Page 74 of For a Goode Time Call…
They glanced at me, and Juneau smirked. “Sorry, cousin.”
I laughed. “Why don’t I let you two get back to sort of, not really, but kind of, maybe, possibly making babies. I got some thinkin’ to do.”
Remington wasn’t super quick to argue.
Juneau frowned at me. “You can sleep here on the couch, if you want.”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m okay. Just puzzling on this. Thanks for listening.”
I got up, put my bowl in the sink, hugged Juneau and did the manly half-handshake-half-hug thing with Remington. I left their apartment, and let my feet carry me.
It was no big surprise that I ended up at Liv’s condo complex. Not sure why. It was near three in the morning. She was asleep. Her mom was asleep. I wasn’t about to wake them up.
Yet my feet carried me to the correct building. To the steps. I sat on the steps outside the door, staring at the stars, wondering at myself, my life. Wondering if I’d done the right thing, or the wrong thing, or the right thing in the wrong way.
At some point, I fell asleep.
I was wokenby a door smacking me in the head. “OhmygoshI’msorry,” I heard a familiar voice say, as I rubbed my head. “Oh, Ink. It’s you.” I blinked blearily up at Liv Goode, Cassie’s mom.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
She knelt and poked my head with motherly concern. “Are you okay? I wasn’t expecting anyone to be there.”
“Nah, I’m fine. I didn’t mean to fall asleep here. I was just…” I wasn’t sure what to say, so I didn’t finish.
She moved to sit on the step next to me. “Cassie came home pretty upset.”
I growled. “My fault. I was misguided. Meant the right thing, but didn’t go about it the right way.”
She looked me over. “You’re half-naked. Aren’t you cold?”
I chuckled. “Nah, ma’am. I don’t get cold. I don’t like clothes all that much, so this is about as dressed as I tend to get.”
She blinked at me. “You’re not even wearing shoes.”
“Nah.”
“You walked here?”
I nodded. “Sure. Don’t got a workin’ car.”
“Barefoot?”
I brought my foot up to show the bottom of my foot, which was thickly callused. “I could step on a fu—on a nail, and not really feel it. Been barefoot my whole life.” I laughed. “Matter of fact, I own a pair of winter boots for when the snow is real deep, and a pair of flip-flops, and a pair of hiking boots for hunting and shit—stuff, I mean. Sorry.”
She just patted my shoulder. “I’m dating Lucas Badd. If you think curse words bother me, then you’ve clearly never met a Badd.”
I snickered. “Yeah, they’re a potty mouth crew. I ain’t much better.”
“I raised my daughters to be ladies, but I’m afraid it hasn’t entirely taken for some of them.” She sniffed, but it was meant in jest, I could tell.
“Ain’t met none of the others, but Cassie is all lady. Salty language don’t make her not a lady. Sometimes a curse word just fits.”
She sighed. “Yes, and being in a relationship with a man with a mouth like Lucas’s has not done wonderful things for my own desire to avoid strong language.”
I laughed. “I bet.” I looked at Liv. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
Liv snorted. “She wasn’t hurt so much as angry. ‘How dare he’ and ‘who does he think he is?’ That kind of thing.” She patted my shoulder again. “But she’s thinking, now, so perhaps it was what she needed to get her really putting effort into working out what she wants for herself.”
