The Do-Over (The Rooftop Crew #5) - Piper Rayne Page 0,57
Her head is buried in the cupboard as the oven warms up.
“You don’t have to feed us, Mom. We were going to go out to eat. I’m on shift tonight.”
She peeks her head out of the cupboard and looks at the clock. “You have plenty of time. I can’t believe you’d come down here and not see us. Thankfully Dylan spotted us across the street of that dingy bar you were in.”
“Yeah, I’ll need to thank him for that later.”
She peeks her head out again and shoots me a death stare. “So tell me about her.”
“There’s not much to tell.”
She pulls out a box of crackers. “Cheese isn’t vegetarian, right?” She opens the fridge.
“That’s vegan. She’ll eat cheese.”
“And salami. I have cheese and salami.” Her smile is so wide, I hate to disappoint her.
“Salami is meat, Mom.”
Her head falls back. “Yes, of course. Okay.” She walks away from me and says to Kamea, “I’ve got crackers and cheese. What about olives? Do you like olives? Tim loves them.”
Without Kamea answering, my mom returns to our small galley kitchen. The buzzer of the oven goes off and she takes the galumpkis out of the fridge and places them into the oven before setting a timer. Mom takes out a jar of black olives and puts them in a bowl, then sets them in front of Kamea.
“Mom, relax.” I put my hand over hers. “You don’t have to entertain us. You didn’t even know we were coming.”
“And whose fault is that?” She pokes me in the chest.
I wrap her up in a hug. “It’s new,” I whisper. “I don’t want to scare her.”
Mom draws back and puts her hands on my cheeks. “You worry too much. Any woman would be lucky to have you. You know your dad sat outside my apartment building for two days, asking me out every time I left. Grandpa wanted Uncle Mark to make him leave. If they like you, they don’t see your love as smothering. You just pick the wrong girls.” She pats my cheek.
I nod because it’s the same thing she’s always told me.
“Go get to know her. I’ve got this.” I push Mom toward the table with Kamea and Rian.
She smiles, and after everyone has a drink in their hands, Mom sits down with the girls. I busy myself in the kitchen, trying to find something Kamea will actually enjoy. Then I have the idea to order Chinese food so my mom can have a night of enjoyment too.
Heading into my old childhood room, I call up and order the Chinese food, but before I can head back into the living room, Kamea walks in.
“This is your childhood bedroom?” she asks.
“I thought you were talking to my mom,” I say, sitting on my bed.
“Someone called.” She sits next to me on my twin bed, her eyes scanning the area. “It’s nice.”
“It’s small,” I say.
She shrugs, eyeing my bookcase. “Trophies from football?”
“Yeah.”
“You okay?” She tilts her head. “You seem tense.”
I drag her onto my lap and she winds her arms around my neck. I kiss her. “I’m great right now.”
“So… Leilani was using?”
I figured she’d ask at some point. I nod. “I found her twice, but I don’t think it was a regular thing.”
“That’s good.” Her head falls to my shoulder and she suddenly looks exhausted.
I kiss her forehead, annoyed and happy that we’re at my parents’. “I ordered you some food. We need to keep your energy up.”
She giggles. “I like your parents. They seem nice.”
“They’re good people.”
“Your mom wants to come to Cliffton Heights and have Rian’s pastries and my coffee. And she wants me to design shirts for her knitting club.”
I laugh.
“And she said I’m to come for Thanksgiving dinner. That you usually volunteer first then have dinner?”
I nod. “You don’t have to come.”
“I want to.”
“Why?”
She sits up a little straighter and looks me in the eye. “They’re important to you, so they’re important to me. I want to have a relationship. Plus I told your mom I’ll teach her how to make a tofu turkey.”
I gape. “Tofu?” My dad would die.
She giggles. “Come on, a little tofu never hurt anyone.”
I toss her onto her back on the bed and crawl on top of her, wishing I could shut that door and have sex with her. She keeps laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“I wish I could’ve kept it a secret until Thanksgiving and placed a tofu turkey in front of you, just to see your face.”