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I heard Ashton snort as Mom finished, and I couldn’t help but look at him and the amusement on his face.
“I’ll do you one better, Karma,” he said, taking Mom’s attention off me. “I am one scary motherfucker and they better watch out or get the hell out of the way.”
It was my turn to snort while Mom looked literally affronted.
“What kind of mantra is that?” she demanded, sliding some eggs and bacon in front of him, along with a couple slices of buttered toast.
“It’s one that’ll keep a girl like yours out of the hands of pussy little boys that don’t know what to do with her.”
Mom rolled her eyes and gave me that ‘look’ which told me that I’d better get out of there and forget what I’d heard.
No way. I liked Ashton’s mantra better.
“Is Dad already at the dealership?” I called over my shoulder as I stole a strip of bacon off Ashton’s plate.
He growled like an animal, wielding his fork like a weapon as I hurried my ass away from him so I didn’t get stabbed.
“You still haven’t eaten!” Mom yelled back, not answering my question.
I sighed, figuring that Dad must have been at work or he’d be hanging around Ashton. The man barely gave Ashton a chance to breathe between reminiscing and discussing cars, politics and sports.
“Hey, kiddo, mind if I catch a ride this morning?”
My legs paused mid-step.
“Are you sure?” Mom asked Ashton amidst the scrape of silverware on a plate. “You can take some more time to recover—”
“As much as I love hanging out with you, Karma, I’m going out of my fucking mind not doing something.”
Mom sighed heavily as I tiptoed back toward the kitchen.
“Alright, but you have my phone number. If you get a headache or you start hurting, you call me and I’ll get you right away, or Freya will bring you home. Got it?”
I watched Ashton smile at my mother and stood, taking a couple steps toward her until her cheeks were squished between his meaty palms.
“Karma, I love you, but you’re not my mother. I can take care of myself, ok? Stop worrying about me.”
She pursed her lips in frustration, but her demeanor softened.
“I’ll never stop worrying about you. I’m a Mom, I can worry about a lot of things all at once.”
“Yeah, but I’m not your kid. So fuck off, huh?”
The offensive words made Mom grin while he slopped a loud kiss onto her forehead, then went back to his spot to finish his food.
“Ashton Kane. You’re going to make one woman very happy, and very, very frustrated one day.”
He snorted.
“Yeah, I doubt there’s a woman out there who could handle me for longer than a night or two.”
Mom waved her hand around to dismiss his words, then started wiping up the counters again.
“Did I hear that you want to go to the dealership today?” I asked overloud, trying to pretend I hadn’t witnessed the tender moment between Mom and Dad’s best friend.
“Yes please, and you can get me some more bacon on the way since you stole mine,” Ashton said before shoving the last bite of eggs from his plate into his mouth.
“Keep an eye on him,” Mom told me, pointing an accusatory finger at Ashton. “He’s stubborn just like your father, but worse. If he passes out or something, make sure you get him home.”
