Mandy pushed from me, her mouth dropping open.
Nothing we had done prepared her for this vulgarity. Hell, I had to find special places on the internet to see this sort of shit.
A couple occupied the space, rutting with a series of animalistic grunts. Their noises, motions, and slamming thrusts slapped their sweaty flesh in a sticky cadence.
A black, middle-aged woman rode a helpless man, cracking her hips over his in an aggressive reverse cowgirl that slammed her girth down so hard it hurt my balls.
She slapped his dark thigh and growled from deep in her throat.
"That's right … give it to Momma!"
Oh.
Sweet.
Jesus.
I froze, unable to grab Mandy or hide her eyes. Her choked cry echoed through the entirety of the country club.
"Mom?"
13
Mandy
"Mandy, I have needs!"
Oh, God, she followed me into the main hall of the country club.
Why would she follow me?
I covered my eyes, stumbling anywhere I could hide from what I just witnessed.
I had my pick of traumas-emotional, mental, social, existential …
Pretty sure I lost my faith too, somewhere around the time Mom thanked Jesus for the man's personal endowments.
I crashed into the fountain, stumbled, and would have tumbled into the water if Nate hadn't caught me. I wish he let me fall into the water, then I might have washed that discovery off of me, but I probably needed acetone or another industrial solvent for that. Holy water. A priest.
An exorcist.
Lindsey was not at all amused. She stomped her feet and squealed.
"What in the world is going on?"
"No words," I whispered.
I blinked, forcing the Lovecraftian image out of my head. That horror remained in my sight, like I'd stared straight into the sun. Oh, to be one of the lucky bastards who had the foresight to sear out their retinas.
Mom stormed into the ballroom. Thankfully she had put on clothes, but I think she left her bra somewhere in the bathroom.
Her words repeated in my mind.
Give it to Momma.
Her steps stopped before me. When we were little, Mom insisted Lindsey and I look at her when we were being punished. Not today. Never again.
I was certain she didn't have time to wash the fingers she pointed at me.
"Don't you dare lecture me!" Mom scowled. "What you saw was an adult thing."
I didn't know what I saw. I didn't want to remember what I saw.
I had just caught my mother sneaking into a public restroom to have sex with a stranger …
Because I was about to do it too!
Although Nate wasn't a stranger.
… And neither was the man who ran after her.
Nate had stayed quiet until now, but he swore in shock once he recognized Mom's chosen partner.
"Holy shit."
Marcus Washington jogged after Mom. He said nothing, but rejoined his equally perplexed wife.
Oh my God.
Mom was having an affair with the groom's dad?
Mom crossed her arms. That helped to reduce the wiggle of her unsecured chest, but it couldn't undo the damage. All I envisioned was the absolute earthquakes that were her mamma-jammas lopping this way and that as she pile-drived her chosen conquest.
"What the hell is going on?" Lindsey demanded. "Stop embarrassing me!"
"It's perfectly natural, Mandy!" Mom wasn't letting this go. "I will not have you shaming me."
"I … I didn't shame," I said. God, she was angry. Then again, I would be too if I had been interrupted before I … ugh. "I will never, ever talk about it again, Mom."
Lindsey groaned. "What happened?"
Mom's voice rose. "I had hoped you were mature enough to understand that sometimes a woman needs to be pleasured."
Lindsey's mouth dropped open. Nate shuddered.
The entire country club staff and its guests stopped to stare.
Hiding in a hole wouldn't do it. I planned to rent some machinery and dig a pit large enough to bury my entire family from regular society.
"I'm sorry, Mom," I said. "Let's just drop it."
"We are all sexual beings! There is nothing wrong with two consenting adults exploring their desires."
Nate nudged me. "That's what I've been telling you."
I gritted my teeth. "So not the time!"
"I mean … if you have questions … " Mom shook her head. "Lord knows you haven't found a man yet. I never needed to worry about this conversation with you."
Done. That was it. I was done.
"It's fine, Mom." I stepped back. "Look, you guys have the venue stuff handled. I'm going to … go. And I might be back for the wedding."
I bolted for the exit as my sister lost her mind.
Nate followed, and I was too shocked to shoo him. He led me to his car and helped me into the passenger seat. We sat in silence as we contemplated ways to purge the memory from our minds.
"So … " He started the car, but he didn't drive. "That was your mom … "
"Who was the man she was … ?"
Riding?
Gag.
"Gotta tell you, baby, I don't make a habit of recognizing men based on their … meat, mid-grind."
"I think it was Bryce's dad." I bit my lip. "Marcus ran into the hall after her."
Nate laughed. "Great. This is a special kind of fucked up."
"Take me home?"
He agreed, though just as the heebies shook out of me, the jeebies smacked me full force. I recognized the SUV in the corner of the parking lot.
"Oh no." My stomach dropped. "Dad's here? He's gonna walk into the middle of all of this. What if he finds out that Mom is … "
Nate shrugged. "Doing what? They're separated. Didn't they sign the divorce papers?"
"It's not final."
"Well, your mom was one good bounce away from drying the ink on her signature."
I gasped. "How can you say that?"
"Baby, they're adults. They can do what they want."
I guessed that included hurting each other and destroying thirty years of a life together.
But Mom had sex with the groom's father!
This wasn't just going to tear the family apart; it'd ruin the Washingtons and decimate the entire neighborhood. Our families were friends. We grew up together, helped each other, married each other.
Was no one happy anymore?
Hell, Lindsey and Bryce were fighting more and more, especially once he learned about the first "Dirty Dance" he'd have with his bride. Mom and Dad couldn't be in the same room together. Now Marcus and Darla had infidelity problems.
Damn. The only person who had it right was Nate. He kept out of relationships and commitments, and he was happier for it.
Maybe he knew best.
I didn't want to think why it comforted me that he drove me home and walked me to my door, but Nate knew how to make me smile. Laugh.
Melt.
I let him inside my apartment, and it wasn't even against my better judgment. I just …
Wanted him there.
He had been to my apartment before … the first time we fooled around. Sure, it wasn't his classy bar or his beautifully renovated apartment on its second floor, but I liked my place. It was tiny, but it got me away from home during college and kept me away once I graduated. Dad's advertising company did well, but I didn't have enough saved for a better place.
Besides, I had planned to find a home once I met the man of my dreams. We'd save for a house, have a small wedding, and then start a family.
Happily ever after, right?
My life was just a little out-of-order.
"You okay?" Nate asked.
He eyed the bed in the corner-miraculously made this morning without laundry stacked over the comforter.
"I can run to the bar, get us a six pack if you want to drink it away."
The closer we got to the wedding, the harder it was to refuse a drink. Apparently, the only way people survived the last few weeks of planning was to write the toasts while toasted.
"I'll survive." I plunked onto the couch. "I just didn't expect to walk in on that."
"Front row show too."
I gave an awkward laugh. "At least it wasn't a role reversal. Had we been in there a couple minutes earlier-"
"I don't know what you saw, but from my angle it looked like they had been going for a while."
"Oh gross!" I smacked him with a throw pillow. Nate grinned, seizing it from me to retaliate. I ducked away. "Haven't I suffered enough?"
He shrugged. "The ladies' room was occupied. Nothing stopped us from using the men's."
"Do I look that depraved?"
"Like mother, like daughter."
I huffed, grabbing the rest of the pillows on the couch to pitch at his head. Nate laughed, blocking the shots. He smiled, and that damn grin fluttered me into quiet confusion. It was sexy enough to make sneaking into bathrooms in public places seem … fun.
Something about Nate made me wild, but even at his most wicked, he seemed so gentle and passionate and so easy to …
I sucked in a breath.
Well, that was a trap I set for myself, and I nearly fell in head first.
If I wasn't careful, I'd keep tumbling around Nate, perpetually off-balance and trembling and aching to touch him.