“Are you coming in?” Ryan asked when Smokey pulled into the driveway.
“I’ll pass. Remember to call Cara. I’ll touch base with you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Ryan leaned forward and placed his hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “I really enjoyed tonight.”
She pivoted in her seat. “I did too,” she said, looking back at Smokey. “We’ll do it again, for sure.”
Nodding, Smokey narrowed his eyes when he saw his mother step out onto the porch.
“We gotta get going,” he told Ryan.
“Right.” Opening the back door, he paused. “There’s Mom.”
“Aren’t you going to say something to your mother?” Ashley whispered.
The muscles in his jaw tightened. “No.”
“She’s coming over,” Ryan warned as he stepped out of the SUV.
Mumbling under his breath, “Fuck,” he got out of the car. Raising his chin to his mother, he said, “Hey.”
She averted her gaze to Ashley when she sprinted toward her.
“Hi,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m Ashley.”
“Tonya,” she replied, ignoring Ashley’s proffered hand.
Ashley dropped her arm to her side. “It’s nice to meet you.”
A disgusted look crossed his mother’s face before she turned away. Looking over at Smokey, Ashley smiled weakly before sliding back into the car.
Anger blazed inside of him at the way Tonya treated his woman. He slammed the door shut and leaned against it.
“You got somethin’ you wanna say to me?”
Tonya sneered at him. “We need money.”
“For what? I just sent over a shitload of groceries, and I pay all the fuckin’ bills.”
His mother frowned. “I need it for personal things, and I’m not about to go into that with you.”
“What are you doing with the old man’s pension? Last I heard, you’re getting almost a grand a month.”
She pointed a slender finger at him, her dark eyes flashing. “Don’t you dare disrespect your father! You’d be a better person if you were only one percent the man he was.”
“Keep building up the old bastard if it makes you feel better.”
“Mom, Smokey—”
Turning toward Ryan, their mother glared. “Shut up! Go inside.”
“Stay here,” Smokey told his brother.
“It’s okay, really. I need to call Cara.” With slumped shoulders, he walked up the porch steps and into the house.
“Why the fuck can’t you treat Ryan with respect?”
“This coming from you? You didn’t even show up for your father’s funeral.”
“This again? I’m outta here.” Smokey opened the car door.
“What about the money?” she yelled.
“Not this time. I’m all tapped out.”
Jumping into the idling vehicle, he slammed the door shut, jammed the gear into reverse, and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The car leapt backward. The tires marked the asphalt in solid black lines, squealing as the SUV turned sharply out of the driveway. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ashley gripping the safety handle on the door. Taking a deep breath, Smokey pushed it out slowly, willing his body to calm the fuck down.
Easing up on the gas pedal, he reached over and grabbed Ashley’s free hand, squeezing it lightly. He was pissed as hell that he let his mother get to him, especially in front of his woman.
“Sorry about all that.”
Letting go of the safety handle, she shifted in her seat, then stroked the back of his neck lightly with her fingers.
“You’re so tense,” she said, massaging his muscles.
“That feels good,” he murmured. “My mom sets me off sometimes.”
“I get it. My dad has that effect on me a lot of the time.”
“I wouldn’t even go over if it wasn’t for Ryan.”
“Your brother’s a great guy, and pretty funny. He really looks up to you.”
“He’s a good kid. I try to help him out as much as I can. He and Keston—my youngest brother—were still at home with the old man when he croaked. They both had it pretty rough.”
“He’s lucky to have you.”
“Like I said, he’s a good kid.”
“Your mom’s still mourning the loss of your dad.”
He snorted. “She carries his death on her sleeve. To hear her talk about him, he was a damn saint. What a load of bullshit. She never once said a fuckin’ word when the old bastard was beating the shit out of us. I could take care of myself, and I never let him see what I was feeling, but Ryan and Keston … Fuck, they didn’t deserve the shit he meted out. She never said a word or tried to stop him. And she wonders why I didn’t go to his damn funeral.” He looked over at Ashley. “I didn’t go ’cause I’m not a hypocrite. I was glad he kicked the bucket. It