I rolled over in my sleep and nearly fell off the couch. I gasped as I realized I wasn’t in my bed. I was on my mother’s couch, and it didn’t leave me with a lot of room to stretch… or roll over apparently.

I pushed back the covering sheet I had used and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. It was almost eight o’clock, and I realized I had slept far longer than I had intended to. The plan had been to wake up early and head into campus so that I could get in a few hours of piano practice before class. My first class was at ten-thirty, so I still had time.

After I had brushed my teeth and changed into some fresh jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, I headed into the kitchen to grab something to eat before going to campus. I nearly screamed when I walked in to find a half-naked man standing in front of the open fridge.

“Oh my God,” I gasped. “Who are you?”

He turned to me, and I could tell I had startled him as well. He was young, probably in his mid- to late-thirties and he had a flat stomach and chiseled chest, but I had to look away. He was wearing short boxer shorts that left little to the imagination.

“I’m Cliff,” he replied. “You must be Margot’s daughter.”

“That’s me,” I said awkwardly. “Where is mom?”

Instead of answering me, he let out a little chuckle. I frowned. “Did I say something funny?”

“No, it’s nothing,” Cliff replied. “It’s just funny to hear you refer to Margot as ‘mom.’ She’s so young to have such an old daughter.”

“You think I’m old, you should see Seth,” I replied.

“Seth?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Uh… my brother.”

“Fucking hell,” Cliff said, and he sounded totally shocked by that. “You have a brother?”

“Mom didn’t mention that?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“How long have you two been together?” I asked.

“Three months.”

“Three months?” I repeated incredulously.

“Yeah… so you have a brother… how old is he?”

“Twenty-nine,” I replied. I had to admit I was kind of enjoying myself.

I knew mom would probably be annoyed with me, but I just couldn’t help myself. I had stopped believing in her relationships a long time ago. It might have been different if she had brought home respectable, age-appropriate men who looked like they were actually interested in more than casual sex. But as it stood, none of the men I had bumped into in her kitchen had left much of an impression.

Cliff seemed all right compared to some of mom’s other boyfriends, but I didn’t know squat about him at the moment. I would need to reserve judgment for a while longer.

“Fuck!” he gasped. “Twenty-nine?”

“Yup.”

“No… that can’t be—”

“Cliff!” mom said, appearing in the kitchen suddenly. She looked between Cliff and me nervously with a fake smile plastered across her face. “You told me you were heading out?”

“I meant I was heading to the kitchen to find something to eat,” he replied. “But there’s nothing in your fridge but… cupcakes.”

He pulled out a cupcake with pink frosting and bit into it. Mom didn’t address that, however; she was more concerned with what we had just been talking about.

“Uh, I thought you’d have left by now, Zo,” mom said, looking at me. “You told me you wanted to make an early start today.”

“I just wanted to practice a little before class,” I told her. “But I guess I overslept. Good thing too, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of meeting Cliff here.”

He was sitting at the kitchen table, tearing into that cupcake completely oblivious to the fact that he was still half naked. In fact, he seemed perfectly at ease.

“Margot,” Cliff said. “You didn’t tell me you had another kid.”

Mom widened her eyes at me. “Oh… didn’t I?”

“And he’s twenty-nine,” Cliff continued. “I mean… fuck… that’s like… six years younger than me.”

Mom glared at me, and I sent her my most winning smile in return. “I was a teenager when I had Seth, ok?” she said, somewhat defensively.

“But you were not a teenager when you had Zoey… like you told me?” Cliff asked, with a coy smile playing on his face. “I guess that means you’re not really thirty-eight.”

I burst out laughing, and mom sighed in frustration. “You know what? I think you should head into work now,” she told Cliff.

I laughed and polished off the last bit of cupcake. “Should I guess your real age?”

“Get out,” mom said, blushing a little.

He went over to her, grabbed her suddenly and kissed her before I could turn away. “That’s ok,” he told her. “I’ve always had a thing for older women anyway. See ya, Zo.”

Then he headed towards mom’s room to get changed, and I shook my head at her. “You know what? I kind of like him.”

Mom rolled her eyes and sat down. “This is the thanks I get for letting you sleep on my couch.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone?”

“Because you and your brother are never very excited when I announce I’ve met someone new.”

It was true, but I felt bad that mom didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell me when she had a new man in her life. “I can’t believe you told him you were thirty-eight.”

“Can’t I pull off thirty-eight?” she asked me.

“Oh no, you totally could,” I nodded, and I wasn’t lying either. Mom had always been an attractive woman. She had light blond hair, pale blue eyes, and great skin. “But that’s not the point.”

“I like pretending to be someone different, ok?” mom said. “I like turning back the clock every now and again. I did the responsible mom thing for long enough, and I lost my twenties and most of my thirties to it. So I’m doing a few re-writes here and there.”

“He would have found out eventually…”

Mom shrugged. “We met, and we liked each other. When my age came up, I lied and after that… well, I couldn’t correct myself weeks into it when I realized he was sticking around.”

I laughed. “Ok, fair enough,” I said. “Should I be flattered that you told him about me but not Seth?”

Mom shook her head at me. “I told him about you because you called two days ago and asked to stay on my couch. I had to tell him…”

“Damn it; I was hoping to rub that in Seth’s face,” I said, snapping my fingers. “And you were hoping that we would just miss each other while I was here?”

“Well… I knew you’d meet him eventually… I just hadn’t thought that far.”

I shook my head at her. Sometimes it was hard to believe that she was the same woman that raised me. She looked happy, and I tried to tell myself that that was the only thing that mattered. I just hoped that Cliff would turn out to be a good guy and not some bum.

“Ok, I have another question.”

“Yes, I am having sex with him.”

“What, ew, no,” I said, wrinkling my face up. “That was not my question.”

“Oh, ok… then what is it?”

“Why do you have a fridge full of cupcakes?”

“Oh,” mom said, and then she smiled. “My book club met last night, and everyone brings treats… except I overbaked.”

“That’s right,” I nodded, remembering that mom told me about the book club a few weeks ago. “How’s that going? Are you liking it?”

“I like meeting new people,” mom admitted. “Reading the books is a little hard to fit into my schedule though.”

I smiled. It was just like mom to join a club purely to meet people. In a way I admired her. I wouldn’t have the balls to do half the stuff she did.

“Actually, could you do me a favor?” mom asked.

“Sure,” I nodded. “What do you need?”

“I need to get rid of those cupcakes,” mom said. “And I was hoping you could drop them off at the station on your way to campus.”

“You want me to stop by Seth’s workplace with a bunch of cupcakes?” I asked, in amusement.

“Well why not?” mom asked. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.”

I smiled. “Ok, mom, I can do that.”

“Excellent.”

“Does Seth know about Cliff, by the way?”

“Uh no,” mom said quickly. “And I think I should be the one to tell him.”

“Meaning… keep my mouth shut?”

“Please,” mom nodded.

I laughed. “Fine,” I said. “But there’s no reason to hide it now. Cliff already knows about the two of us.”

“You know your brother,” mom said. “He’s very protective… and he’s never really approved of my boyfriends.”

“Neither have I,” I pointed out.

“Which is why I didn’t tell you about Cliff either.”

“Ouch,” I said. “Not that I don’t deserve that.”

Mom smiled and moved towards the fridge to pack up the cupcakes for me. By the time I got my stuff together, she had everything all ready to go. She dropped me off at the station on her way to work, and because she was running a little late, she didn’t come inside with me. I managed to waddle up to the front of the station with the large box of cupcakes, but it was difficult to manage that and my book bag.

“Let me help you with that,” a deep voice said, and suddenly the burden of the box of cupcakes had vanished from my hands.

“Thank you so much,” I sighed, turning up to look at the man who had helped me.

I felt my breath catch in my throat as I took in his gorgeous features. He was an absolute Adonis. His hair was dark, almost black, and his eyes were a fierce and crystal-clear blue. He had a strong jaw that was clean-shaven and fine, straight features that made him look like he belonged to another time period.

“No problem,” he replied. “Happy to help.”

I hadn’t seen him around before, which probably meant he was a new firefighter… either he had transferred in from another department or he was a rookie. It was most likely the latter because he looked really young.

“I… um… I brought some cupcakes,” I said, tripping over my words because his eyes were so damn distracting.

“Oh… ok?” he said, and he seemed a little confused.

I smiled in embarrassment. “Uh, I just… we had an excess, and we thought… that is my mother and I… or rather it was my mother’s idea… she thought the firemen would like some… cupcakes, that is.”

I didn’t even know if I made sense. I probably sounded like a complete moron, but I couldn’t seem to speak in one coherent sentence. I wasn’t usually so tongue-tied… even when it came to handsome men, but somehow this time was different.

He looked at me calmly and smiled. “You have beautiful eyes,” he said, and I felt as though a bolt of lightning had just struck me.