Page 53 of Stunner (Whiskey Dolls 3)

“Aw, Owen!” She lifted her gaze to my glare, clearly getting way too much enjoyment out of this torture. “You look adorable!” She flipped the picture over so I could see.Christ, it was as if my mother had personally chosen the most humiliating pictures she could possibly find. “Who are you dressed up as?”

“Thor, I believe,” my mom answered for me. “And you should have seen him, crying his eyes out in the parking lot when he got his cape caught in the car door and accidentally ripped it. Cutest thing in the world.”

Hardin joined in when the two of themoohed and aahedtogether over my plight.

“God, Mom, I wasn’t Thor. I was Dr. Strange. I’ve told you that like a million times,” I griped. “And I did notcry my eyes out. I told you, something blew into them and made them water.”

Hardin let out a snort as she lifted her mimosa and drank it back. “I remember that day. I was ten, so that means you had to have been thirteen or fourteen. That was the day I realized my big brother was a massive dork.”

I cut my eyes at her. “I should have left you outside of an orphanage when I had the chance.”

She stuck her tongue out at me from across the table, and I retaliated by throwing a handful of sugar packets at her head.

“All right, that’s enough now,” my mom scolded in that tone she used whenever my sister and I pushed her nerves, which had been regularly occurring since around the time Hardin had learned to speak. “I’m so sorry, Asher. I promise you, their father and I raised our kids better than this.”

Asher’s giggles filled the air as she reached into my lap and placed her hand on my thigh. “It’s okay,” she said as she smiled up at me, her face glowing and radiant. “And if it makes you feel better, I think Dr. Strange is way cooler than Thor.”

I leaned in for a kiss, frustrated by the fact I couldn’t take it as deep as I wanted to with my family all around us.

“I told you I was a nerd.”

She leaned into me, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders to hold her closer. “Yeah, well, I love it. I totally would have dated nerdy Owen back in high school.”

“My boy was a late bloomer, is all,” my mom continued.

“For the love of God, Mom. I beg you, just stop.”

“Well it’s true!” she declared with big eyes. “I mean, just look at him now.” She rested an elbow on the table and propped her chin in her hands, lowering her voice as she told Asher, “He hit his growth spurt toward the end of high school, just in time for college. You should have seen him,” she beamed proudly while I cringed internally, just waiting to see what was going to come out of her mouth. “The girls were all over him, but he was so studious, he didn’t even notice. For a while, I worried he was going to stay a virgin forever.”

“Christ’s sake, Mom! I wasn’t a virgin in college!” I barked, drawing the unwanted attention of the people at the tables around us.

Asher snorted.

My dad cleared his throat and announced he needed to go to the bathroom before bailing.

And that devil, Hardin, laughed with unbridled glee. “This is my favorite day ever.”

“Yes, sweetheart, of course not.”

“I wasn’t,” I clipped, her placating tone making my blood pressure rise. “If you’ll remember, I was in a very serious relationship.”

Her gaze drifted off as she remembered back. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot about her.”

Maybe because the woman was a stark raving bi—” Hardin quickly caught herself before looking to her daughter, who, fortunately, was engrossed in whatever she was watching on Hardin’s phone. “Brat,” she finally finished. “A stark raving brat. And we hated her.”

I knew Asher’s curiosity was piqued when she looked back at me with raised brows, and I silently cursed myself for even mentioning it because the subject of my college ex is one of the very last things I wanted to get into.

“Well, that aside, my Owen has always been so smart.”Christ, this is the longest brunch in history.“He worked so hard all through school, maintained good grades, and still managed to graduate in four years, even with the time he took off.

Oh fuck.

Asher’s brow furrowed. “Took off?”

“Oh, yes. It was... a difficult time, for all of us.”

My throat constricted at that, emotion forming a lump that made it difficult to speak or breathe through as I recalled the time my mother was talking about. Hell, even Hardin grew quiet and stoic.

“See, I was diagnosed with breast cancer when Owen was twenty-one. It was a very trying several months.”

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