Page 73 of Only for Tonight
I hear him jogging down the steps and then he’s there in the kitchen with a huge smile on his face. “My baby,” he says, coming to me with his arms open and I step into them, wrapping my arms around his waist and closing my eyes. He kisses the top of my head. “How was the flight?”
“Good,” I reply, giving him a squeeze before I step out of his arms, “quick.”
“So tell us,” my mother finally urges, standing at the island, “what is this all about?”
“Well,—” I start trying to think of something to tell them. “I’ve decided to officially move to LA.”
They both share a look like, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. “Are you for real?” my mother asks me as I walk over to the stools and sit on the one I’ve always sat on.
“Yeah, I’m going to New York after this and I’m going to pack up my things.”
“I’ll come with you,” my mother offers, “it’ll be fun.”
“Are you sure?” I ask and she rolls her eyes as the doorbell rings.
“That should be Manning,” my father says and I swear I feel a tingle in my scalp. “Called me yesterday to talk, found out you were going to be here and invited himself.”
“Like he needs an invitation,” my mother quips. “He’s here every other day anyway.” I get off the stool and stand by it, but my legs feel like noodles, so I just stand here.
My father starts to make his way to the front door, and I hear it open. “You took too long!” Manning shouts as I hear the sound of heels clicking on the tiled floor, coming to the kitchen.
“Holy shit,” my father blurts, stopping mid-step while my mother makes her way to him. “Jaxon, what the heck are you doing here?”
“He came to surprise his old man,” Manning quickly adds in and I see him now. His eyes find mine right away and they literally light up.
“Surprised us all,” Evelyn says. “Showed up this morning at the ass crack of dawn, scared the ever-loving shit out of me. I thought it was the police.”
“Why would the police come to our house?” Manning looks over at her.
“That’s when they come to tell you someone died.” Evelyn rolls her eyes and he just shakes his head. “Or that they are raiding your house.”
“She really needs to stop watching those detective shows.” They squabble and Jaxon quickly goes to my mother first and kisses her cheek before going to my dad.
“Hope it’s okay I crashed,” he says and my father slaps his arm.
“That’s almost as dumb as this one asking me to have lunch with her.” He points to me with his thumb.
“Hey,” Jaxon greets, walking around them and coming to me. He puts his hand on my hip before he leans in. My eyes go big and he kisses my cheek. “Good to see you.”
“Okay, what are we eating?” Manning asks, taking away my parents as they rush around the kitchen.
“You look nice,” he compliments, his hand still at my hip, and I just glare at him. “That’s a nice dress.”
“Don’t ‘nice dress’ me, Jaxon,” I hiss at him. “Do you know why I’m wearing this?” I look down to the black dress that is loose, the arms pushed up to my elbows.
“Because it’s nice?” he says, his hand dropping from my hip and going into his pocket.
“No, it’s because my jeans don’t fit me anymore and it’s not fair.” I look around, seeing my mother and Evelyn taking the plates out of the cabinet while our fathers take the trays out of the oven.
“Baby,” he soothes softly and I shake my head.
“Shut up,” I hiss softly at him, “it’s not fair that you stay all hot and I don’t.”
“You’re hotter now than you were before.”
“You really aren’t helping.” I shake my head.
“Do you think you could go to the bathroom, and I could maybe join you?” he asks me and I should say no, but I haven’t seen him in a couple of days.
