Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
She’s fucking drunk.
“Baby,” Mom says and practically falls into my arms. “Oh, my baby. Don’t worry, honey, I’m home. I’m home now.”
“Uh, Mom, pull yourself together.” I manage to disentangle myself from her and pull back, frowning. “What are you doing?”
“Why, I came to visit, of course. It’s Christmas. Oh.” She blinks rapidly as she looks around and sees so many people staring at her. “You’re having a party. A holiday party. How lovely. I’d like a drink.”
“I think you’ve had enough to drink already.”
“There’s no need to be snide,” she hisses at me, baring her teeth. But then, as quickly as it was there, it’s gone again, and she’s smiling, staggering on her feet. “I’ll just put my things in a bedroom and join the fun.”
“No.”
I’m well aware of the audience we have as my drunk mother rounds on me. “No? What do you mean, no? I came to see you.”
“You can’t stay in my house. Caleb doesn’t even know who you are, and I won’t have him upset at Christmas. You can stay at a hotel, and I’ll fit in a dinner with you this week.”
“You were always ungrateful,” she snarls. “Ungrateful for everything I did for you. All the sacrifices I made.”
“Right. Sure, okay. I hope you didn’t let that Uber go.”
“You listen to me,” she begins, but Lucy hurries over.
“Hello, ma’am. I’m Lucy. Don’t you worry at all because I’ve made a reservation for you at the Four Seasons—a suite, of course—and they’re expecting you. I’ve also made sure that dinner will be waiting for you in your suite when you get there. We want you to be as comfortable as possible, and we appreciate your understanding that this is a private party that London has been planning for weeks. I know you wouldn’t want to disrupt that.”
“Well, of course not. Did you order me some wine?”
“Oh, yes, a bottle of white and one of red, since I wasn’t sure of your preference.”
“I’ll drink both.” Mom winks at Lucy, then glares at me. “At least someone here has the manners to take care of a guest.”
She pushes her scarf over her shoulder theatrically and turns to leave through the door that Lucy has already opened.
My assistant escorts my mom to the Uber, and when she returns, I take a deep breath before turning to find all the Montgomery women watching me. But they’re not staring out of judgmental, critical eyes. They look worried.
“Are you okay, London?” Brynna asks me.
“I’m embarrassed, actually.” I offer her a shaky smile. “My mom and I, well, we don’t—”
“You don’t have to explain,” Meg says, shaking her head. “It’s none of our business, as long as you’re okay. Trust me, I know all about having an asshole for a mom. It sucks.”
What did I do to deserve this amazing family that’s swooped in and accepted me as one of their own? I’m so overwhelmed by the support it brings tears to my eyes.
“She’s gonna blow,” Stella says, making me laugh.
“No, I’m not. I’m just grateful. Now, I think I need a drink.”
“Oh, that’s me,” Stella says, clapping her hands. “Don’t worry, I’ll hook you right up.”
Chapter 19
Drew
“What the fuck, man?” Hudson scowls at Liam, who just smashed the ping-pong ball in his face.
“Seriously?” I ask and point to Caleb. “There’s a kid here. Watch your mouth.”
“It’s okay,” Caleb assures Hudson and takes a swig of his cola. “My mom swears all the time. I’ve heard it before.”
Hudson winks at him and then serves the ball back at Liam.
A bunch of us guys have decided to get together since all the girls are at their holiday girls’ night out. We’ve gathered at Ike and Sophie’s place because he has an awesome man cave with not just ping-pong but also arcade games, a pool table, and a full bar.
“I’m surprised you weren’t called out tonight,” I say to Liam as he misses the ball.
“It’s my few days off,” he says. “I just finished a four-day shift.”
“You were at work for four days?” Caleb demands with big eyes.
“Liam’s a fireman,” I inform him. “He works a lot.”
“But you save people’s lives.” Caleb’s voice is hushed and serious as he stares at Liam as if the man was Captain America himself. “That’s the coolest.”
“I really am the coolest,” Liam agrees as my dad and Uncle Luke cheer at the pinball machine. It seems like a lot of people to pack into this room, but we don’t mind.
Some of the guys are out watching a basketball game in the living room.
We’re kind of spread all over the place.
“Looks like you guys are headed for the playoffs,” Hudson says as Ike walks into the room.
“We have to win Sunday,” Ike reminds him. “Then we’ll be in the playoffs.”
“I’m trying to talk my mom into letting me go,” Caleb says. “She’s weird about it.”