“She can stay.” I study Ally’s eyes. “Why are you tired? It’s Monday. Were you out late last night?”
“Err…” Lost, Sonia tries her damnedest to pull my attention to her. “Why don’t we start with you, Luke? How have you been? How are things with your family?”
“Things are good. Dad misses you, but he’s too shy to say so. You should maybe call him and tell him you adore him.” I smile for just a moment. “He would love that.” Then back to Ally. “Why are you tired?”
“I had dinner last night at… uh…” She hides something. She’s omitting information. “With people very special to me.”
“A man?”
Ally’s eyes flash wide with shock. “Luke, I don’t– Can you—”
“Did you have dinner with a man?” I press. “That’s all I’m asking.”
“Oh… dear.” Sonia grits her teeth and fusses with her teacup. “I see.”
“No!” Allyson jumps like someone poked her with a cattle prod. “You don’t see. He’s just being Luke, and Luke never minds his own business. He’s mad because I was getting into his head last week, so now he’s going to try to—”
“You left your bobby pins at my place the other day.” I smile when Ally groans and Sonia jolts. I look to my therapist and let my smile grow. “Friday night was a night for the books, doc. Your girl was at Rhino’s. She wanted a little of the nightlife, I guess.”
“Luke! Stop.”
“And you know Rob and I like a night out just as much as the next guy.”
“Luke! Are you trying to get me in trouble?”
“I saw her from across the room, I saw her hair. It’s hard to miss.”
“Stop it.”
“So I excused myself from the woman I was previously speaking with, trotted my ass across the club, and oh boy, was I rewarded when I got there.”
Past her shock, and straight into intrigue, Sonia swaps her teacup for a notebook, and presses pen to paper. “You were speaking with someone else? A romantic entanglement?”
“Well,” I smirk just to piss Allyson off. “She wanted to get tangled. But it didn’t go there yet. Then I saw Ally, and it was all over for me.”
“You saw Allyson at Rhino’s?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And so you decided to drop one entanglement in hopes to gain another?”
“Well, mostly I just wanted to hang out and get drunk with her. But sure, I dropped one so I could hang out with—”
“My great-granddaughter.”
“Your great—” My voice cuts off on a painful gurgle.
Shit just escalated, and although I’m normally the guy holding the lit fuse, this wasn’t one I willingly put fire to. I came in here planning to put Ally on notice – my messed-up way of telling her I kinda missed her since she left – but now I look like she does, like someone ran over my dog.
“Come again, Miss Rivera?”
“Are you happy now?” Ally snaps. “You did not have to imply something that did not happen. But no, you push, push, push, because you enjoy making people sweat. Now you’re probably going to get me fired, my great-grandmother assumes I’m a jezebel who sleeps with her clients, and you’ve got her beady eyes burning the side of your skull.” She pegs a pen cap at my face while Sonia only watches in shock. “I hope it was worth it, you jackass.”
“I, uh…” Sheepish, I look between the two women, and desperately search for any resemblance. “Are you punking me? Is this some twisted part of my court-ordered therapy?”
“We do not punk in this office, Luke.” Sonia places her unused notebook back on the table and takes her tea. “Allyson is my son’s daughter’s daughter. My great-granddaughter. How does that make you feel?”
“Um…” I swallow and accept the smackdown I was too arrogant to expect before I walked in here. Ally sits back with an almost silent groan. “I guess I feel a little stunned. I didn’t realize you had kids. Honestly?” I meet Sonia’s eyes. “I kinda thought clients like my dad were your kids.”
“Perhaps there’s truth in that,” she concedes. “My son left us a long time ago. We had a difference of opinion about a lot of things, so he preferred to be someplace else. That left me here, in this town. It would be a lie if I said I didn’t then put my energies into other people’s children.”
“Now it bothers me that my dad loves you.”
Sonia frowns. “Explain.”
“Well, he’s been seeing you since before I was born, so by the time Rob and I arrived, you were very much a part of my family’s life. That makes you my family. Which makes Ally my long-lost cousin.”
Sonia laughs. “Well, not really, but I follow your intent.”
“I don’t want Ally to be my cousin, because I’ve had some seriously unholy thoughts about her. A lot. And this morning, I touched my—”
“Wow,” Ally groans and presses the heels of her hands to her eyes. “He’s just throwing it all out there.”
“I’ve thought naughty things about your great-granddaughter, Sonia. I saw her first at the bakery, and damn if her eyes didn’t send a jolt straight down to my—”
“Luke!” Ally practically shouts. “Stop it.”
“Then I found her in here, and now she’s the sexy woman with the nice eyes… and a brain! And she does this thing with her lips when she’s mad.” I look to her, point. “Like that. I’ve hit the jackpot.”
“Oh my god. Ya know what?” Ally stands and looks to Sonia. “I’ll see myself out. I’ll probably quit my degree now, too, since it’s apparent that I’m not a therapist, but rather, I need a therapist.” Then she turns and burns me with her glare. “You’d better tell her the damn truth about Friday night. We did not have sex, and it pisses me off that you’ll let people think we did.” With that, she smacks me on the forehead with her palm and walks away. “Asshole.”
Then she slams the door on her way out, and leaves Sonia and I sitting in a tense standoff of silence.
“So…” I rub my forehead and try my best not to smile. It would be a bad move on my part to smile right in this moment. “It’s probably best that I tell you the actual truth about Friday night before she comes back in here with a flamethrower.”
“You slept with my great-granddaughter?”
“Well…” I clear my throat, and swallow down my choked laughter when another door slams somewhere outside. Ally’s on a tear, and though it should terrify me, it really doesn’t. I’ve spent my entire life knowing women with bad attitudes and enough fire to back them up. At this point, I’m basically immune. “Okay, so what actually happened was that we got drunk. Sloppy drunk, but the fun drunk where you’re horny, but super fuckin’ chill about it.” I stop and clear my throat. “Excuse my language.”
Sonia waves me off. “Continue your story.”
“You’re bound by a duty of confidentiality, right? Because for me to finish this story, I have to admit to a crime, and while it doesn’t much bother me if I get into trouble, I’d really rather Ally didn’t. It was hardly her fault.”