Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“I don’t got nothing,” Sutton said, mouth clearly full of food he was trying to hide.
She held up the spatula she was using for the potatoes. “Don’t know what I’m gonna do with the two of you. Wash your hands and sit down.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we both said.
Sutton playfully tried to nudge me out of the way of the sink, and we started wrestling a bit, trying to get there first. We were both big-ass kids most of the time, and I loved it. I had fun with him.
When my dad cleared his throat, I straightened up and said, “You go first, ya big baby,” trying not to act like anything was up but putting an end to our games.
Sutton washed his hands, and I did too. We weren’t at the table five minutes before Mama said, “Oh, guess who I ran into at the grocery store yesterday? Lacey Prichard.” Mama grinned. “She asked about you.”
“You ain’t seein’ her no more?” Dad asked, shoveling eggs into his mouth.
“Nope. I told you it was just a one-time thing, that we weren’t dating.” I forced myself not to look at Sutton, knowing he’d be all sorts of tense beside me.
“That’s not the way a man acts. That’s not fair to her. It’s not appropriate to be sleeping around like that at your age,” Dad said.
“I sure as shit didn’t force her. She knew it was just a good time.”
“Jasper!” Mama gasped.
“Well, if we didn’t have this conversation all the time, I wouldn’t say stuff like that,” I snapped, unable to hide my irritation.
“If you’d grow up, we wouldn’t have to have this conversation,” Dad countered.
“I built my own house from the ground up and got my own business. If that ain’t grown up, I don’t know what is.”
“I’m not one to push, but if you…went out with her, you must like her,” Mama added.
My hand was shaking, but I couldn’t stop myself from putting it on Sutton’s thigh, under the table. I just needed to touch him, to ground myself to him and so he knew it was him I wanted.
“Can we just eat breakfast in peace? How’s Aunt Carrie? The two of you still goin’ to that knitting thing?” Since Aunt Carrie had gotten home from rehab, they’d been spending more time together. Mama was a strong personality. I knew that, knew that she sometimes put pressure on my aunt, but things seemed better now that she was sober.
The table was quiet for a second, but then Mama gave me my way, let me change the subject. She talked about her plans that day and how the gutters on the back of the house were worse than on the front.
“More trees back there,” Sutton said. “All the leaves and stuff fall in. We’ll start there.”
After breakfast we got the ladders and cleaned out my parents’ gutters. Sutton worked real hard, the way he always did, despite the fact that if they knew who he was to me, they wouldn’t want him around, and he’d lose the only mama he had left.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sutton
“Been a little more scarce lately,” Uncle Brian said as we sat outside on his porch while he smoked a cigarette. Rain splattered the ground, the two of us protected beneath the wooden roof.
“Jasp and I have just been real busy. Despite the weather right now, it’s been a light year for rain, so we’re not losing as many workdays so far. We’re probably gonna start gettin’ rid of the carpet at home and putting in hardwood floors. He’s been talkin’ about it since last summer, but we haven’t done it yet.” Still, I needed to make time for Uncle Brian. He and I got a lot closer over the six months I tried to pretend I wasn’t in love with Jasp. It wasn’t fair to ditch him now. “You could come help one day if you want. Or just come over for dinner or somethin’. We been tryin’ to find new recipes to make a few days a week. Tryin’ not to rely on his folks so much. We ain’t bad cooks, though I’m better than him. Just don’t tell him that.” I chuckled.
Uncle Brian’s gaze was real curious on me, questions in his eyes, and that’s what made me realize I was talking about Jasper like we were a couple, which we were, but he didn’t know that. On the other hand, I wasn’t so sure it was any different from how I’d always talked about Jasper. How the hell did it take us so long to figure this out?
Society, most likely. Stigmas. Judgment. Bigotry.
Uncle Brian took another drag, then let the smoke out of his lungs. It seemed like he was smoking more lately. “He’s good for ya. It’s nice you’ve both had each other all these years. I know I wasn’t always the best or most attentive uncle. I ain’t good at that, but…it was okay? Growin’ up here?”