Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“We’ll be right there,” she said into the phone. “Ten minutes.”
She hung up and let out a screech that startled the birds out of the tree behind me.
“My mother is at your house.”
“Shit,” I spat.
We’d had one conversation with Ava since she’d shown up at my door the first time, but it hadn’t amounted to much. She’d fawned over Bird, practically ignored Nova, and snapped at Ash. None of us had told her that Ash was facing charges because we weren’t sure what she’d do with the information and we were trying to get our ducks in a row before she started throwing her weight around.
“We need to go back,” Nova said with a sigh, putting her hands on my cheeks. “It won’t always be like this, right?”
“Sugar,” I replied, my lips twitching as she rolled her eyes at the endearment. “Some day soon, you and me are going to get plastered, have sloppy bendy sex, and then sleep late… naked.”
“That sounds like heaven,” she said, leaning forward to kiss me.
I’d kissed her plenty of times since I’d brought her home from the hospital, but my knees almost buckled as she slid her tongue into my mouth. We hadn’t done that kind of kissing for months.
“You love me?” she asked, leaning her forehead against mine.
“Jesus, No,” I said, giving her another peck on the lips. “Keep up.”
“You’re such an ass.”
“I’m your ass.”
“I’m so lucky!” she called sarcastically as I shut her door.
“I’m the lucky one,” I told her as I got into the driver’s seat. I reached out and grabbed her hand as I got us back on the main road.
“Do you really think it’ll work?” she asked quietly, rolling up her window. The relaxing drive was over, now we were just getting from point A to point B.
“Yeah. I think there’s a good chance we can keep Bird with us.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Us. Do you think we’ll work?”
“Baby, we’ve been together for years and both of us were too blind to see it.” I glanced at her. “Yeah, I think we’ll work.”
“You’re ready to give up all that strange?”
I coughed in surprise and glared at her. “I don’t even want to fuck anyone else.”
“Me either.”
“Good,” I replied.
“Hey Rum,” she said as we turned onto my street. “I think Pop would be stoked if he knew we were together.”
“I don’t know about that. He knew you were way too good for me.”
“And he’d be really angry that Ava was trying to insinuate herself back into our lives.”
“Yeah, he would.”
“I miss him.”
“Me too, sugar.”
Her grip on my hand got tight when we saw Ava and Ash on my front porch.
“If the bullet hadn’t killed him,” Nova said, her eyes on her mother and grandmother. “Seeing the aftermath would’ve.”
The moment I put the truck in park, Ava was stomping toward us.
“Stay in here,” I ordered. “I’ll come get you.”
Nova nodded.
“She’s obviously feeling better,” Ava said to me as I walked around to Nova’s door.
“Better every day,” I replied. I didn’t want to talk to her. If we hadn’t needed her to sign papers giving Nova guardianship of Bird, I would’ve told her off the last time she’d shown up at my house. The woman had no shame and absolutely zero ability to read a room.
“What are you doing here?” Nova said as I helped her out of the truck. “Again.”
“I want to take Firebird for lunch,” Ava replied, throwing her hands up like she didn’t understand why it was such a big deal.
“No way in hell.” Nova’s face was emotionless.
“Oh, geez, Nova,” her mother muttered. “What do you think I’m going to do? Hurt him?”
“I think you have a track record of disappearing off the face of the earth for long periods of time,” Nova replied in disgust. “You’re not taking my brother anywhere.”
“At what point do you think you became Firebird’s mother?” Ava snapped impatiently. “Because I vividly remember giving birth to him.”
“Get out of my face, Ava,” Nova said, brushing by her. “You’re not taking Bird.”
“You’re not his mother. I’m his mother.”
I was only feet away, following Nova toward the house, but I didn’t have time to stop her before she rounded on Ava, furious.
“You’re nothing,” Nova hissed. “I’m more of a mother to Bird than you have ever been, even when we lived with you! I changed his diapers. I fed him. I played with him and comforted him and loved on him. I put him down for naps and read him stories before bed. Me.” She jerked her thumb toward her chest. “And when we moved in with Nana, she took over those duties.”
“Firebird is my son—”
“He likes to be called Bird, you lunatic!”
“Okay,” I said, throwing my arm around Nova’s shoulders. She was so livid that I knew at any second she was going to start crying and she’d never forgive herself if she did. She’d hate showing Ava any emotion. “Let’s go inside, huh?”