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It occurs to me that I’ve never spoken to a guy’s mother. At least not a guy I was getting wild with.
Her gaze drops to my combat boots, and she smiles as she looks back up to me.
“Thank you.”
My eyebrows go up.
“No problem,” I say with a shrug. “Never dress up, and you’ll fit in around here anywhere you go.”
Her smile broadens. “I meant, thank you for what you did for my sons. Benson doesn’t even question your loyalty to him. He let his brother come see you. Alone. Because even though he’d hurt you, he knew without a doubt you’d never cross that line just to hurt him back. Because of you, my sons are speaking—actually speaking with smiles on their faces—for the first time in nine years.”
She takes a deep breath as I try to figure out what to say.
“So thank you,” she says again.
“Deacon was legit trying to mend things between them and never tried anything when he came to talk to me. And besides, Benson knows I’d have shot him if he had tried anything,” I say casually, then realize, once again, that’s not a response for a normal person.
She laughs under her breath.
“With a BB,” I amend, as though that makes it all better.
She sighs long and hard. “I complicated their lives by marrying John. I never had a clue it could go so wrong for them. And Sadie…” She lets the words trail off as she looks back at me. “It took one girl to tear them apart, and it took one woman to bring them back together.”
She touches my shoulder, gently clasping it.
“Now, do you have some boots I can borrow?” She eyes my waist, and I eye her very elegant trousers. “And some jeans?”
To this, I laugh.
“Let’s steal Benson’s boat. I have an entire wardrobe. Pants might be short, but the boots will cover that. But hurry. Because Benson hates it when I steal his boat.”
Her grin spreads so wide that it has to hurt.
“We’ll make one quick stop by the Malones. I owe them for the paintballs, and I really, really want to try out that water cannon,” I add.
Her laughter pours out as she quickly follows me down the steps.
I have to help her onto the boat, then I start willing the lift to work quicker as it slowly lowers us into the water.
Just as I get the boat pushed away from the dock and rev the motor, Benson comes running out, his eyes wide and horrified when he sees his mother in the boat with me.
I turn up the radio, blowing him a kiss, as the telling music plays.
I mean…the song couldn’t have better timing.
“I love you, Benson Nolans!” I shout, which only gives him one minute of pause where his smile breaks across his face.
“Gotta break it loose, gonna keep it movin’ wild, gonna keep it swinging, baby, I’m a real wild child.”
The smile fades quickly as reality sinks back in and the song playing finally registers. He starts yelling, panicking, as I laugh manically and gas it across the lake. My brothers hear the song playing and race toward the end of my aunt’s dock as I swing it sideways, getting just close enough. Absently I hear the squeal from Benson’s mom as we rock hard in the water from the harsh turn.
They’re just in their boxers, grinning hugely as they race toward us. “You boys want to shoot a water cannon?” I call out.
“Hell yeah!” they shout.
They leap into the boat, and poor Benson’s mother’s eyes widen when she sees how they’re dressed.
“Hi, Mrs. Benson’s Mom,” Hale and Killian both say, working their way around the boat as I gas it again.
Benson is still yelling at us from across the lake as I crank the volume up louder. My brothers howl into the air like wolves as we take the bend, moving faster up the lake.
I love this boat. It’s so much faster than mine.
I glance back, seeing his mother smiling now as she relaxes, and I return my attention ahead. The song starts over, and I smile bigger, realizing it really is fate. The town only plays this song on repeat when they think the Wild Ones have been too quiet.
The beaver flag is flying high in the distance, letting me know we’re about to get exactly what I want. Malones love their fishing days.
“Mount up, boys! Payback time!” I yell over the sound of the loud motor and whirring wind.
Hale and Killian both man the water cannon, sharing in this moment, as I round the last corner. The Malones are all out on their dock, predictably fishing, completely unaware of what’s coming, until suddenly they’re being blasted.
Kylie screeches, diving away from her fishing pole, laughing uncontrollably when she sees it’s me. She takes cover as her cousins and father start falling into the lake, and I loop around, coming back as more Malones start racing toward the dock, fully armed with their trusty paintball guns.
