Page 64 of Midnight Surrounds Us

“I’m the guy who wants you to treat your mama with a little more respect.”

Oh man.

“This joker has some nerve, Ma,” Benji said with his hands on his hips. He glared at Rye, but Benji knew he was outmanned. It seemed Micah hadn’t figured it out yet.

“Boys, sit down,” I said, tugging gently on Micah’s arm, but neither of them obeyed, so I yanked harder. “Now.”

Benji took the chair behind him. He almost fell into it, and Micah backed up with narrowed eyes, like he needed to keep his eye on Rye in case Rye decided to pick me up and make a run for it. If I hadn’t been so embarrassed that my kids had walked in on me riding a cowboy, I would’ve laughed.

Leaning down to kiss my hair, Rye said softly, “I’ll head out, Spitfire,” and he turned to leave.

“I’ll walk you out.”

One at a time, I looked at each of my boys, communicating through the motherly rage on my face that if they moved, hell would rain down on them both. Apparently, they still had good survival instincts because neither of them so much as twitched or said a word.

Rye led us to my front porch. The light was on now, and when the door had been securely shut behind us, he turned to face me.

He touched his fingers to my cheek and smiled. “Sorry ’bout that.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m sorry they were so rude to you.”

“Naw, baby, I get it. They’re young men, and you’re their mama. Protectin’ and defendin’ is kinda in their job description, but I wish they’d been kinder to you. Ain’t a thing wrong with you livin’ your life however you see fit. You deserve to be happy.”

“They know that.”I think.

“Alright, well, you sit ’em down and let ’em know what’s up. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

I blushed. I felt heat rising from my core all the way to the top of my head. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to finish our…” God, even just talking about sex with the boys around felt weird.

Rye chuckled. “We did finish. We just didn’t get to bask in the afterglow.”

“It’s not funny!”

“It’s fuckin’ hilarious.” He kissed me, but all I could think about was that the boys were probably watching, peeking through the curtains in the front window. “Spitfire, that was the best sex of my life, until the last thirty seconds anyway. We made love tonight. I’ll never forget it.”

He lifted my hand and placed a sweet kiss across my knuckles, and then I watched as he climbed into his truck and drove away.

Goddammit!

Back in the house,in a voice Benji thought was a whisper but was definitely not, he said, “That guy’s a douche.”

“Shut up, dumbass. She’ll hear you,” Micah whispered loudly too. “She’s happy to see me. You, not so much.”

An audible scuffle broke out between them. I heard grunting and what I imagined was the two of them trying to kick each other’s shins under the table. If I hadn’t given birth to them, I wouldn’t have believed anyone who told me the twins were adults.

As soon as my foot hit the kitchen floor, I crossed my arms and cocked a hip, and Micah tattled like a six-year-old. “We got kicked out of our apartment. Moronic Monty over here forgot to pay the rent. Three months in a row.” He rolled his eyes and kicked his brother again.

“Ow! Whatever,” Benji said. “The place was a shithole anyway.” He smiled his infamous grin, the one meant to manipulate me. “Besides, Mom misses us, don’t you, Mama? And I bet you wanna cook us dinner too. I’ve been drivin’ all night. I’m starvin’.”

“I told you I’d drive,” Micah said. “You act like it’s some great service to mankind to drive four hours.”

“Itwould’vebeen four hours if you’d remembered to put gas in the truck.” Benji flashed me the most pathetic puppy dog eyes. “Mama, we had to walk two miles to fill up the gas can and back. I’m so tired,” and he leaned closer and hugged me, throwing his arms around my waist and dropping all his weight there, like a baby orangutan. “I love you, Mama.” He batted his eyelashes. “Wanna make me some pancakes?” But then he stiffened andreleased me, probably remembering whose hands had been all over me a few minutes before his.

“What did you do with the money I sent?” I asked in a tight voice. “If you didn’t use it to pay your rent, where did it go?”

“Benji likes bettin’ on games,” Micah said, “but he’s not so great at pickin’ the teams.”

For fuck’s sake! That’s what I’ve been spending my money on? That’s why all the goddamn oatmeal?

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