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West laughed, and the deep rumble felt amazing against my chest. “She was a feisty little shit when she wanted to be. Sweet as honeysuckle most of the time, but stung like a hornet when she got riled up. Was she that way when you were little?”
I loved it when his voice lulled into his soft Texas burr. It was a sign of relaxation, and it washed through me like a sweet buzz.
I nodded. My fingers found the hem of his T-shirt and snuck under it to run along his skin. “When she was little, you’re right. Sweet as honeysuckle. As a teen, though, she was a moody bitch. Mean as a snake. But when the anger was in defense of me… well, it felt fucking amazing.”
“What was the other thing that happened?” he asked gently.
“The sheriff threatened to arrest me,” I said.
West’s silence lasted for a beat. “What for?”
“Stealing the sign from Ritches’ Hardware Store,” I said and couldn’t help but start laughing.
West smiled at me. “That was you? What’s so funny?”
“Oh my god. I just realized the bakery… oh my god.” I was laughing so hard I could barely stop. “Sugar Britches. She named it after me.”
“She told me it was an inside joke, but she never explained it. Tell me.”
“Do you remember the sign on the hardware store used to look like it started with a B because of the font Mr. Ritches used?”
West nodded. “Everyone knew that’s why it was stolen so many times. So some kid could have a dirty word sign on his wall. It took like ten signs before the guy wised up and changed the font.”
“Right. Well, Adriana and I got into a huge fight and I called her the b-word. She went batshit fucking crazy. One of my friends came up with the idea to steal the sign and hang it on Adriana’s bedroom door so when she woke up one morning, it would just be there. The whole thing started off as a joke.”
“You’re kidding,” West said. “You really stole it? How?”
“I didn’t even mean to, but I was walking by the store one day after school and there was a flash rainstorm. Everyone dashed into the closest storefront in town, and I headed for Ritches. Just as I approached the door, it banged closed from whoever had gone in before me. I swear to god, the sign fell right off the door and splashed into a huge puddle.”
“Liar,” West accused with a laugh.
I shrugged and grinned back at him. “Not kidding. I had to decide in that moment—take it for the gift it obviously was, or turn it in and hope I didn’t get accused of ripping it off the door. Obviously I took it.”
West tilted his head at me as if he wasn’t sure whether or not to believe me. “Then what happened?”
“Curt saw me with it. I didn’t find that out until it was too late, but apparently he did. Meanwhile, I took it home and hung it in my sister’s room. When she woke up and saw it, she screeched so loud I realized it was worth any punishment I could get. She was griping at me about it at breakfast when Mom heard her say bitches. Mom yelled, so Adriana said, ‘Mom, I was calling Nico my little Sugar Britches.’ She called me Sugar Britches after that. I can’t believe I’d forgotten that.”
My voice trailed off as I felt the true gesture hit me. My sister had named her business after me. Even after all those years.
“Didn’t the sheriff find out? Did Mr. Ritches press charges?”
“Oh, they never charged me. Sheriff Billingham gave me a long lecture about being a disappointment to my mother and how that one action proved I was well on my way to being a petty criminal if I didn’t change my tune. Then he shook his head and muttered a bunch of shit under his breath about how he could never marry a woman with a criminal for a son even though he probably should since I clearly needed a father’s firm hand.”
“What a jackass.” West hissed.
“Yeah, well, he was the jackass my mom was in love with. And I was suffocating in this small town. I knew I was gay, I knew I was different, and I knew I’d leave town the first chance I got anyway. So I realized I might as well do it sooner than later and save everyone the trouble. It was the last straw.”
West’s eyes narrowed at me. “You’re kidding? You let that fucker intimidate you into leaving your family? You gave up your mother and sister for that guy?”
I felt my hackles rise and my anger kick up. “No. You don’t fucking understand. I gave up my mother and my sister for them to have a better life, you idiot.”
