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Her expression turned scathing, and she aimed a tight glare at my head. “I’m not a dog.”
“No, of course you’re not. They follow commands.”
Skulking across the room, she paused in the doorway and turned back with her brows quirked. “You know what they call female dogs, Liss?”
I blinked my good eye slowly and pointed my finger at her in warning. “Don’t you dare.”
A grin tugged her lips up. “Can’t stop me thinking it,” she said, her high ponytail whipping around her head as she flounced out of the room, leaving me grinding my teeth to dust.
That child had spent way too much time around me. I blew out a breath, regretting every single time I’d sassed my mom in Bella’s presence. The kid was a sponge. She’d sucked up my very essence. I wanted that shit back.
Gingerly patting the tender spot on my face with my fingertips, I grimaced. Fucking ouch.
Man, karma was a female dog. A ten-year-old, hip-hop dancing one, apparently.
A few seconds later, my aunt appeared in the doorway, her light brown eyes smiling and her arms laden down with a basket of clean laundry. “Oh, she’s alive,” she teased, dropping a load of clean clothes on top of my dresser.
“Funny,” I said, grabbing a fluffy towel from the top of the pile.
“Hi, by the way.” She leaned forward to press a kiss to my cheek as my mom appeared behind her with a second basket of laundry.
I turned to face my mother. “Did you see your devil-spawn on the way up here? You need to put a muzzle on her. I’m not even joking.”
Chuckling lightly, she shook her head and walked off down the hall, her short blonde hair sweeping over her shoulders. Bree shook her head with a muttered, “You were worse,” then followed after her.
I trailed behind them both with a light scowl on my face, pausing outside the bathroom doorway when my mom turned back and asked, “You have plans today? It’s hot out.”
“Pool party. Danny’s place.” I glanced down at my watch and grimaced. “Gotta be at Riley’s in twenty minutes.”
She nodded w
ith a smile, then disappeared into her bedroom.
I scrubbed my face in the shower to save time, then wrapped a huge towel around my body and stepped out into a cloud of steam. Flapping one hand in front of me to clear it, I closed my other into a fist and rubbed at the condensation on the mirror above the basin. Loading some toothpaste onto the brush, I popped it in my mouth and opened the door to let some of the steam escape.
My mom sauntered out of her room, an empty basket swinging loosely in her grip. “You have plans today?” she asked when she looked up. “It’s hot out.”
My brows lowered over my eyes as I looked at her blank face. I tugged the toothbrush from my mouth and spat into the sink before rounding on her. “I just told you. Pool party. Danny’s. Do you listen to me?”
She blinked, her pale blue eyes darting down the hall before she gave her head a small shake. “That’s right.”
I watched her with a frown as she gave me a tight smile and walked away. She obviously had more on her mind than I’d realized; I needed to make time to check in more. When my dad walked out, he’d left her with the job of raising two kids alone, and she’d never complained. The woman was a rock star; I didn’t tell her often enough.
“Hey, Mom?”
She turned back to me, and I swallowed. “Thank you.”
“What for?” she asked, brows nipping together.
I looked down and shrugged. “Everything.”
Her eyes shimmered, a wide smile breaking out over her face as she gazed back at me. “I love you, honey.”
I nodded and cleared my throat. “Love you, too, Mom.”
Showy displays of affection weren’t commonplace for me, but every now and then they were necessary. My mom’s beaming face proved it.
SEVEN
