Chapter 19

Wednesday afternoon, waiting for her parents to join her for lunch in their kitchen, Joey couldn’t contain her nerves. She’d talked to a lawyer. He had looked over her documents, listened to her story, and told her what she’d prayed to hear. She could accept the money without repercussion. Felix had legally signed over his rights to the child years ago. Though he didn’t owe any child support, if he chose to give her the money, it would be construed as a gift. Period. According to the law, Felix had no legal standing when it came to Brandon.

She’d been so relieved to hear it, she’d cried. Becky had called her a wuss and shoved a cookie in her face. So now Joey had to sacrifice her ass and thighs in repayment for Becky’s referral.

Joey had thirty grand sitting in her savings account, and she kept having to squash her guilt for having accepted it. Why? Felix had sure the heck been there when Brandon had been made. Yet she’d borne the financial burden to raise her son all these years. With that money in savings, she could confidently find a new place for her and Brandon to live. One where he could invite a friend to sleep over. One where she could invite a handsome man over for dinner.

Her nerves made her mouth dry.

Lou. She’d been thinking about him nonstop since meeting with Felix. Comparing the two men, thinking how different they were. She had to tell him about Brandon. She wanted to see where she and Lou might go next. As much as she wanted to think they had a future, one where they’d hold hands at Brandon’s soccer games and play family together, she knew she was dreaming.

They might never be a family, but she had a sexy male friend, one who treated her like she mattered and gave her orgasms. What wasn’t to love?

Brandon didn’t need Lou in his life. He had her. And maybe, just maybe, he’d have a new “friend” in Felix.

She still didn’t know about introducing Felix to Brandon as his father. It felt too iffy, and she didn’t want to do anything to damage her son psychologically should Felix prove squirrelly. She’d half expected his check to bounce. It hadn’t. So he had money. That didn’t mean he would be good for her son.

Heck, Becky had agreed with her. The guidance counselor with a background in child psychology thought she should gradually familiarize Brandon with Felix. For two main reasons. One, it showed the boy that his mother could have male friends, so when she did finally get a boyfriend, Brandon wouldn’t freak out about it.

And two, if Felix turned out to be “not such an asshole”—Becky’s words—then it would be that much easier to forge a connection between father and son.

That Becky had agreed with her instincts to introduce the pair confirmed her decision.

Her parents came through the door at the same time. Odd.

“Mom? Dad?”

Her mother laughed. “Met him on the way in. I was just coming back from picking up a few things at the grocery store.” Since her mother did medical transcription from home, that explained her being gone. Amy put the milk and eggs away, then tossed a bag of pretzels into the pantry.

“I only have an hour,” her father announced. “I’m taking an extended lunch to be home, so whatever this is about, make it quick.”

Wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. Joey never asked her father for anything, mostly for this reason. Her entire existence seemed to be one big awkward mess for her beleaguered parents.

She resolved to be firm, matter-of-fact, and not annoyed and waited while her parents took a seat at the kitchen island across from her. Andrew looked bored, Amy vaguely interested. But as Becky had guessed, Joey’s parents would likely have a fit over her news. Oh well. It was Joey’s life, after all, not theirs.

“Mom, Dad, I have some news to share.”

“Oh God. Please don’t tell me you’re pregnant again,” her father deadpanned.

“That’s not funny, Dad,” Joey snapped. “And totally uncalled for.”

He looked taken aback. “I was just kidding.”

“You’re always ‘just kidding.’ Yeah, I had sex for the first time at fifteen and got pregnant. For nine years, you’ve never let me forget it. Been there, done that. Let’s get past it, okay?”

Andrew blinked and slowly nodded, as if seeing his daughter for the first time.

Amy agreed, “Yes, let’s. So what is it you have to tell us, honey?”

Joey took a deep breath, then let it out. “I saw Felix Rogers the other day.”

Her parents stared.

“He was at Brandon’s soccer game, actually. We chatted briefly. Well, mostly I told him to kiss off. Then I saw him yesterday, and we talked again.”

Andrew recovered first. “I hope you told him to go to hell.”

“I used a word starting with F, but yeah. That was my first response.”

“Good.” Her dad grunted.

“First response?” Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “What was the second?”

“To talk to Felix, find out what he wanted, and deal with it.”

“And?” her father asked.

“He wants to meet Brandon.”

“Hell no.” Her father glared, as if she’d been the one to suggest it.

“No way. Not my grandson,” Amy said, vehement, angry.

Joey sighed. “Again, my first response.” She shared with them the whole of her discussion with Felix, leaving out exactly how much he’d given her and the more intimate details of Brandon’s conception.

Her mother was incensed. “So he thinks he can just buy his way back into your good graces?”

“He ditched his parents? That’ll be the day.” Andrew snorted. “Boy has always been tied to his mother’s purse strings. But he could cause problems.” He and Amy shared a look. “I’ll contact George, an attorney friend. He helped one of our doctors in his last divorce, and—”

“Dad, no.”

“Oh, good.” Amy nodded, ignoring her daughter. “We’ll have to get a restraining order. I can tell—”

“No.” Joey stood to be seen, heard. “I have this handled. I’m Brandon’s mother, and I am fully capable of dealing with Felix. I just wanted you two to be aware Felix is in town and asking about Brandon.”

Her parents just watched her, like an animal at the zoo.

“Well? What are you going to do?” her mother asked.

Her father crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

Joey was really trying to hold onto her temper, but he didn’t make it easy. “I cashed his check for one. And before you two start going apeshit”—their mouths fell open at her language—“I consulted a lawyer. Felix has no legal rights to Brandon at all. None. No matter how much money he has or doesn’t have, he has no rights over my son.”

Her father slowly nodded. “Good.”

“However,” she added, “he’s Brandon’s father. So I’m going to allow them to meet.”

“No.” Her mother glared at her. “You will not take my grandson to meet that man.”

“No, you won’t.” Her father agreed with Amy. Big surprise.

“Yes, I will.” Joey centered herself, confident, positive. “Brandon is my son. I would like him to get to know his father, even though I won’t tell Brandon who Felix is until I determine it’s okay to do so. Felix agreed with me.”

“He would. Can’t you see he’s no good for you?” Her father leaned closer. “Or did he snap his fingers and bring you to heel once more?”

“Andrew.” Amy looked at him in shock.

“That’s right, Dad. Let it all out,” Joey said, her voice rising. “Just say what you’ve always thought. That your daughter is a whore who spreads her legs for anyone!”

He turned red. “I never said that.”

“Sure you have. Plenty of times. Damn, Dad. I made a mistake. I was just a kid. I learned from it. Can’t you see that?”

“How can I when you’re making the same mistake all over again?”

She huffed. “Please. You think I’m stupid. You always have. No matter how good my grades were or how hard I worked, I’ve never been good enough to be your fucking daughter. Well, guess what? I’m the only one you’ve got.”

“Don’t remind me.” Oh, his words cut. “And watch your mouth. I don’t know why you’re talking to us like that.”

“Andrew, Josephine. Stop.” Amy had tears in her eyes. “He doesn’t mean it, honey. We’re just shocked you could fall right back in with Felix after what he did to you.”

“Did to me? Or did to you?” she shot back. “You’ve both treated me like dirt since the moment I got pregnant.”

“That’s not true,” Amy argued.

“We gave you a home! Food, clothes. We paid your medical bills. Everything you needed,” her father said. The medical coverage had been a no-brainer, part of his benefits package when working for the clinic for so many years. Not that she didn’t appreciate it, but he hadn’t gone into hock so she could have a baby.

“Yeah, and you never let me forget that I lived here only because you let me. That I owed you everything for it.” Angry, she wanted to lash out, to finally have the say she’d held in for nine long years. “I know I ruined your dreams of a scholarship for me. But they were never my dreams to begin with. I love working at S&J. I love that I got my degree with my own hard-earned money. Everything with you two is about owing you something because you took care of me—when I was fifteen years old. Guess what? I’m family! Brandon is family! You should take care of those you love without keeping a score book.”

“That’s not fair,” her mother said hotly. “We love you. We’re looking out for you.”

“Because you can’t look out for yourself,” Andrew retorted.

“I can too!” Great comeback, Joey. Why not add a yuh-huh to his nuh-uh?

“Really? You’re twenty-four and living above my garage,” he roared back. “You worked for seven damn years for a promotion.” He laughed. “In a flower shop. Selling flowers. Christ, I got promoted after six months at my very first job. I now run the clinic, honey. You can barely snip roses without asking your boss if you have permission to wipe your own ass.”

Amy looked askance at her husband. Even Joey was taken aback by his vitriol.

“You think getting your GED and a degree from a community college makes you special? It makes you average. So very, very average.” Her father shook his head. “We raised you to be special. Read to you as a baby, instilled discipline. Taught you right from wrong. I just don’t understand how you could throw it all away on Felix Rogers.”

“I. Made. A. Mistake,” she hissed. “One you never let me forget.”

“How can I? He sleeps right near you every night.”

“So now Brandon is a mistake?” she shouted.

Her father paused. “No. I didn’t mean that. I meant—”

“That’s exactly what you meant. And don’t you say anything, Mom. You love Brandon now, because he’s so cute and polite and you can show him off like a damn toy poodle. Well, guess what? I don’t need this.”

Her mother hit back with, “You sure seem to need a babysitter well enough though. I don’t hear you complaining about that.”

Andrew nodded. “Or about your cheap rent. Why don’t we hear you complaining then? When we’re giving you what you ‘need’?”

“You know what? You’re right.” She smiled through her teeth. “Brandon and I will be moving out. Congrats, Dad. You can have your rental unit back and make some real money. And Mom, you don’t need to worry about having to slave over your grandson anymore.” How dare she shove babysitting in Joey’s face? Half the time Joey let her mother watch Brandon because Amy asked to, even when Joey had other plans. “I lived with your disappointment and shame for years, because I wasn’t smart enough to”—she said more to her father—“keep my legs closed. I never date. I never have sex. And I’m always mindful to put my best foot forward because I sure don’t want to upset Mom and Dad again.

“But nothing I do will be good enough for you, Dad. And you, Mom, will judge me forever, apparently. Brandon is a little joy, and I’m just the stupid girl who got lucky with such a great son. Really? Who the hell do you think taught him manners? Taught him to respect his parents and grandparents? To get good grades? Not you two, who are so busy using him to show how great you are that you forget how great he is.” Okay, not exactly fair, and she really was talking more about her than Brandon, but fuck it.

“None of that’s true,” Amy said, sounding shocked.

Joey had had enough. “I’m done with you two. You’re nasty, hurtful people. And you can just… Oh.” She couldn’t get herself to tell them to eff off or kiss her ass. Her parents, after all, were her parents. But she sure didn’t like them very much. She stood, ignored their demands to sit back down and listen to them, and stormed out of the house. She hurried upstairs, grabbed a large trash bag from under the sink, and started stuffing her clothes into it.

She heard heavy footsteps and knew her father had come. “You wait one minute, Josephine,” he said as he slammed into the unit.

“No.” She continued packing until he grabbed the bag from her and threw it across the room.

“Yes. You are my daughter, by God, and I’ll—”

She started laughing. “Seriously? I’m your daughter? Does that make me as smart as you? Or a disappointment because I’m nowhere near as amazing as the incredible Andrew Reeves? No matter what I do, it’s not good enough.”

“That’s not true.” He was shaking in his anger.

And she didn’t care. “I’m done trying to please you. Done trying to get you to even like me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dad, I have spent every second of my life, it seems, trying to get you to like me. You never spent time with me growing up. You were always too busy or too tired to handle a yappy little girl. So I would be quiet. Then Mom would tell me you didn’t want to spend time with a mopey little girl. So I’d be super happy. Still didn’t take you away from your day job.”

“The one I worked my ass off in? That one? You know, to give you what I never had?”

“What? All this?” She waved a hand around. “I’m so happy you have the rental property you always wanted.”

“I meant food on the table, smart-ass. Sorry I didn’t hug you enough between my job and overtime. You know how I spent my early years? Hoarding breakfast so I could have one meal at school with friends, because my father never made enough money to support us,” he growled. “Why the hell do you think I worked so damn hard?”

“I wouldn’t know. You don’t talk to me. You talk at me. Mom talks down to me. What the hell would I know about anything? I’m just a stupid little girl who got fucked by a rich kid and still can’t keep her legs cl—”

He slapped her.

The action stunned them both. In all the years of dismissal and disappointment, she’d never once been hit by either parent.

She put a hand to her stinging cheek, staring at him in shock.

He stared back at her in horror. “Joey, I’m so—”

She tore out of the apartment and down the steps and ran smack into her mother.

“You’re not leaving,” her mother ordered. “Go back upstairs and… What happened to your face?”

“I’ll get my things later. Or you can throw them on the front lawn. I really don’t give a crap.” Joey wiped her tears and hurried to her car, glad she’d left her purse inside. She peeled out of the driveway and didn’t look back.

* * *

Lou stared at a very quiet Joey, not sure what to make of this saddened woman. On the one hand, he wanted to kiss her and make it all better. She’d called him, not anyone else, but Lou, needing a shoulder to cry on. So shit yeah, he’d taken off work early. Johnny could cover Lou’s ass for once.

So on the one hand, he was her go-to. And that made him feel ten feet tall. On the other, he wanted to shake her, find out why she didn’t trust him enough to tell him she had a son. After all they’d been to each other, did she really only see him as someone to fuck and no more?

“Thanks for letting me come over,” she said, her voice hollow.

He frowned. She didn’t look good. “You okay?”

“I’ve been better.” She sat on the edge of his couch, as if poised to flee at any moment.

Then she glanced at him, her eyes pools of sorrow.

He couldn’t stand it. “Well, fuck.” Before she could blink, he dragged her into his arms and hugged her, sitting her in his lap. “Come on. You need it.”

She tucked her head under his chin, and he swore he felt tears soaking his shirt. His heart dropped, her pain affecting him, making it difficult to talk. “Oh, Joey. Amor, it’ll be okay. Háblame, sweetheart. Talk to me. I’m here.”

She sniffed. “I’m sorry. I’m such a mess.”

“A beautiful mess. Even with that snot sticking to my shirt.” That got a hiccup of laughter out of her. He stroked her soft hair. “You want something to drink to replace all those tears soaking my shirt? I have lemonade or water but no milk, sorry. Rosie drained the last of it yesterday.”

She sighed. “You are such a good man, Lou.”

His pulse hammered.

“I shouldn’t be here, but I wanted to see you. To have you make it all better.” Her breath hitched. “Maybe I am a sorry excuse for a woman. Weak.”

“Bullshit.” He tugged her back by the shoulders so he could look into her beautiful brown eyes. “Everyone needs someone to lean on now and then. You’re one of the strongest women I know.” Especially now that he understood she’d had a son at fifteen. “Lean on me. I got you.”

She stared into his eyes, cupped his cheeks, and kissed him. So light, so heartfelt. So incredibly powerful. He felt her taking care of him, of reaching into him and pulling out his best parts.

“Lou, you’re beautiful to me. Strong. Kind.” She sighed and kissed him again. “Sexy.”

Yet the affection she doled was so much more than physical. As she petted him, his body responded, but so did his heart. She was gentle with him, loving, real. He responded, kissing her back. Then he lifted her higher, placing his head on her chest, so close to her heart, he could hear it race.

“With you, I’m so much more than they think I am,” she whispered as she stroked his hair and sniffed again.

“Amor, you’re killing me with the tears.” He wanted to pound the shit out of whomever had made her feel bad. But he wanted her smiling more.

“Dry my tears, Lou. Make me stop crying. Kiss me again.”

He lowered her for a kiss, and she took the tenderness he offered and turned it into something else. Something hot, wet. Punishing.

He groaned, wanting to offer comfort.

She wouldn’t let him.

“Right here. Now. In me.” She reached between them and found him hard. No surprise there. She left him to hurriedly undress, but when she returned, she didn’t wait for him to do more than pull off his shirt before she unbuttoned his jeans and tugged him free.

Then she wriggled to her knees and was blowing him, her mouth around him. She found a rhythm he liked all too well. Jesus, she was wild, and he could barely think. His climax neared in a sudden storm. Too fast. Too much pleasure.

“No.” He lifted her to sit astride him. Before he could reach for the condom in his back pocket, she stopped him by grabbing his cock and easing over him.

Skin to skin. No rubber.

His eyes nearly crossed. So fucking tight… He groaned. “Joey.”

“No. I want this. You in me. I’m on birth control, Lou. And I trust you.” Her eyes glinted with angry tears. “Only you.”

He didn’t like seeing her despair, and soon he found it hard to think as she continued to take him inside her, until he was fully seated, her body like a warm glove.

“Fuck me,” she whispered and kissed him. “In me. Amor.”

My love. He swore and lost all control. Needing this woman like he needed to breathe. Joey was like a fey thing, raw and needy and sexy as sin. He gripped her hips, forcing her to a harder pace while they kissed. Touched. She ran her fingernails down his chest. He palmed her breasts, pinched her nipples.

She ground harder, moaning, her breathy little rasps so hot. And he’d never been so hard, the overwhelming sensation of her pussy holding him tight almost unbearable.

So close, so fucking close to coming inside my woman.

“Lean back and show me your tits,” he growled, loving how she obeyed him without having to ask twice. She did, and he grabbed her, lifting her almost off his dick while he sucked one nipple, then turned to bite the other.

“Lou, please. I need you.”

Yo también, sí. Sí. Lou released her nipple with a decadent lick, and she slammed back over him. So hard she came—and forced him into coming with her.

She cried out, her body clamping him tight while Lou poured into her, hugging and grinding her over him, emptying completely into the woman turning him inside out.

He said what he felt, unable to keep the words inside for one second more. He shuddered as he finished coming, his orgasm explosive.

Life-changing.

As they sat entangled, lost in each other, Lou realized he well and truly loved Joey Reeves. A woman who had a child he wanted no part of, and a future that couldn’t be his.

If she ignored her child for him, he would never respect her. Wouldn’t recognize her as the woman he’d fallen in love with.

And if she chose her child over him, as surely she would, he’d lose her before he’d had a chance to have her.