impure thoughts.
“Pay fuckin’ attention! How the hell am I breaking my mother’s heart?”
“Do I really need to tell you?” I asked, matching his volume. “Again?”
He waved his hand at me dismissively because he knew what he’d done.
“You nearly killed her when you took this fuckin’ job,” I said, gesturing at the uniform, the car, the entire officer of the law accoutrement.
“Nothing happens in this town!” he barked defensively.
“It doesn’t matter,” I volleyed.
“Of course it matters! Why would they make me—a man with only one arm—a policeman if they actually thought I’d have to do anything? It’s a pity post, idiot.”
So much annoyance colored his tone. “Then why do you have a gun?”
“Maybe because I know how to use one!”
“Or,” I began, making sure I sounded just as snide as he did, “maybe the chief actually expects you to put yourself in danger if the situation calls for it.”
“And what the fuck is wrong with that?”
“Oh, nothing, except that your mother lost her husband two years ago, and all she has left is you and your sister.”
“She has you too!”
“It’s not the same and you know it!” I yelled because he did. Matching his volume was one of my favorite things to do.
“It is too the same,” he growled. “She likes you better than me and Mia put together!”
I stared at him and he glared back.
“Why’re you still yelling?” I asked abruptly, because he was ranting like a crazy person. Normally one of us got either tired or hoarse fairly quickly.
“Because you make me crazy with this shit!”
“Okay,” I began, clearing my throat, lowering my decibel level, “so you know that what your mother wanted—what we all fuckin’ wanted—was for you to buy that bar and run it.”
He rolled his eyes.
“It was a good idea.”
“It was a boring-ass idea, and what the hell do I know about running a bar?”
“What the hell do I know about landscaping? What does Mia know about the law?”
He sniffed in annoyance, and I laughed, because, shit, that last part really was stupid. Sometimes my mouth ran on a bit quicker than my brain.
“Well, I dunno. For starters she went to law school, ya fuckin’ idiot.”
I snorted out a giggle that I couldn’t stifle. “Yeah, fine, whatever.”
His reluctant grin showed off the laugh lines in the corner of his eyes, the deep ones around his mouth, and the curl of his lip that made my stomach clench. “What does this have to do with—”
“I borrowed money from your mom for my landscaping business,” I reminded him. “Mia took some when she opened the law office, but you—you had to go and be a damn lawman.”
“I didn’t want to be a burden on her, and I don’t know how to do anything else but fire a weapon and save people.”
“You could solve problems at a bar and maybe shoot someone once in a while, if they tried to rob you.”
“In this town? Get robbed in this town. This is your story?”
“Seeing you in that uniform is killing your mother.”
He growled. I arched an eyebrow to hammer home the point that he was, in fact, taking years off his mother’s life every single day. He’d come home from serving his country with a piece missing. She didn’t want him to lose any other parts––and definitely not his life.
“If you could all just open your eyes to—”
“Hah!”
His scowl was back. “Hah? That’s your big retort?”
“If Mia could open her eyes? If I could? Your mom? Please. You’re the only blind one around here.”
“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
I tipped my head sideways. “Do you ever notice any of the people who stare at you as you drive down the street, Officer? Do you ever see the people who try and talk to you or flirt with you? Do you?”
“I fail to see what any of that has to do with—”
“Getting laid,” I announced. “It has to do with getting laid.”
“Which again, has no bearing on what we’re fuckin’
“Pay fuckin’ attention! How the hell am I breaking my mother’s heart?”
“Do I really need to tell you?” I asked, matching his volume. “Again?”
He waved his hand at me dismissively because he knew what he’d done.
“You nearly killed her when you took this fuckin’ job,” I said, gesturing at the uniform, the car, the entire officer of the law accoutrement.
“Nothing happens in this town!” he barked defensively.
“It doesn’t matter,” I volleyed.
“Of course it matters! Why would they make me—a man with only one arm—a policeman if they actually thought I’d have to do anything? It’s a pity post, idiot.”
So much annoyance colored his tone. “Then why do you have a gun?”
“Maybe because I know how to use one!”
“Or,” I began, making sure I sounded just as snide as he did, “maybe the chief actually expects you to put yourself in danger if the situation calls for it.”
“And what the fuck is wrong with that?”
“Oh, nothing, except that your mother lost her husband two years ago, and all she has left is you and your sister.”
“She has you too!”
“It’s not the same and you know it!” I yelled because he did. Matching his volume was one of my favorite things to do.
“It is too the same,” he growled. “She likes you better than me and Mia put together!”
I stared at him and he glared back.
“Why’re you still yelling?” I asked abruptly, because he was ranting like a crazy person. Normally one of us got either tired or hoarse fairly quickly.
“Because you make me crazy with this shit!”
“Okay,” I began, clearing my throat, lowering my decibel level, “so you know that what your mother wanted—what we all fuckin’ wanted—was for you to buy that bar and run it.”
He rolled his eyes.
“It was a good idea.”
“It was a boring-ass idea, and what the hell do I know about running a bar?”
“What the hell do I know about landscaping? What does Mia know about the law?”
He sniffed in annoyance, and I laughed, because, shit, that last part really was stupid. Sometimes my mouth ran on a bit quicker than my brain.
“Well, I dunno. For starters she went to law school, ya fuckin’ idiot.”
I snorted out a giggle that I couldn’t stifle. “Yeah, fine, whatever.”
His reluctant grin showed off the laugh lines in the corner of his eyes, the deep ones around his mouth, and the curl of his lip that made my stomach clench. “What does this have to do with—”
“I borrowed money from your mom for my landscaping business,” I reminded him. “Mia took some when she opened the law office, but you—you had to go and be a damn lawman.”
“I didn’t want to be a burden on her, and I don’t know how to do anything else but fire a weapon and save people.”
“You could solve problems at a bar and maybe shoot someone once in a while, if they tried to rob you.”
“In this town? Get robbed in this town. This is your story?”
“Seeing you in that uniform is killing your mother.”
He growled. I arched an eyebrow to hammer home the point that he was, in fact, taking years off his mother’s life every single day. He’d come home from serving his country with a piece missing. She didn’t want him to lose any other parts––and definitely not his life.
“If you could all just open your eyes to—”
“Hah!”
His scowl was back. “Hah? That’s your big retort?”
“If Mia could open her eyes? If I could? Your mom? Please. You’re the only blind one around here.”
“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
I tipped my head sideways. “Do you ever notice any of the people who stare at you as you drive down the street, Officer? Do you ever see the people who try and talk to you or flirt with you? Do you?”
“I fail to see what any of that has to do with—”
“Getting laid,” I announced. “It has to do with getting laid.”
“Which again, has no bearing on what we’re fuckin’
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