Page 51 of Hard To Stay

“Mom.” Brad groaned. “What the hell…”

She tilted her head and sighed in mock disappointment. “Brad Thomas Morgan watch your language. You’re not too old for me to put you over my knee.”

Brad laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”

She put her hand on her hip, trying to hide her grin. “Don’t test me.”

“Mom, I’m not one of your students. You don’t scare me anymore.”

I was enjoying their playful banter. Kathleen was so different than what I was used to. She was warm and kind where my mother was cool and indifferent. Not that she was mean, she just cared about one thing—appearances. She was nowhere near as relaxed as Brad’s mom. Brad was a lucky man.

“No, you’re not. But if you’d like, I can tell Lexi about Cara Nappi. You remember that story, right? When you dry humped the back of her seat on the school bus in third grade and got sent to the principal’s office.”

Brad threw his hands up in the air. His face turned a bright shade of red. “Okay. You got me. No need to get carried away.”

Lily laughed in her hand. “Oh my God. That was the best.”

“Alright, I think it’s time I introduce Lexi to the rest of the family before you both humiliate the crap out of me.”

He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek. She reached out and grabbed his arm as he was walking away. “It’s so good to see you looking so happy.” Her eyes slid over to mine. I bit down on my bottom lip and dropped my gaze to the floor.

“Lexi dear, I know you don’t have any family around. So, if you ever feel the need to have a little girl time, Lily and I love to shop and drink wine. I’ll give you my number. You can call me any time.”

I felt my eyes get misty. I really liked his family.

“Thank you.” I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear that had fallen out of place. “I would love that.”

The little toddler that she set down moments ago started pulling on her leg. She looked down at the little girl with blonde curls and big brown eyes. I couldn’t help but think that was exactly what my daughter would look like if Brad and I ever had kids. “Let’s go find those crayons. Ready, Harper?” Kathleen asked the little girl who looked at her with her whole face lighting up.

“See you in a few minutes, squirt.” Brad said, poking the little girl in the belly. She giggled and swung her arms around Kathleen’s neck as they went off to look for crayons.

Brad grabbed my hand as we walked through the house and he introduced me to the rest of his family. I could easily see myself sliding in and becoming one of them. I pictured holidays with kids running around, and Fourth of July picnics with ice-cream and fireworks. This is what a real home felt like. Even though this small house could probably fit inside my parent’s living room, it resembled everything that truly mattered. My eyes swept across the room at the mismatched pictures over the fireplace and the simple furniture that filled the small space. My family may have been worth a small fortune, but it just showed that you could be poor in different ways.

After playing a pathetic game of Kan Jam, I walked over and took a seat next to Brad. I had finished off my second helping of BBQ when he looked over at my empty plate. His lips lifted into a cocky grin.

“Are you looking to get the same kind of punishment as last time?”

My mouth fell open as he reminded me of our bet that night at the restaurant. “Brad,” I scolded, feeling my cheeks turn pink. “Not here.” I squirmed out of his grasp causing him to chuckle. “I’m going to help your sister in the kitchen.”

He smirked. “You do that.” He then kicked his feet up on the deck railing, taking a long pull of his beer. He seemed in his element as he just stared off into the massive backyard and I watched as his uncle walked over and engaged him in a conversation about sports. This was the most relaxed I had seen him in days.

I walked through the slider and brought the last of the dirty dishes to the counter where Lily was standing over the sink waiting for me.

“So, how do you like living in New York?” She asked, as she placed the last dirty plate in the dishwasher.

I snapped the lid on the Tupperware container closed and placed it on the top shelf in the fridge. “So far I love it!” I said, feeling guilty that I couldn’t tell her the circumstances that brought me to town in the first place.

She chuckled. “Well, you’ll have to stay through January when it’s freezing cold, and it feels like you’ll never see the sun again. I’m guessing you won’t love it so much then.” She turned the water off, then reached for the blender holding up the margarita mix. “Care to join me?”

Smiling, I walked over to her a little eagerly. “I’m never one to turn down a frozen margarita.”

She picked up the blender filing our glasses to the salted rim. She handed me mine and held hers out. “Cheers.” We both said, clinking our glasses.

“How often do you go into the city?” I asked, looking up from my glass.

“Well, considering traffic is a bitch and I hate the train, not very often.”

“Well, I hope I can convince you to come in more often. Brad has plenty of room at his place or you can always stay with me. I would love the company.” I took a long sip of my cool, tasty drink remembering that I needed to talk to Brad about moving back into my own apartment. I couldn’t stay with him forever, no matter how much I secretly wanted to.

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