I was pretty f**king sure smoke began blowing from my ears, because those three words just about made me combust.

“Come again?” I asked tersely, you know, just for clarification.

“He’s. My. Date,” she said slowly, each word exaggerated.

Fuck. Not only did she look exactly like me: blond hair and brown eyes, but she had the pissy, no-shit attitude to match. I could now see Molly’s point on how damn annoying this moody shit could be to deal with.

“Bullet, come on. We can work this—”

I swung to face the kid on my doorstep as he spoke and without a single word in response, I slammed the door in his f**king face.

“Daddy!” Taylor screamed. “I was going on a date with him!”

“Like hell you were! Since when do you date, and why the hell haven’t you asked permission? Because I’ll tell you now, girl, that kid only has one thing on his mind, and like hell he’s doing those things to my fourteen-year-old daughter! You get me?”

“Momma!”

“Mol!”

Molly came gunning down the stairs as I faced off against my daughter, her stance now mimicking mine, our gazes locked.

“What’s going on? Why are you both shouting at each other?”

Turning to Mol, I asked, “Did you know she was planning on going on a date today?”

Molly’s wide eyes snapped to our daughter. “Taylor, you know you’re not old enough to date.”

“But, Momma! I—” In true teenage fashion, she slammed her hands on her hips.

“But nothing. You’re grounded for a week for being so sneaky and going against our rules. Now, get in there and watch your brothers. Our guests will be arriving soon and I don’t have time for this.”

Spinning on her heel with an angry shrill, Taylor stomped into the game room, screaming, “Fascists!”

When the door slammed, I exhaled slowly to calm the hell down and looked to Molly who was still on the stairs, blinking in shock. “Dating, Mol? I’m so not ready for this shit.”

Molly cracked a smile and started giggling. “She’s a teen, it was bound to start sooner or later. That’s what you get when you have a girl, babe. Years and years of dating to look forward to.”

“We’ve been back in Bama a week and suddenly she has hormonally-charged f**kers chasing her tail?” I leaned back against the wall and ran my hand down my face. “I was one of those f**kers, Mol. I know exactly what they want to do with her. Christ! I’ll kill them! This shit’s gonna make me go prematurely gray!”

Molly shook her head and passed by me, laughing. “She knows she can’t date until she’s sixteen, so relax, you have two years to prepare for the real thing.” She continued strutting into the kitchen, glancing over her shoulder to add, “And two years to stock up on ‘Just For Men’, of course. You know, for all the premature gray hairs you’ll get.”

Flashing me a teasing smile, Molly quickly headed to the backyard—Oh, she’d done it now.

Running after my wife, I scooped her up in my arms, making her yelp out in surprise. I sat down on the secluded bench, way out of sight, laying her across my lap. Diving onto her soft lips, I fisted bunches of her long brown hair, and took what I wanted.

As always, she submitted to my demands.

We broke from the embrace several minutes later, both panting, and Molly squirmed against the hardness in my jeans.

“Mol…” I warned.

“Mm-hmm?” she answered innocently, a f**king horny-as-hell twinkle in her golden-browns.

My jaw clenched as I fought my need, and I hissed through gritted teeth, “Don’t play with fire, Shakespeare. It’s too much for pretty little English girls to cope with.”

“What can I say…? I’m a risk taker.” She shrugged and smiled widely.

Mol watched as my lip twitched, and within seconds, the two of us burst into laughter and I gripped her tight around her neck, tucking my head into her hair.

When we had both calmed down, I lifted my head and said, “I can’t believe I said that to you back then. I was so f**ked up and full of my own shit.”

“Are you kidding me? You had me so pent up for you that I almost combusted on the spot! I could’ve stayed at that creek forever.”

I leaned in close and whispered seductively, “If I’m not mistaken, you did combust around three of my fingers shortly after.”

Slapping my chest playfully, Mol replied, “Yeah, and I tossed you off onto the grass!”

I froze at her comeback and practically dropped her to the floor, unable to contain my hysterical laughter. “Tossed me off?”