Page 95 of Home Is Where You Are

“I did. Way to be sneaky to get another turn.” She laughed.

Before I could respond, our food arrived. Ainsleigh checked her burger to make sure it was cooked right, and I did the same thing with my steak. The waitress told us to enjoy our food as we both took our first bites.

She moaned as she bit into the burger; juices from the meat dripped down her chin, but she was too consumed in enjoying the taste to notice.

Reaching over, I took the pad of my thumb and wiped it away.

“You had a little something right there,” I said when she finally peered over at me.

“I forgot how good these burgers are,” she said, covering her mouth as she continued to chew her food.

“It’s the bacon jam they use. It’s delicious,” I reminded her of the secret ingredient I’d learned from one of the football players who used to work here after school.

“That’s right. I forgot you found that out.”

“Now about that question,” I reminded her, not wanting to let her off the hook so we could continue our game.

“Something that everyone likes that I don’t,” she repeated the question as she pondered her response.

“I don’t like reality television. I never understood Aspen’s obsession with it, even though I feigned interest when she’d want to binge watch it on the weekends. And you best take that to your grave. She thinks I love it, but it’s cringe,” she admitted, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“My lips are sealed. She’ll never hear it from me. How did you manage to muddle through it?” I couldn’t contain my laughter. Ainsleigh’s face didn’t manage to hide her feelings. She hated that people could always read her so easily. I had no clue how she’d managed to hide her clear disdain.

“I let her do most of the talking and obsessing over who should be with who or whatever. Then I agreed with her. And don’t think I didn’t notice how you managed to slip in a third question,” she joked as she pursed her kissable lips at me.

“I’m sure you won’t let me forget it,” I goaded.

“Never, cowboy,” she said, blowing a kiss at me. I knew she meant every word.

We finished our meal and waited for the waitress to bring the check. We talked about how I’d start the position the next day and how nervous I was to do everything perfect.

She was about to say something when someone’s throat cleared behind us.

I looked up, and my eyes met the two people I could’ve gone the rest of my life without seeing.

My parents stood just behind Ainsleigh who’d now turned around. Ainsleigh looked at me, gauging my reaction. She knew things were rocky between my parents and me when they’d left, but I’d yet to tell her the details.

I kept my face neutral as I stared at them. I hoped they didn’t make a scene. I didn’t have the energy to deal with them, and I didn’t want to ruin my day with their antics.

“I see some things haven’t changed,” my mother spat. No “hi, son, how’ve you been” anywhere in sight. That one statement let me know just how this interaction was going to go.

I tried not to feed into it. I really did, but I wasn’t about to allow my mother to disrespect Ainsleigh.

“You have no right to come in here and judge me and the company I keep. What do you want, Mother?” I spewed. I ground my teeth together so tight I was sure I’d break one.

“That’s a discussion that needs to be had in private,” she said, giving Ainsleigh a disdained look.

“You forfeited a private conversation with me the second you walked out of my life. You haven’t even bothered to check in on me in the past four years. You also brought this conversation into a public establishment. You have two options—say what you came here to say, or leave. It’s what you’re good at, after all.”

“I’m your mother. How dare you speak to me with that tone, young man.”

“You don’t get to call yourself a mother. A mother loves and cherishes her children. You’ve never done that, so don’t act all high and mighty now. If you’re not going to tell me what it is you came here to say, we’re leaving.” I’d never stood up to my parents before now, but it felt good to get these things off my chest.

“We’ve been down on our luck lately. I was wondering if you could help us out?”

She had the gall to come back into my life now after all this time and for money, no less. Absolutely not.

“While I’m sorry to hear that, I’m not helping you. You haven’t cared how I’ve been all this time. I’m not giving you money. You wasted your time coming here.”