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Downstairs, I found Mom in the kitchen Papers were spread out in front of her, some loose and others stapled Her blond hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and she had reading glasses on, perched at the end of her nose
“Whatcha doing?” I asked as I stopped in front of the chair beside her
“Looking over the new underwriting laws” Moway possible What about you? You’re not working this weekend, right?”
“Nope” I s about going to a barbecue with Sebastian”
“That sounds fun” Mom rested her chin in her palm as she stared up at me “Kind of sounds like a date”
“Mom,” I warned
“What?” She widened her eyes “I would a hundred percent support that—”
“Oh lanced toward the stairs, praying that Sebastian would decide to make himself known “It’s not like that You know that”
“A ood boy, Lena”
“Abbi and Megan will probably be there So will other people” I pushed away from the chair “Sorry to ruin your dream”
“Da little baby booties for your and Sebastian’s first child”
“Oh aped at her, horrified but not surprised My ht sometimes “You’re ridiculous and I’m surrounded by ridiculous people”
“Why be surrounded by anyone else?” She grinned as she fixed her gaze on the mass of papers in front of her, and I shook my head “When do you think you’ll be home?”
“Not before dinner Maybe this evening?”
“Sounds good to ht” That was Mos, even when it was ito say so she knew I didn’t want to hear
I knew it had to be about Dad
I tensed
“You need to start answering your phone, Lena This has been going on too long”
Folding h h”
“Lena,” she warned “You are beautiful, loyal to a fault, but what happened between your—”
“Mom, I promise I’ll answer the phone Okay?” I so did not want to have this conversation right now “But I have to get going Sebastian is waiting for me”
She looked like she wanted to say more but tipped her head back “Okay Have fun, but be careful”
Bending over, I kissed her forehead “Always”
“All I’ is that it’s a double standard” My feet were on the warm dashboard of Sebastian’s Jeep The air conditioner was cranked on high, but it was barely beating the heat out of the interior “You can drive around shirtless, but if a girl drove around wearing a bikini top and no shirt, people would lose their ever-loving mind”
“And all I’ is that I would a hundred percent support the idea of girls driving around in bikinis,” he replied, one hand resting on the steering wheel, the other thrown over the back ofthe sun, and he was still shirtless in his swim trunks and Nike sandals
Behind lasses, my eyes rolled “Of course”
“Look, guys don’t care about that kind of stuff We would not be against equal-opportunity nudity Ever” He slowed as we neared the exit off the interstate “That’s girls hating on girls”