Page 86 of Bend
Looking over my shoulder, I saw Mom standing in the doorway. “Nice nap?”
She slumped down in the sofa chair and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “Cassie put me in a food coma.”
My lip quirked up. She was eating—a good sign. “How’re you feeling?”
“Tired.” She sighed and looked over at the desk. “What are you doing?”
“Paying the bills.”
She pursed her lips. “Thank you.” Her head tilted as she looked at me. “There’s something different about you this week."
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Silence stretched between us.
“You going to tell me, or do I have to play twenty questions?”
I rubbed my face and lifted my arms up in a stretch. “It’s…complicated.” I sighed. “I met someone.”
She perked up, a smile forming on her face as she sat a little straighter. “And? Tell me about her.”
My face heated up. There was no way I could tell my mother about what had been going through my mind.
“Her name is Hope, and she’s pinup-girl gorgeous.”
Her eyes widened. “Pinup? That’s different. What else?”
I blew out a breath. “She works at Union Jack’s, and visits St. Joan of Arc.”
“And? You’re killing me here, Jared.”
I grimaced. “It’s because that’s all I’ve got. The truth is, I don’t know much about her, but we have this uncontrollable attraction.”
She arched her drawn on eyebrow. “Condoms are your friend.”
“Mom!” I stared at her in stunned disbelief.
“What? Do you want to have a child with a woman you just met?”
I held my hands up. “Who said I didn’t want to get to know her?”
She leaned back. “Why haven’t you yet?”
I sighed and shook my head. It wasn’t something I wanted to tell my mother, but now that she knew about Hope, she wasn’t going to let up. “Because every time I’m near her, all I can think about—all I can feel—is intense lust.” My jaw clenched, hands flexing into fists. “And it controls me.”
She nodded, staring at me for a moment. “Have you asked her out?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, don’t be an asshole.”
“Mom!”
“You keep saying my name like that.” She chuckled. “I’m not stupid. Plus, you’re over thirty now, and you lived with a woman for five years. I know you are very familiar with sex and how it works.”
I rubbed my face again and shook my head. “You’re not supposed to be so casual about it.”
She shrugged. “You’re an adult.”
