Smash_ A Stepbrother MMA Romance(86)
He took off his hat and jacket. “Feels like you haven’t been here in ages.”
“Only a year.”
“What’s for dinner?” he asked Cora, kissing her cheek.
“Chicken and baked potatoes,” she said.
“Sounds great.”
He sat down at the kitchen table and I joined him. “How was work?”
“Long and hard. The usual.”
“Cora told me about the layoffs.”
He scoffed. “It’s the same all over the country. We’ve survived this long, and we’ll keep on surviving.”
I smiled. “That’s good to hear. Build anything fun lately?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, I have.” He proceeded to explain a machine that helped dry out shoes by spinning around at high speeds. “It doesn’t really work,” he said finally, grinning.
“You’ll have to show me.”
“No,” Cora said sternly. “That thing is going to murder someone someday.”
He waved her off. “She’s a little nervous because I broke a window last week.”
“Dad!” I said, laughing.
He shrugged. “Got out of control a little bit. No big deal.”
“No big deal?” Cora said. “You flung a work boot at thirty miles an hour!”
I nearly doubled over with laughter, imagining my dad frantically trying to stop an out-of-control shoe rack.
“She’s exaggerating,” he mumbled.
We talked like that for another half hour until dinner was ready. Dad disappeared to get changed while I set the table. Reid was supposed to be back, but he was nowhere in sight and hadn’t bothered to take his cell phone with him.
“That kid,” Cora said, shaking her head. “One day he’ll get lost out there.”
As soon as Dad got back and we sat down to eat without Reid, the door opened.
“Sorry I’m late,” he called out.
“Your mother cooked all this. You can at least be on time,” Dad said to him sternly as he walked into the room.
Reid grinned at him. “Sorry, Jack. I didn’t realize you were gracing us with your presence.”
“Don’t be a smartass.”
He sat down at the table next to me. “Smells great, Mom.”
“Thanks. Dig in everyone.”
We tucked into the food in silence for a minute, savoring Cora’s cooking. It felt weird having a family dinner. Back when she was sick, during the few times I could visit, we never sat down to eat together, mainly because her appetite was so bad.
“Find your way back okay earlier?” Reid asked me.
“Yeah, no thanks to you. Where’d you go?”
“Just some stuff to take care of.”
“I hope that stuff wasn’t risking your life on a wet cliff face,” Cora said.
He grinned. “Climbing isn’t risking my life. It’s like walking up a hill for me.”
“Do people still call you ‘Climber’?” I asked him.
“Some do around here, yeah.”
“He’s being modest,” Cora cut in. “Everyone still calls him that.”
“I’d rather they called him something else. Maybe like ‘gainfully employed,’” Dad grumbled.
Reid ignored him. “Some habits die hard, I guess.”
“Habits? Don’t you hold like ten regional records?” I asked.
He nodded. “Twelve actually.”
“Oh, sorry. I forgot you were a big shot.”
“Feeling intimidated?”
“Only a little bit.”
“Don’t worry, college girl. You’re not so bad yourself.”
We finished up the meal quickly after that comment. My dad announced that he was tired, although he took the time to finish an entire chicken on his own. After the dishes, I found myself sitting out on the back porch, listening to the rain fall on the roof.
After a minute, Reid walked out. “Nice out here,” he said.
“Yeah. I missed this porch.”
He sat down on a chair across from me and sipped a beer.
“You look good,” he said.
“Uh, thanks.”
“College agrees with you.”
I ignored that. “Where did you go earlier, for real?”
“For real. I didn’t go anywhere special.”
“Really, not going to tell me?”
“Really. But I’d love to talk about anything else. Like maybe how you keep staring at me.”
I quickly looked away, realizing he was right. I couldn’t tear my eyes from him. The way his shirt clung to his body was undeniably sexy, and I kept imagining how it felt when he had kissed me.
It was always like that when I was around him. No matter how hard I tried, I always ended up wanting to tear his clothes off. Or maybe I wanted him to pin me up against the couch and have his way with me.