to go back home with him?” she said, arms reaching for the sky.
“He shouldn’t have been allowed in, Ma. I need to go speak with the guys downstairs. I’ll be right back,” Jack said, and he left to go kick some ass.
If there was one thing I was used to, it was marital discord. Although I didn’t know the exact circumstances of her situation, women who had been in bad relationships were truly the only ones who were able to commiserate effectively with each other. My feet carried me to her, but my heart bled for her.
“You okay?” I asked and touched her arm lightly. “Can I get you something to eat or drink?”
Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “No, child. I’ll be fine.” Her words didn’t match her body language: shaky hands, shallow breathing, and pale skin tone.
“Let’s go sit down for a bit,” I suggested. The TV was already on some morning news show, spouting off about the latest celebrity couple gone bad.
We sat, and I curled my legs up under my behind so I could face her. “You’re not okay. Do you want to talk about it?”
She looked at me hesitantly, but then said, “You’re divorced?” I shouldn’t have been shocked, but I was. It must have shown on my face because she immediately said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just blurted that out. Blake always tells me to think before I speak.” Her head shook from side to side, and she played with her fingers on her lap.
“It’s fine, really,” I said, attempting to comfort her. My hand gently touched her arm. “Yes, I’m divorced. Almost two years now. I told Jack right away, if that’s what you’re wondering. It’s no secret. Of course, I’m not extremely proud of that time in my life,” I said and sighed while I leaned my head on my hand, elbow resting on the back of the couch. “But it happened, and I take my part of the blame.” I smiled sadly at her.
“How did you know it was time to leave?” she asked innocently enough. Her body jumped when I snorted and laughed loud enough to scare her.
“Uh, when I caught him in bed with my cousin. That was a good indicator it was over.” I continued to chuckle.
“Oh my,” she whispered, eyes round like dinner plates. “Jack didn’t tell me that. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” she said remorsefully.
“It’s okay. I’m glad Jack told you. Our marriage wasn’t exactly ideal anyway. Catching him in the act was a blessing in disguise.” And it truly was. I still needed to send my cousin Mary-Jane a gift basket. “It killed, you know, seeing my husband with
someone else. But eventually, I realized it was for the best. Until he started stalking me.” Oh crap. That just kind of slipped out.
“What? He was stalking you?” she asked, a look of complete shock overtaking her face.
I gave her the watered-down version of what happened with Gabe, but she was still rightly horrified.
“Oh, you poor thing. I’m so glad Jack was here to help you. He’s smitten, you know. A mother can tell these things,” she said and placed her cool hand on top of my warm one.
The next week went by like this: Jack’s mom stayed at his penthouse, and we stayed at my place—like usual. The doorman apologized profusely for allowing his father upstairs, and he was now on the “watch” list. Everyone in charge of the doors was notified.
Elaine wasn’t handling things especially well, but one thing I could say for her, the woman stood her ground. Part of me wondered if she’d run home after a day or two, but from the look of things that wasn’t going to happen. She was pissed right off and wasn’t going to take it anymore.
Jack’s siblings were zero help. He called and spoke to them about the situation. Iris held firm on her stance of not getting involved unless and until her parents had worked things out with Jack. Blake said it was about time their mom left, but that he’d abide by Iris’ rules.
So, all of this fun landed in Jack’s lap. The stress of not dealing with his parents at all to being the only one now responsible for his mother was getting to him. After the first few days, I saw the toll it was taking on him, and I kicked it into high gear. From then on, I decided to check on his mom every day when I got off work and Jack was at the restaurant during his busiest time of the day. That way, I hoped to alleviate some of the pressure on him.
