Never Say Never - Bijou Hunter Page 0,49
as I pull out my phone.
“Fine. It’s tricky, but you have so many people who will pamper you afterward.”
Grinning, I slide the phone in my back pocket and hug Mom. “Raven’s been tamed. What a fabulous new look on her.”
The blonde shoots me a death glare.
“Where’s Ramona?” Dad asks, refusing to get drawn into the lady angst building around him.
“Taking a nap while the boys do,” I explain. “She was sad about Shane leaving.”
“She loves him so much,” Mom coos, smiling big before suddenly losing her happy expression.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her.
“Not here,” she whispers.
Mom, Dad, and I ditch the crowd in the kitchen and head to the backyard where the dogs goof around in the yard. Zathura sits on the porch, looking overheated in the spiffy little vest I bought him.
“Look at that sad motherfucker,” Dad mutters about the dog while Mom grabs me for a hug.
“What’s wrong?” I ask again, consoling her.
“I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy. That’s what all my smiling is about.”
“You were crying earlier,” Dad corrects just to be a smart-ass.
“I’m hormonal from the baby.”
“What’s with this giant?” Dad asks, crossing his arms and giving me his Reapers frown. “Is he your man now? How come I never knew you were together? Are you moving in with him?”
“We’re just friends who screwed once.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Dad growls. “Does he think he’s too good for you?”
“Hey, why do you assume he’s the one keeping this relationship fuck-oriented? Can’t I be the horny slut?”
“No,” he says, and Mom gives me a sympathetic headshake.
“Well, I’m okay with him not wanting a commitment. I mean, everyone here has been hooking up and getting hitched and doing the nuclear family drill. I’ll be the one to blaze a new path by being a single mom.”
“Isn’t that what Maude is doing?” Dad says, just whizzing all over my triumphant bullshit.
“Yes, but her thing isn’t a choice. She got knocked up by an out-of-town stranger.”
“Poor thing,” Mom whispers, now looking more sympathetic to the blonde inside than her own full-of-shit daughter.
“Don’t leave me,” I say, grabbing her hand. “I need you to only pay attention to me. I’m very needy. I normally share you with Shane, and you know how much I hate that.”
“You love your brother so much.”
I lose my steely gaze and smile widely. “He’s such a darling baby boy, and his sons are little versions of him. He’s the best.”
Accustomed to Mom and me doting over Shane, Dad keeps the conversation moving by announcing, “I want you to find someone else.”
“Well, obviously,” I say, wrapping my mom in my arms and swaying with her while I smile at my grumpy father. “I can’t live alone forever with my bastard baby. I’ll need a man to fix things around the house and check scary noises in the basement.”
“Can’t your brother do that?”
I gasp dramatically. “Dad, what if a monster is in the basement? Do you really want Shane to be the one to be eaten? Fuck that. We’ll send my second-choice husband to deal with that shit. Baby bruv must grow old with his hot little wife and adorable sons.”
“She has a point,” Mom tells Dad.
My father desperately wants to remain upset over Goliath and my surprise pregnancy. I’m his little girl, no matter how old and annoying I get. That’s why he’s a good dad.
“I love you too,” he says when I dive for him. “I still think this guy is a loser.”
“He has issues. Shitty mom, absent father, no siblings to dote on, screwed over by his former club, bad ex-girlfriends, always hitting his head on things. The man has suffered like few before him.”
“Bullshit.”
“Don’t be jealous that he has more to whine about than you do,” I tease, winking at my handsome father. “I know your parents were wet farts, and you used to have a mohawk, which would have been hilarious and caused others to mock you. The point is you overcame all your suffering to win the heart of the best woman.”
Dad’s frown darkens. “You’re laying it on a bit too thick.”
“How dare you imply Mom isn’t the best!
“I’m talking to Goliath when he returns to Shasta.”
“About what?” I ask innocently while Mom fights a grin. She’s so proud of me for standing up to my father. I swear she just can’t feel disappointment in her kids. That’s why she’s the best.
“Shelby,” he grumbles.
“Dad, he’ll just say ‘yomp’ and ‘nomp’ and frown a lot. He’s not much of