Page 37 of Undeniable
“Good. Now tell me about this girl your father helped. Is she the reason you were at the casino? Is she your girlfriend?”
“No, ma’am. She’s a friend, but I was there to give Mazzie a ride home.”
Kimmie brought us our food, giving me a moment to digest everything my mom had said. I lingered on the girlfriend question, which I knew she wouldn’t let go.
After Kimmie sped off, Mom asked again, “Is Mazzie your girlfriend? You know you haven’t had one since Natalia. Or at least haven’t brought a girl home for me to meet.”
My hamburger smelled delicious, but I wasn’t that hungry anymore. “She isn’t.”
“But you like her. I can see it in your eyes.” Leave it to my mother to read me like a book.
“It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
She reached over the table and clutched my hand. “Well, then she doesn’t know what she’s missing. You would be a great catch for any woman.”
“Can we talk about something else?” I asked, picking up a fry.
Mom cut her chicken into pieces. “Sure. The main reason I asked you to lunch is to tell you that I’ll be filing for divorce. After a long conversation with your father yesterday, we agreed to cut ties. He doesn’t want to hurt me anymore, and he knows our marriage would never be the same. And I won’t take him back, especially in light of him gambling again.”
My heart sang with glee. She’d come a long way from curling up in bed and being depressed for months to giving him a chance when he got out of prison to finally deciding to end her marriage. But my gut was telling me it wouldn’t be easy to erase Kurtis from our lives. His addiction could blow back on us, especially if he got in with the wrong people like the Blackwood family.
“Mom, it’s great to hear that you’re cutting ties, but…” I had to tell her. Otherwise, if something happened to her, I would die. “We need to be cautious. Kurtis could bring us trouble.”
“I’m well aware of that,” she said as if she, too, had thought about his problems becoming ours. “I’m having a security system installed next week. But your father assures me he will seek help. Do I believe him? Not entirely. Again, an addiction like gambling is tough to overcome. We’ll see what happens.” She stabbed a fork into her lettuce. “I can’t do much else except move on. And you need to do the same.”
Silence ensued while we both ate our lunches. And as I chewed my food, something hit me. Kurtis might not be a problem if he violated his parole. I didn’t know the specifics about the law, but I thought parolees couldn’t cross state lines without permission, and if that was true, he’d broken the law just by being at the Louisiana casino.
Still, I felt both proud of her and worried at the same time. But she was right. We couldn’t do much other than live our lives.
Thirty minutes later, after a less tense conversation about the homecoming game this weekend, I kissed my mom on the cheek then headed out. I had errands to run before practice.
I was approaching the main entrance when Mazzie glided out of the administrative offices.
We both stopped in our tracks with deer-in-the-headlights looks.
“Lucas?” her siren voice kick-started my heart. “Are you following me?”
I smirked. “Maybe you’re following me. How have you been?”
I swore she was even prettier today than I’d ever seen her. Her black hair was elegantly styled on top of her head. Her makeup was flawlessly applied, though unnecessary, and she wore a skirt that clung to her sweet hips, heels that highlighted her long, tanned legs, and a blouse with a low neckline that offered a hint of what I knew lay beneath.
She giggled then licked her lips, and just like that, every memory of that night crashed into me. Not the one when I’d upset her and she flew out of my truck like I was the worst person in the world. But the one when we had the best mind-blowing sex of my life. It was that night when our problems didn’t surface. When our pasts hadn’t driven our actions. I wanted a night like that again.
I raked a hand through my hair to occupy my hands. Otherwise, I might do something that would end with her kicking me in the balls like she’d done to that jerk Josh.
“Can we talk?” she asked. “Maybe take a walk down to the gazebo by the lake. If you have time, that is.”
I would drop whatever I was doing to be with her. But I also had to protect my heart. Yet I was curious about what she had to say.
“I have time.”
Once outside, I found myself extending my elbow much like I had at the casino the other night.
She took my arm without hesitation. No flinch, no walls, only her hand sliding over mine like it belonged there.
At that moment, I was beginning to feel that I needed Mazzie more than football.
13
