I walk into my mom’s apartment and come to a halt. “You here to haul my ass off to jail?”

He’s sitting on the couch, playing with a beer bottle in his hand, and my mom is nowhere in sight. Her apartment looks different. It’s sparse, empty. The only furniture is the couch. Boxes fill the room. The fuck?

Floyd doesn’t seem surprised to see me. “No.”

Confusion swarms me. “Then what are you doing here?”

Floyd was the attorney that got me out of trouble by making a plea with the prosecutors. The only reason he’d be here is because he found out I broke my part of the bargain.

He looks too comfortable lounging on my mom’s couch in a gray suit. His receding hairline makes him appear old, but other than that, the dude is in decent shape.

We both look up when my mom comes into the room with a bright smile on her face.

She wraps her arms around me and kisses my cheek. “Honey, I’ve missed you so much.”

I pull away and kiss the top of her head. “You look good, mom.”

She does. The lines across her forehead and the circles underneath her eyes still tell you she’s worked hard all her life, but they’re not as dark as they were before. She must be getting better tips at work. She cut her hair–the long, black strands that used to hit the bottom of her back now stops at her shoulders.

My eyes narrow when I watch her sit down on the couch and grab Floyd’s hand. My stomach churns, and nausea hits me.

I shake my head, and it takes me a second to swallow down the bile in my throat. “Mom, please tell me you’re not screwing him to get me out of trouble.”

Floyd tenses up when I head toward him.

I stretch out my arms and put my hands in front of him. “Call the cops and get the cuffs on me because I won’t allow that to happen.”

There’s no way in hell I’m letting my mom hoe herself out to save my ass. I did the crime. I’ll do the time.

Floyd laughs. “Zeth, I told you I’m not here to take you to jail, nor is Bonnie prostituting herself out to me.”

“Then what the fuck are you doing here?”

“We’re together,” my mom answers.

I shake my head violently. “Ma, you don’t have to do this.”

“We’ve been together for months. We were together when you beat up Pete.”

“You were dating two dudes?” Damn, my mom is a better player than I am.

“No, I broke up with Pete months before he showed up and assaulted me. That’s why he did it. He found out I’d moved on.”

I look at Floyd. “Is that why you got me off the hook?”

He nods.

“Not because of Leonard?”

“Your dad didn’t hire me. No one hired me.” He looks at my mom. “I did it for her.”

I don’t miss the sparkle in her eye, the happiness on her face. She’s in love with him. And from the way he’s looking at her, and how he put his ass on the line for me, it seems the feeling is mutual.

“Then why the fuck did you ship me off to Leonard’s?”

“I couldn’t completely get you off the hook for beating a man to a bloody pulp, even though I’m glad you did. You had to have a punishment. I found the easiest one I could get without any serious consequences.”

I brush my hands over my face. “Well, shit. Thanks, then. What’s going to happen from here since I came back?”

“I got you community service. Your father has called me multiple times, giving me this ridiculous excuse about you creating havoc there, but I’m not worried about that. I talked to the judge, told him you had been working there, getting your life in order, but your dad had his own family issues. So we came up with a new plan.”

“Why didn’t you come up with that plan first?”

If I’d stayed here, I would’ve never met Addison. I close my eyes. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I do know one thing, though. Knowing Addison has made me want to be a better man.

“I was hoping you could form a relationship with your father, but that was a mistake on my part,” my mom says, answering for him.

I nod and point to Floyd, ready to change the subject from Leonard. I don’t want to think about him or Addison. “You better treat her right.”

My mom raises her hand, and I nearly choke on my own spit when I notice the flicker of a diamond in the light. “He’s been amazing to me.”

“Hold up, did you get married?” My stomach sinks. She wouldn’t get married without telling me, would she?

She shakes her head. “In six months.”

I blow out a breath of relief. “I’m happy for you, ma. What’s up with all the boxes though?”

“I’m moving in with Floyd.” She claps her hands. “Now, let’s get some dinner, and you can tell me all about this Addison girl.”

I blink a few times. “Fucking Kelton.” He’s always had a big ass mouth.

She laughs. “You know that guy can’t keep secrets from me. Especially when it’s you falling for a girl.”

“Ma, it’s done.”