Page 121 of Small Town Firsts

“Did I know what? Honey, what’s going on? What are you talking about?”

She sounds sincere, but I’m hesitant. “Did you give Amanda Burkett Mimi Jean’s ring?”

“Absolutely not. It’s safe and sound in my jewelry box—where it will remain until you settle down with the only woman worthy of it.” Her tone leaves no room to argue. She truly had no prior knowledge of this—thank God. My mom has always been even-keeled, and I’m relieved as fuck to know that hasn’t changed.

“You might want to double check,” I inform her angrily.

I hear rustling through the speakers. “Oh, my word!” she exclaims. “Where? How?”

I listen as she connects the dots. “He wouldn’t. That dirty, no good bastard!”

I smirk at her foul language, as it’s so unlike her. “He did. I just had the damn ring flashed in my face.”

“That conniving little witch—just like her mother.”

“It gets worse. All of this came after she ran Abby Jane off.”

“Oh, honey. We will work this out. You head home, and in the morning, come by and we will start putting out fires. In the meantime, I’m going to have a very serious talk with your father.”

The thought of her confronting him worries me. Just because he’s never laid a hand on her yet doesn’t mean he won’t. “Wait for me and we will confront him together tomorrow.”

“Oh, I can handle your father.”

I pull into my driveway and slam the gear shifter into park and hesitate, wondering if I should tell her about him decking me. Quickly, I realize she absolutely has the right to know. “Mom, please wait. Today in his office he punched me, and he back-handed me the other day.”

My confession is met with stark silence followed by a sharp intake of breath. “He. Did. What?” The fire in her tone shocks me. She’s always seemed too meek and mild, but this woman now is a fucking dragon. “I will end that man, Brock. No one—and I meanno one—lays their hands on my boy and gets away with it.”

“It’s okay, Mom. I can handle him.”

Mom laughs darkly. “Oh, honey. I know you think I let him walk over me, but here’s the truth…I don’t love your father. I married him because our fathers arranged it and held some things over my head. The only good thing to come out of our sham of a union is you. You are my heart and my joy. And he’s gone too far this time. I know I’ve let you down, honey, but I’ll fix this. I love you.” She ends the call before I can say another word.

I dialAbby Jane’s phone, but she never answers—not that I expected her to. Even still, I call her a few more times, finally settling on leaving a voicemail begging her to call me, begging her to let me explain.

Pissed beyond words, I storm into the house, only to find West with some random girl humping him like a dog on the couch. I loudly clear my throat, and he dislodges his tongue from her mouth long enough to catch my eye.

When he sees the anger in my stare, he stills her ever-moving hips. “Time to go, sweetheart.”

She balks. “Are you kidding me? God! You really are an asshole.”

He tsks her. “Family first, doll.”

She storms out of the house in a huff, but West looks totally unaffected. He nods to the cushion next to him, gesturing for me to have a seat—hell no, not happening.

“Kitchen,” I grunt. “I need a drink.” I snag two cold beers from the fridge and lean back into the counter.

“What’s up?”

“Fucking everything.” I launch into the events that led to tonight, detailing everything out for him—from realizing I love Abby Jane, to my dad, to Amanda’s crazy self. By the time I’m finished, his jaw is damn near on the floor.

“So, whatcha gonna do?”

“Fuck if I know. What can I do? At this point, Abby Jane isn’t answering my calls…not that I blame her. I wouldn’t either.”

“You tried going by her place?”

I shake my head. “Nah. As much as I want to storm the castle, so to speak, I know it wouldn’t get me anywhere—except shanked. She would probably kill me.”

“Truth.” We both take a moment and polish off our beers. “Well, you can only fight one battle at a time, so let’s start with that douche-ant you call Dad.”

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