Perfect Together by Kristen Ashley

Something edged into her eyes that looked like sanity returning, but even so, she mumbled weakly, “He knew I loved him, and he used me anyway.”

“You know what? If this is the shit you’ve been laying on him, if it was me, your stuff would be in the fucking pool.”

She flinched—he was too pissed to care, which pissed him off even more, because he’d just learned he didn’t like being a dick to girls since, until that moment, he’d avoided it—before she said in a super-hurt voice, “Fuck you, Sabre.”

“Thanks, no,” he replied.

She shot him a new look. One he didn’t get, and he didn’t try.

She then turned and walked away.

Sabre took a second to get his shit together before he jogged the eight blocks to his apartment.

He packed some stuff and had just enough time to hork back some trail mix and refill his water bottle before he had to throw his bag in his truck and drive to Manon’s house to get her when she told him she’d be ready.

But when he went up and knocked on the door, he waited outside too long.

And when she answered, because Manon was his mom in all but looks and age, she said, “I’m running late. Hang tight. I’ll be ready in a jiffy.”

He walked in and was glad her roommates weren’t there because he’d fucked one of them, and he wanted to fuck the other, and that was a hassle he didn’t need right now.

It was also another lesson.

It seemed the signs were telling him he needed to quit playing and get his head out of his ass because he could end up with some Fatal Attraction bitch like Myrna if he didn’t.

Shit.

He hoped this whole drama his mom and dad had going on that was just them telling their kids what their kids already knew—they were finally going to sort themselves out—didn’t mean his mom was going to spend the night at his dad’s house.

Yeah, sure, he wanted Mom back with Dad in all ways that could be for them both.

But Sah needed time alone with Remy so he could break it to him that Myrna had about fifteen screws loose.

He wasn’t in the frame of mind for Manon’s being-late bullshit, and he got pissed at Myrna again because she’d put him off his game.

Normally, if she chose the time, he’d show at least ten minutes late to pick her up, or if he was choosing it, he’d tell her fifteen minutes earlier.

This was something in high school Sah caught his dad doing when he was on the phone with Noel sorting something out with his mom.

“What’s with the game playing? Why isn’t she just ready on time?” Sah asked Remy when he got off the phone with Noel. “It’s rude to be late. Mom’s not rude in, like…anything. It’s weird she’s always late.”

“Mark this, son,” his dad had started his reply in a voice that Sabre always took notice of and paid extra attention to. “You’ll find a woman and there will be things about her that don’t mean anything. You’ll think they do, but they don’t. Don’t blow them up and make them mean anything. Do not…ever…let her walk all over you. Much more importantly, do not…ever…walk all over her. But when something doesn’t really mean anything, find a way to deal with it, and then let it go.”

Having that memory, he should have realized shit was weird with his parents, because it seemed all of a sudden his dad started to get ticked about his mom being late.

Also having that memory, like he’d ever in a million years believe Remy would tell Myrna to have an abortion, and when she didn’t, he threw her crap in the pool.

Jesus.

It might have been clear to just about anybody (except, obviously, Myrna) his dad and Myrna were not a love match and there wasn’t a future for them. But his father had always been nice to her. Affectionate. Attentive. Only when she’d get weird about Manon would Remy cool off.

He just wasn’t that guy.

Manon came out and the first thing he did was ask, “Got your phone charger?”

“Crap!” she cried then ran back to her room.

Not like there weren’t a million of them at his mom’s and dad’s houses, but the way Manon used her phone, she’d probably run out of juice in his truck. And since Manon kept stealing his chargers, he didn’t keep one in his truck anymore, so she’d be S.O.L.

He took her water bottle himself and filled it because she’d forget that too, and then they’d be stopping to grab her some water, which would be annoying.

When they left, he took her bag and threw it in his truck himself.

And when they were both in, she teased, “You are so Dad.”

He knew she meant that he carried her bag.

“And?” he asked.

“Chivalry isn’t dead,” was all she said.

He didn’t reply.

They were on the road awhile before he realized he wasn’t hiding how creeped out he was because she asked, “You okay?”

“Fine.”

“You have a weird vibe.”

“I’m fine.”

“Is it about Mom and Dad getting back together?”

“I’m beside myself with glee they’re getting back together,” he tried to joke. “So, again, I’m fine.”

“Whatever, weirdo.”

Her saying that meant she wasn’t buying his shit, but she was giving him space, which was good because he wasn’t dragging her into this mess, and he needed his space right about now.