All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,26
sofa after dinner. Hannah had laughed at that mental visual.
Hannah couldn’t blame her for wanting to enjoy some quiet time.
When they parked in the driveway, Oliver sprang out of the car. “I’m gonna go next door and get Jeff.”
“Okay. Come right back.”
“We will.”
She shook her head and went to the mailbox to grab the mail, waving at Becca as she answered the door to let Oliver in. She went in the house and laid the mail and her purse on the kitchen counter.
Her phone buzzed. It was a text from Kal.
Movie times are 6, 7:30 and 9. What works for you? I’ll order tickets.
She looked at her phone, calculating the time it would take for pizza and getting to the movie theater, then sent a text back to Kal.
I think 7:30 works the best so we have time for pizza. And we’ll need four tickets. Oliver is bringing a friend.
Kal texted right back with: Got it. What time should I pick you up?
She replied: I’m home early today, so 5:30 is good. We can take our time with pizza.
He sent a text back: See you then.
Sounds good, she replied, then realized he’d be coming over to her mom’s house instead of meeting her somewhere. Then again, he was going to meet Oliver, so it didn’t really matter if he came here.
When Oliver and Jeff came running through the door, she sent them to Oliver’s room to play and told them to stay inside, then went to take a shower. Once that was out of the way, she got dressed and went into the kitchen to flip through the mail.
Junk mail and bills. And more bills. “Living the Cinderella life here, aren’t you, Hannah?”
She tossed the mail back on the counter, fixed herself a glass of iced tea and sat at the table to pay a few of those bills before she forgot about them, since no prince was coming to save her. It appeared as if she was going to have to save herself, which she was damned used to since she’d been doing it for years.
Being married to Landon had taught her one valuable lesson, and that was to never rely on anyone but herself. She’d been young and stupid, and she’d fallen for the fantasy of a good-looking guy who’d promised this fantastical future in which he was going to take her away from all of this and set her up for life.
Ha. He’d set her up, all right. He’d set her up with a pack of lies and nothing but disappointment. She’d never fall for that again.
She was much better off on her own.
“Mom. Mom. Momma. Mommmm.”
She blinked and lifted her head to find Oliver standing next to the table. “Yes, sweetie?”
“Jeff and I want something to drink. Can we have a soda?”
“You can have water right now and sodas when we have pizza.”
“Okay.” He climbed up to the cabinet and grabbed two glasses, then stuck them in the spigot outside the fridge and filled them with water. He started to walk off.
“Nope. Drink them in the kitchen.”
“Aww, Mom. We won’t spill.”
She’d heard that one before. “In the kitchen, Oliver.”
“Fine. Come on, Jeff. Let’s sit at the table and play the game on my tablet.”
They sat at the table with her while she finished paying bills. Her mom came home, so she put her paperwork away in the drawer and went into the living room with her mother.
“How was your day, Mom?”
“Good. Yours?”
“Fine. I’m taking Oliver and Jeff to the movies tonight.”
“That sounds nice. I’m going out to dinner with Carole and Amanda, then we’re heading over to the casino in Hollywood.”
“To make millions, no doubt.”
Her mom laughed. “No doubt.”
“Oh, and Kal is going with us.”
She saw the brow raise her mother made. “Oh, really? That’s interesting.”
“It’s not that interesting. He wants to see the movie.”
Her mother gave her a smile. “Honey, he wants to see you, not the movie.”
She glanced into the kitchen, but the boys were engrossed in conversation about the game and not at all interested in what she and her mother were discussing. “It’s not like that.”
“If you think that boy isn’t interested in getting you naked, then you haven’t gotten any in a while.”
Now it was Hannah’s brows that shot up. “Mom!”
Her mom looked over her shoulder, and so did Hannah. The boys had disappeared back into Oliver’s room.
“What? Look, Hannah. I may be a widow, but I still think about sex.”
“Apparently, you’re the one who needs to get some.”