Pretty Boy (Perfect Boys #1) - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,82
so I hitched a ride and ended up here. I lived on the streets for a little while until I got a place in a shelter. They didn’t allow any drugs or nothin’ though, so I had to quit drinkin’ if I wanted a bed to sleep in. It wasn’t easy, but I managed it. Then it was like magic, things started gettin’ better. I prob’ly shoulda quit drinkin’ ages ago.”
I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. My heart hurts and soars for her at the same time knowing how hard things have been but seeing how much better she is now.
“That’s real good, Mama.” I reach over and pat her hand.
“It is,” she agrees. “I got a job now, my own apartment, I’m even seein’ a man I met in AA. He’s a real good man.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“I hear you got yourself a real good man too now,” she says. “That Barrett of yours called me and asked me to meet you here. He sounded real polite and like he cares a lot about you.”
I smile and squeeze her hand. “He is a good man,” I agree. “Real good. The best.” Instinctively, I look toward the window, knowing he’s out there waiting for me, never far away if I need him. And as independent as I’ve become, I always need him.
“Good,” she says again. “At least I didn’t screw you up too bad then.”
“Oh, Mama, you didn’t screw me up.”
“Course I did. I didn’t protect you from all those nasty folks who said stuff about your face; I didn’t do the things your mama should. But I can tell you now, I always thought your birthmark made you unique. You don’t look like nobody else; I like that.”
My throat tightens, and my eyes start to burn. “Thanks, Mama.”
“Do you think…I mean, I know I ain’t got no right to ask or nothin’, but maybe we can meet up again sometimes just to catch up? Or I could call sometimes, see how your life’s goin’?”
“I’d like that a lot,” I agree. “Let me order some coffee and we can catch up for a while.”
The two of us chat for nearly an hour, sharing everything that’s happened in the past two years. By the time I head back outside to find Barrett, my heart feels light. I left everything else about Billow behind me the day I drove outta there, but worry over my Mama always hung over me. Now I know she’s okay, we can start the next chapter in our lives, both of us finally happy for the first time.
I spot Barrett’s car and jog over to it. When I pull open the door, I find him reading a book. He smiles and sets the book down.
“How’d it go?” he asks.
I slide into my seat, my heart feeling so weightless and full of happiness all at once. I look at the book he set down and realize it’s the same one he read to me the first night I found him in the library. In an instant, I’m transported back to that moment, wrapped up in his arms, feeling like I was home for the first time in my life, even though I didn’t recognize the feeling at the time. He’s given me everything—a safe place to fall, all the words I needed to find my confidence, and the chance to be the best version of myself. He’s the best Daddy I never thought to ask for, but always needed.
“Sterling?” he says my name when I don’t answer his first question right away, but I’m too busy working out this huge feeling inside me to put words together.
I lick my lips and look into his eyes. “Marry me, Daddy?” My eyes go wide when the words burst out of me. I didn’t intend to say them, but boy do I mean them.
Barrett looks just as surprised as I am. “I—”
“I ain’t got a ring or nothin’,” I tell him apologetically. “But I could get one. I’ll get you a real nice one.” I don’t make all that much working at the bookstore, but it’s enough that I have a bit saved since Barrett refuses to let me pay any bills. He does let me take him out to dinner every so often at least.
He gives me a crooked smile and reaches into his pocket. “You sure know how to steal a guy’s thunder, little rabbit.” He pulls out a black, velvety box and pops the lid open to show me a shiny silver band with small diamonds studded in it.
“Is this…?” I reach for it slowly.
“I was planning to ask you tonight,” he explains, and I smile.
“You might have the ring, but I asked first,” I point out, and he chuckles.
“You did,” he agrees. “And, of course I’ll marry you, Pretty Boy. I can’t think of a single thing in the world I want more.”
He leans over the center console and pulls me in for a kiss, his lips soft and warm against mine, increasing the happy feeling in my chest by a million.
This Pretty Boy might’ve had a rocky start, but at least he got the happy ending right.
The End
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About the Author
Author K.M.Neuhold is a complete romance junkie, a total sap in every way. She started her journey as an author in new adult, MF romance, but after a chance reading of an MM book she was completely hooked on everything about lovely- and sometimes damaged- men finding their Happily Ever After together. She has a strong passion for writing characters with a lot of heart and soul, and a bit of humor as well. And she fully admits that her OCD tendencies of making sure every side character has a full backstory will likely always lead to every book having a spin-off or series. When she’s not writing she’s a lion tamer, an astronaut, and a superhero…just kidding, she’s likely watching Netflix and snuggling with her husky while her amazing husband brings her coffee.
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