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Booth straightened and rubbed his back. “Your mom is tougher than Coach. She woke us up bright and early to start this.”
I laughed out loud and shook my head. “Stop! She’s just messing with you. She buys our pecan pie from a bakery in town. Even if she did make it from scratch, you wouldn’t need to go through all these pecans. Where did you even get so many pecans?”
Vaughn slowly stood up and blew out a slow breath. “Are you shitting me?”
Mom circled the island, patting their butts with a cookie sheet and shooing them away. “Think about this next time you consider making a choice that could make my daughter cry. This is nothing. The punishments I can come up with would make the CIA wet.”
I groaned. “Mom. Jeez.”
Paul strolled in from outside with a grocery bag in hand. He kissed the top of my head and then strolled over to Mom and did the same to her. “Hey. I missed you while I was out.”
Mom giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You were barely gone, sweet cheeks. I missed you, too, though.”
Vaughn’s gaze crashed into mine and we both turned to our parents, horrified looks firmly in place. “Dad. What the hell?”
“You can’t do this! Vaughn and I were together first this time so you have to cut this out. I can’t actually sleep with my stepbrother. Dear god, no.” I shook my head hard enough for it to knock my ponytail loose. “You two need to stop it. Put some distance between you and remember why you got divorced in the first place.”
Mom and Paul stared at me for a few seconds and then they both laughed like I’d said the funniest thing ever. Paul took a few steps away from Mom, thank goodness, and both of them wiped their eyes as tears of laughter leaked out.
Vaughn looked at me and frowned. “We’ll just disown them.”
“I’m not ready for this yet. I’m going to go shower and get ready for the day and when I come back, this won’t be weird anymore.” I started to leave and then stopped. I moved to each of the guys and kissed them on the cheek before going back to my bedroom.
The next time I entered the kitchen I was better prepared for my mom’s antics. Dressed in my favorite sweater and leggings, I felt cozy and the appreciative looks on the guys’ faces made me feel cute, too.
They were sitting on the couch, half of their attention on the TV, where a football game was on, and the other half on me. I felt a wave of awareness and need coursing through my body. I wanted to be alone with them desperately.
“Do the potatoes, baby.” Mom handed me the potato ricer and nodded to the stove. “Cooking wasn’t half as bad with Paul’s help. I forgot how good he is in the kitchen.”
I expected an innuendo so I waited but when she didn’t make a joke, I couldn’t help staring at her. “Are the two of you really-”
“God, no.” She grinned. “It was fun to mess with you kids, though. The boys have been shitting themselves all morning. Vaughn’s eyes nearly popped out of his head every time Paul touched me.”
I shivered. “Not a funny joke.”
“You know I don’t take men back. Paul’s great, but he seems happy with his new girlfriend.” Mom shot a look over her shoulder at me. “Plus… I’ve been out on a few dates with Charlie Mallard. He’s nice.”
I barely caught the ricer after I dropped it in shock. “Nice? You just called a man nice? Holy crap. You like a guy.”
“Yeah. He’s coming over later tonight to have a late Thanksgiving dinner with me.” Her smile was softer than I’d seen it in years.
“I get to meet him already? Wow. It took you over a year to introduce Paul to me.”
Paul slipped into the kitchen and ruffled my hair. “That’s because your mom was afraid I was too good to be true. These looks? A good job? Funny and charming, too? How could she not be afraid I wasn’t real?”
Mom snorted. “And I was right. Turns out you farted and didn’t clean just like the rest of them.”
“Ignoring your mother’s nasty comments regarding my hygiene… You actually won’t be meeting your mom’s new boyfriend tonight.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Why not? Are you guys going to lock me in my room again? I’ll agree if you let the guys come in with me.”
Paul grinned. “I was supposed to be spending my holiday with my girlfriend in a remote cabin at the top of a mountain. Since those plans were hijacked by young love, I’m just going to meet her at her place. Since you kids need some time to talk without your parents listening in, I thought it would be nice for you to take the cabin.”
I forgot all about the potatoes. “You’re letting us go to a cabin? Today?”
“Yep. Your mom and I have ulterior motives, of course, but just consider us the best parents ever. We’re supportive of your untraditional relationship and we’re progressive enough to not even have nightmares about what might happen at the cabin.” He made a face and cleared his throat. “You’ll have to drop me off at the airport first, but then you’ll be free from us.”
