Pit Stop by Joanne Ganci
Mia
“Ithink mommy’s lost her mind, bubba,” I say as I dry Alex off.
He eyes me suspiciously. “Where’d it go?”
“I didn’t actually lose it.” I laugh at how literal he can be and toss the towel on top of his head to make him giggle. “That just means I’m being silly,” I explain.
He wrestles his way out of the towel and wraps it around me with a bear hug.“Do it again!” he squeals, straightening up.
I cover him up one more time while I grab his clothes. When he goes on the attack, I snatch up the towel. “Okay, time to get clothes on your naked butt.”
“Mommy, all of me is naked. Not just my butt!”
Shaking my head, I squeeze his cheeks. “Then let’s get clothes on all of you, hm?”
We make our way through the routine of getting dressed and brushing his teeth as he keeps talking a mile a minute about his favorite Paw Patrol characters and Hot Wheels cars. He has so much dang energy. From the moment he wakes up until his head hits the pillow, it’s non-stop cars, trucks, and Paw Patrol.
Man, to be a kid again.
He literally went streaking through a house full of people, and it didn’t phase him at all. Meanwhile, I run into Parker fully clothed, and I’m still reeling.
Looks like I’ve screwed up both my first and second impressions with the man. Angry and lusty, then disheveled mess. Sigh.
I sit Alex down on the floor with my phone while I clean up the rest of the bathroom to the tune of a construction truck song. These shows drive me bonkers, but Alex loves them.
Once I’ve wiped up all the water from around the bathtub—why do kids insist upon splashing half the water out?—I toss the towel in the hamper and scoop Alex up in my arms. He lets out a massive yawn, and I thank my lucky stars. “Are you sleepy, little man?”
“No!”
Well, I saw that coming. I chuckle, because the jokes on him. He’ll be out like a light as soon as we’re on the road. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that home isn’t Aunt Ruth’s. No, we’ll be going to my childhood home. Thankfully, James had no need for his furniture, so there’s still a guest room set up that I’ll be staying in. Until our stuff arrives and I can set up Alex’s room, he’ll be bunking with me. Not that he minds. He’s not the one that gets the shit kicked out of them when we share a bed. How in the hell such a tiny person can take up so much room will never cease to amaze me.
Alex is so engrossed in his show, he doesn’t bother looking up when we get back to the kitchen. I glance around at everyone and have to force myself not to linger on Parker. You think that’d be easy since I pretty much just met the man, but nope. I can literally feel his gaze on me, and it’s making me hot all over. “Hey, y’all, I need to get little man to bed. Thank you so much for watching him earlier.”
“It was our pleasure, he’s such a doll,” Rachael says, getting up from Zack’s lap. “The guys had so much fun running around with him.” She looks back at all three of her boyfriends with so much love shining in her eyes.
“And it was hilarious to watch,” Lydia chimes in. “You guys are ridiculously out of shape.”
“I didn’t see you trying to keep up with the Flash here,” James scoffs.
She mutters something about third place, and he glares at her, before taking Alex from my arms. As soon as my hands are free, Rachael swoops in to hug me. “It was so nice to meet you, Mia. You and Alex are welcome to come over any time.”
“Yeah, just call first,” Parker grumbles, making Lydia cackle with laughter. I glance over at him curiously, but his focus is on the plate of food in front of him. When I look back at Rachael, her face is beet red, and she’s stumbling over her words.
Zack stands up, wrapping his arm around her waist, and she seems to relax a little. Julian comes in for a hug next, muttering, “Ignore Parker.”
“I mean, if she’s into that sort of thing, then go for it. But I personally don’t want to be anywhere you’re naked,” Parker says. When I look over at him, there’s a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Ow! What the… heck, Lyd.”
“That’s from Jules. Don’t blame the messenger,” she says, holding her hands up defensively.
Zack comes over, shaking his head at the Lancaster siblings, to give me a hug next. “Thanks for coming over, Mia. I’m glad you’re going to be sticking around. I just hope we haven’t scared you away.”
He pulls back, and I smile. “Not at all. I’ve had a great time.”
The lovebirds all coo over Alex, saying their goodbyes, so I take the time to move around them to say goodbye to Lydia. “It was great meeting you, Lydia.”
She pops up from her chair, giving me a hug. “I promise, we’re this weird all the time.”
We both laugh. “Good. I’m not a fan of normal.”
“Then you’re in the right place with us. When you get settled in, you should come by the library. We have storytime on Tuesdays.”
“Thank you. I will.” Everyone might be a little weird, but they’re so welcoming. I’m definitely feeling like I made the right decision coming back here. It’s temporary, but Alex is going to have a lot of love while we’re here.
Lydia sits back down and is instantly drawn to her buzzing phone, smiling secretly while she taps out a message. When I bring my gaze over to Parker, he’s smirking at me. I glance behind me, but everyone’s still enamored by Alex. “Hey, uh… Thanks for bringing my car.”
“No problem.” He stretches out, throwing his hands behind his head. I try not to focus on how sexy his tattooed arms look when they’re flexed like that and fail miserably. The asshole’s smirk grows to a full-on grin.
“Yeah... Yup. Okay. Goodnight.” Turning abruptly, I shake my head at my idiot self.
“Did you want to know what’s wrong with your car?”
I stop and pivot back around. He’s dropped his hands down to the table, his face taking on a serious look. My cheeks heat. I didn’t even think to ask. “Yes. That would probably be a good idea.”
“I’ll walk you out then.”
When my eyes go wide, his smirk is back in full force. What is it with this man? I swear I’ve never had this much of a reaction to a man before. Three fucking years of barely noticing the opposite sex. I’ve practically bought stock in Energizer with the number of batteries I go through, so I know my sex drive is doing just fine. But I haven’t given two shits about a single man. Then this asshole rolls out from under a car, looking sexy as all hell, and I lose my fucking mind.
“Sure.” I manage to get the one word out without stammering or slipping in a puddle of drool, so I take the win and head over to the group that’s currently fawning over my son.
He’s in Rachael’s arms, so I take the opportunity to hug my brother. “Seriously, thank you, Jay.”
“Stop thanking me, Mee. You’re family. If I had my way, you would have been here months ago,” he says, squeezing me tight.
“I know. But you know why I couldn’t.”
“Yeah, I do. Are you going to be okay?” He doesn’t have to add the ‘going to our parent’s house,’ I know exactly what he means.
Nodding my head, I tell him, “I’ll be fine.”
He just sighs and pulls me in for another hug, kissing me on the top of my head before letting go. Rachael passes Alex over to me, and James leads me toward the front door. Parker’s right there, waiting for us with my keys in his hand. James grabs Alex’s bag before I get the chance to and looks over at Parker. “How’s her car?”
We walk out of the house together, and Parker unlocks the doors, letting me know it’s parked on the street. “Everything’s fine. She’s going to need an oil change soon. But other than that, everything looks great.”
“Good. Thanks for checking it out, Park.”
I open the door and put Alex down in his seat. He grumbles when I pull my phone out of his hand to get his arms through the harness, but it’s short-lived. “Sorry, buddy, gotta make sure you’re safe. I know, I’m so mean.” I drop a kiss on his cheek and close the door. “Why was my check engine light on?”
“The O2 sensor was acting up. I replaced it, so you have nothing to worry about,” Parker says, coming out of the driver’s side door. He closes the door, and I instantly panic because he just turned the car on and shut the door. He must see my reaction because he chuckles. “Calm down. It’s hot tonight. I turned the air on and cracked the window. Even though I could easily break into your car, I’d rather not.”
“Oh. Okay, thanks.” I don’t even know what to do with that. That was probably the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. And it wasn’t just for me, it was for Alex.
“If you drove Mia’s car here, do you need a ride home, Parker?” James asks.
Parker shrugs, his hands shoved in the pockets of his tight jeans. My attention is so laser-focused on his crotch, I almost miss his response. “I was just going to ask Lydia to take me when she left.”
“I could drop you off. It’s on my way.”
“Cool. If you guys are settled, I’m gonna head inside,” James says, kissing me on the cheek. “Night, Mee. Drive safe.” He gives Parker a bro hug, saying goodnight to him, then we both watch his retreating back.
As soon as James is in the house, I look over to Parker. He’s still standing right next to the driver’s side door. The street light illuminates half of him, leaving the other half bathed in shadows. The symbolism isn’t lost on me. The inky black designs covering his hands and arms, both ominous and beautiful. Two halves of a whole, the asshole that greeted me and the sweet man that brought my car here and turned on the AC for my baby. I can already tell Parker is an enigma inside of a puzzle inside of a super sexy bad boy package.
“We gonna stand here all night checking each other out or…” he trails off, that cocky smirk firmly back in place.
I roll my eyes. “Ugh. Let’s just go.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t call me ma’am,” I hiss. “I can’t be that much older than you!” Shaking my head, I walk around the car.
“Nuh-uh, Prim. I got this. March your sexy ass back over there, and I’ll take you for a ride.” He winks. HE FUCKING WINKS.
“Wh—Are—Really? Did you really just—”
“Call your ass sexy? Sure did.”
I narrow my eyes at him in a death glare, but he just laughs. Dammit. I look up to the sky like maybe I’ll find some sort of answer as to why this man bothers me so much somewhere in the twinkling stars. More like hot and bothered. My face flushes, even though he can’t hear my thoughts.
“Fine.” Stomping back over to the passenger side of my car, I yank the door open and get in with a huff. “For the record, the only reason I’m letting you drive is because you are absolutely impossible, and I’d rather get you home sooner rather than later.”
“Thank you.”
My eyes dart around, looking for where in the hell I left a compliment for him. Nope, can’t find it. “I’m not even gonna try to figure out that one.”
“Probably best that you don’t, Prim,” he says, before shifting the car into drive and taking off.