before letting go. “Jason’s coming over. Is that okay? I know I should have asked first, but he popped in my head when I was trying to calm down.”
“Sure,” Andrew says.
Jason wraps his arms around me from behind as I wash the last of the breakfast dishes. I set the dish and sponge in the sink and turn around in his arms. My hands come to rest on his biceps, and I gaze into his eyes that search mine. “I met Victoria’s social worker this morning.”
“How did that happen?”
“Rose and Andrew talked to her last night while we were still out. She wanted to hear what happened from me and Arissa, so we told her and I showed her my bruise. Then, she tried to get me to empathize with Victoria because she ‘hasn’t had it easy.’”
“Easy? What kind of bullshit is that?”
“The kind when they don’t have the whole story. So, I stood up for myself.”
“I would’ve loved to have seen that,” he says, bringing the left corner of his mouth up into a half smirk.
“Yeah, well. I really wanted to slap her. I came in here and called you instead. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Your first thought was to call me?” he asks, forming a full smile.
“Yes.” Heat flushes my cheeks.
“I call that progress, Parker.” He presses his lips to my forehead. “How’s your arm?” he asks, breaking away and taking my left arm with both hands.
“Sore, but not too bad.” It’s nothing compared to what my father used to do to me.
“I still can’t believe you tried to stop the putter instead of ducking or moving away.” He inspects the bruise then skims his lips over the splotch of purple.
“Maybe I’m a little braver now.”
“You’ve always been brave,” he says as if it is fact, not opinion. He sets my arm at my side and moves me away from the sink. He finishes washing the abandoned dish and places it on the dish rack. “So what shall it be today?” he asks, drying his hands with the towel hanging on the oven door handle.
“I thought we’re going to a movie with Damian and Arissa this afternoon.”
“We’ll still do that. But I mean you and me. Before the movie.”
“Oh.” I shift on my feet. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about that.” I pause, then change the subject. “You got here fast. Did you eat breakfast?”
“No. I brushed my teeth and put on clean clothes before rushing over.”
“Rose made extra pancakes. Do you want some?” I open the fridge.
“Since Rose made them, the answer is yes.” He sits on a stool at the island.
I start the microwave with a covered plate inside and set the butter and syrup out, along with silverware and a cloth napkin. The microwave beeps and when I turn around with the pancakes, the napkin is tucked into his shirt and the knife and fork are standing on end in his fists.
I double over laughing.
“Hey, be careful. That’s my breakfast,” he quips. He sets the silverware down and lays the napkin in his lap.
I hand him the plate, then sit and watch as he butters his pancakes and pours syrup over them. “Thank you for the laugh. I needed that.”
He caresses my back and winks as he chews a mouthful of pancakes.
“Do you want anything to drink?”
“Coffee.”
I frown at him and slide off the stool.
“You woke me up,” he points out.
I sigh because he’s right. I pour out the rest of the coffee from the pot and set it before him. “Cream or sugar?”
“Black.” He grins with a mischievious glint in his eye. “I have an idea,” he says, cutting himself another bite from the stack. “Come home with me to meet my mom.” He inserts the forkful of pancake into his mouth and chews while I stare at him dumbfounded.
“J, I…“ My mouth hangs open in the pause. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
His steady gaze remains on me. “She asks about you. She wants to meet you.”
“She wants to meet me?” I ask. Knowing someone wants to meet me is new.
“Yeah. She wants to meet the girl I chased for two years.” He grins.
“You…ha…you…“ I blunder. “You talk to your mom about me?”
“You’ve known the Jerichos for years. Arissa talks to her parents. You don’t think I talk to mine?”
“I just never thought about it before,” I admit.
“My parents know all about you. They knew about you before we started dating.”
“What?”
“It was my mom who pointed out that you were