I wake with a start, and jump up to check my watch.
I sigh with relief, glad that I’m not going to be late. But it’s still a pain to have to wake up so early, and I wish I could stay asleep longer.
Then I remember that the last two times I woke up, Monica was in my bed, and she certainly turned having to wake up under bad circumstances into a very good thing. I wonder where she is.
I know she wouldn’t have let me sleep in. But I didn’t expect her to get up before me. I hope that she isn’t bothered by my mom’s presence in the house.
I hurriedly throw on some boxers and head out to the main part of the house. To my surprise, Monica and my mom are chatting at the kitchen table. They have eggs, bacon and toast in front of them.
“Good morning, Ramsey,” Monica says, with a sweet smile spreading across her face. Her hair is wet, so she must have showered. “Would you like some breakfast?”
“Um. Sure.”
I shrug.
I’m not used to eating breakfast at home. Mom doesn’t cook, and I rarely do either.
“You didn’t have many groceries, so I ran across the street to the mini mart,” Monica says.
Crazy, I think. What time did she get up?
Then I realize that my first question wasn’t “what is she still doing here?” and I have to make sure I don’t laugh out loud. I don’t usually like girls to stay over, so having groceries to accommodate their breakfast cooking isn’t high on my priority list.
But with Monica, I seem to be breaking all my rules. We had a real conversation; we cuddled; we even listened to Bowie together; and now she’s taken over my kitchen. But I love it. I don’t know who the hell I’ve become, and I don’t even care.
“Impressive,” I say, as she lifts food from the skillet and sets it down in front of me. “Thank you.”
She winks at me. The sexy twinkle in her eye reminds me of how she looked this morning, with my cock in her mouth. I wish I could stay there— or inside her— all day long.
A blowjob and breakfast? I think. I’m a lucky guy.
I almost wish I could tell Jensen and Harlow about this. But it’ll have to remain our little secret.
“I like your new girlfriend, Ramsey,” Mom says, as she sips on her coffee.
“She’s not my girlfriend, Mom.”
Great. What if Mom says something to my brothers? I guess they would just think it was any random hook- up, and they probably won’t think anything of it, even though I don’t usually bring girls over here. My random hook- ups usually live in Albuquerque and we go to their place, unless I’m training out of town.
Monica is just any random hook- up, I remind myself. I don’t know why I keep forgetting. In fact, she’s the best kind of random hook- up: one who not only is okay with not seeing me again, but who can’t, since she lives so far away and I’m being deployed.
It’s almost too good to be true. I should be relishing in the fact instead of forgetting about it or even being disappointed about it.
“Monica told me you boys went to Billy’s last night,” Mom said. “And I was just telling her about my favorite bar, which isn’t around anymore. The Silver Fox. Remember, Ramsey? Your dad and I used to go there all the time.”
I shovel some food into my mouth, purposefully trying not to listen to or acknowledge what my mom is saying. My mom likes to re- write history. My dad never went out drinking with her.
He was a family man, a very busy hard- working man. She was the one who liked to abandon her responsibilities and party all the time, with men who were definitely not my father.
I glance at Monica, who is wincing at me in an apologetic way, but I know it’s not her fault. My mom will say anything to make herself sound better. And at this point I’m starting to think she really believes some of her lies, because she’s starting to sound pretty senile.
“It sounds like it was a fun place,” says Monica, obviously to fill up the silence that ensued after my mom’s little rant.
“It is,” Mom says. “And it’s been so long since I was there. Maybe Ramsey will go there with me before he leaves.”
“Mom, you just said yourself, it’s closed. That bar hasn’t been there for a long time.”
A look of confusion crosses her face, but it’s soon replaced by her normal, stubborn features.
“I know that, Ramsey. I meant we’ll go to the new bar, that the Silver Fox turned into. That’s what I meant.”
“There’s no bar there, mom. It turned into a liquor store and then the whole building was knocked down and they put up a Starbucks. You know this.”
She shrugs.
“Well, just take me somewhere. That’s all your old ma wants.”
“Mom, you know I’m not taking you out drinking. You can’t be drinking, period.”
Her bottom lip juts out, as if she’s going to cry. I don’t have time for these antics. We’ll be late if we don’t leave in fifteen minutes.
“We’ll talk about it later, Mom,” I tell her. “Now’s not the time.”
I scarf down the rest of my eggs, telling Monica, “This is delicious!”
I remind myself to talk to Mom later about the no- drinking- while- she’s- living- with- me rules. And to call back some of the assisted living places I’ve looked into, so that I can get one lined up for her before I’m deployed. I know she doesn’t want to go, but such is life, when you’ve sufficiently pissed off all your kids except for the older one, and also when you’re probably a bit too much for even him to handle.
I head for the shower, telling Monica I’ll be out in five.
“Sure,” she says, and begins gathering up the dirty dishes.
I shoot her an apologetic look, and gesture at my mom as if to say, “sorry for leaving you with her.”
But she just smiles at me, and winks, like, I got this.
She sure does. She’s got a lot of things. And for once I’m a bit sorry that I only get to see her in action for such a short amount of time.