Page 32 of Bombshell (Whiskey Dolls 1)

“Oh, well aren’t you sweet? Everything’s good here. Same old, same old.”

“So I take it you haven’t talked to Frank?”

It was obvious from the carefree tone of her voice that Frank hadn’t called her, asking for a handout like he had with me. Knowing my brother, he’d wait to tell our mother about his latest dilemma until he couldn’t possibly hide it anymore. That was his usual MO: bury his head in the sand and pretend nothing happened until he couldn’t any longer.

The sigh she let out was one I’d grown far too familiar with over the years. It said that she knew he was probably up to no good, but didn’t want to hear it. It didn’t take a genius to realize Frank got that particularly nasty trait from our mother.

“No, but, I can only assume you’re calling me with bad news, and if that’s the case, I’ll just tell you right now, I don’t want to hear it.”

Of course she didn’t.

“Not my place to tell you, anyway,” I grunted. If she wanted to go to her grave thinking her baby boy was perfect, who was I to disabuse her of that notion... ridiculous as it was. “But I have been curious about something.”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“Do you know why Frank and Marin broke up?” I was met with complete silence. “Mom?”

“I don’t want to talk about that. Such a mess. Just be glad your brother’s finally free of that wretched woman.”

“But I thought you were hoping he’d propose to her one day. You said she was like a daughter to you.”

Her tone grew hard, the mother happy to hear from her son all but gone in the wake of her defensiveness. “Yeah, well, things change. Now, I’m done talking about it.”

I felt a pressure beginning to form behind my temples, a pre-cursor to a stress-related headache directly related to my family. “But you haven’t said a word.”

“And I’m not going to. Your brother went through enough with that breakup, and I’m not going to dredge it all up again.”

Squeezing my eyes closed, I dropped my head forward and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. “Christ, don’t you ever get tired of defending him? Of cleaning up his messes?”

“It’s what mothers do,” she stated with finality.

It wasn’t. It so fucking wasn’t. Mothers were supposed to teach their kids to make good decisions, not make excuses for them every time they fucked up. They were supposed to push them to be functioning members of society, not coddle them so they never truly cut the apron strings.

“You see how your attitude isn’t helping him, right? He needs to start paying for his own goddamn mistakes.”

I didn’t realize my voice had risen in frustration until Titan came loping back over with his tail tucked and his ears lowered as he watched me tentatively.

“If you’re done, I think I’ve had enough of your attitude for one night,” Mom said haughtily, and I knew anything else I had to say would fall on deaf ears. Beating my head against a brick wall would be less painful.

“All right. Goodnight, Mom. Love you.”

“And I you.” With that, she hung up, and I lowered my phone with a defeated sigh just as the sound of someone clearing their throat from behind me made me whip around.

* * *

Marin

I woke up in a foggy state of disorientation, confused by my surroundings for a few seconds as the rusty gears in my brain clicked back into action. I remembered I was in Pierce’s house, lying on his couch.

I sat up and wiped the sleep from my eyes, looking at the time on the cable box beneath the TV. It was about a quarter to eleven. I’d been asleep for about an hour.

With a yawn, I pushed myself to my feet and stretched my arms high over my head just as I heard a loud voice coming from the direction of the backyard.

With a jolt, I spun to look out the French doors and sucked in a breath. I didn’t know how long he’d been home, but it was enough time for him to change into something more relaxing. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him so casual, in sweats that formed very nicely to his firm ass, and a tee that hugged him from behind, showcasing the broad width of his back and his tapered waist.

From where I stood, I could only see him from behind, and it was a sight that made me all kinds of tingly. Then I heard his voice again, heard the bite in his unhappy tone, and realized he was on the phone and the conversation he was having wasn’t a happy one.

I slowly started to back away to give him some privacy, that was until I heard the muffled sound of him saying my name.

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