I hated that my cock responded to that voice whispering in my ear, that my skin broke out in chills at her touch. She smiled when she pulled back, like she knew she still had that effect on me — like she loved it.
And that cooled the fire.
I peeled her hands off me. “I have plans.”
Before I could turn, she stopped me, her hand wrapping around my forearm to whip me back around — not that I’d fought it.
“With her?” she asked, eyes narrowing.
“That’s none of your business.”
Maliyah shook her head. “Why are you playing this game, Clay? I know you want me.” She stepped into me, her cleavage pressing against my lower ribs. Her hand slid down then, cupping me through my pants. “I can feel it.”
I shrugged her off so quickly she almost fell. “That’s a cup. See you around.”
I left her with her jaw on the floor, and once again, I tried to tell myself I did it because I knew it was too early. Her father had pretty much insinuated as much. She’d toss me aside just as quickly if I gave in now.
She just wanted to test me, and this was me passing.
This was all part of the plan.
I was still convincing myself of that when I was showered and dressed, texting Giana that I would meet her in her office.
Ten minutes, she texted back.
And then my phone rang.
Mom’s bright smile lit up the screen, her arm around my waist at my high school graduation. I smirked at the sight, knowing when I answered, I’d hear the worst and loudest rendition of the Happy Birthday song. It was her favorite thing to do, sing it obnoxiously enough that I hid my face in embarrassment, and that didn’t change when I moved across the country.
Last year, she made me put her on speakerphone in the middle of our weight training.
“Mom, before you start, I’m alone. So you don’t have an audience if you want to save your vocal chords.”
The joke died along with my smile when I was met with a choked-off sob on the other end.
Heat crept into my ears, my heart pounding as I ducked into one of the assistant coach’s office that was empty. “What happened?”
For a long time, she just cried, the sobs so loud I pulled my phone from my ear and started looking at flights that I could catch out tonight. I thought she was hurt, or that someone had died. But then she finally spoke.
“He broke up with me.”
I closed my eyes on a relieved exhale, but knew I couldn’t let on that was my reaction to her. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
She sniffed. “He was the one. I thought… I thought he was going to ask me to marry him.”
I scratched the back of my neck, thinking of all the things I could say to comfort her. It was a familiar cycle now, one I hoped she hadn’t caught on to. “It’s his loss.”
There was more sobbing on the other end as I gathered my belongings and nodded at a few guys left in the locker room as I made my way into the hall.
“You’re an amazing woman, Mom. If he didn’t see that, then he’s an idiot. There is someone better out there for you.”
“There’s no one out there for me!”
She screamed the words, crying on the end of them.
“I’m old, and tired, and broke,” she choked out. Sniffing, she paused only to add, “I’m… I’m really broke, Clay.”
The hair on the back of my neck raised. “Did something happen at the restaurant?”
Another long pause met me.
“I… I was going to tell you when you came for Thanksgiving. I quit. A long time ago, actually.”
“You what?”
“Brandon was taking care of me!” She cried out her defense. “He was taking care of everything. He was paying my bills, making plans for me to move in with him, making plans for…” She hiccupped. “He promised. He…”
Her words trailed off as more tears found her, and I cursed, stopping around the corner from the hallway that led to Giana’s office.
“They’ll take you back,” I said. “They always do.”
“Not this time.” She sniffed. “I tried. They’re over it. And I don’t blame them. I haven’t been a good employee for many, many years.”
“That’s not true. You’re the most charming one there and they know it.”
She let out a sarcastic laugh. “My charm ran out along with my beauty years ago.”
Inhaling a long, deep breath, I let it out just as slowly before trying to soothe her again. “I know things are hard right now, but it will work out. You can find a new job.”
“It’s not that easy!”
I closed my eyes as she cried more, wishing I was there to comfort her just as much as I wished I could shake some sense into her.
“Hey, it’ll be okay. I can help until you get things sorted.”
“Really?” She sniffed.
The instant relief she had from that made my stomach sour.
I wanted to help her. I would always help the woman who kept me, who cared for me, who raised me when my father walked away.
But the fact that she now expected it hurt.
“Oh, Clay. You’re too good to me.”
“I don’t have much,” I confessed. “But they give us a little bit of a stipend with our scholarship. I can help with bills until you get on your feet. Just… promise me you’ll start looking, Mom.”
“I promise.”
I nodded. “Alright, well… I gotta go. But I love you.”
“I love you, too, sweetie.”
“Everything will be okay.”
She didn’t respond, but I could imagine her nodding, could imagine her hair a wreck and her eyes swollen and puffy and red because I’d seen her that way so many times before.
The line went dead, and I blinked, frowning at my phone when I took it away from my ear. It wasn’t that her going through a breakup was surprising.
But the fact that she hadn’t wished me a happy birthday was.
I chalked it up to her being upset, thinking of how I was when Maliyah broke up with me. I couldn’t be a good friend to anyone during that time. So, I slipped my phone into the pocket of my hoodie and rounded the corner toward the front offices.
And I prayed she wouldn’t turn to the bottle or the pills while I figured things out.
I didn’t have time to think about how much money Mom would need, how much I could honestly afford to give her, or anything else regarding the breakup because as soon as I pushed through the door to the PR offices, a shower of confetti rained down on me.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
Giana did a little hop-like dance, blowing a streamer that sounded like a foghorn. A giant, glittery banner hung above her head, and her eyes were wide and joyful in the candlelight coming from the two and zero candles in a homemade cake on her desk.
“Hurry, before they melt,” she said, shoving me toward the candles. “Make a wish!”
I wanted to be happy. I wanted to smile. I wanted to tell her what a nerd she was and how much I adored it.
But all I could do was blow the candles out with a soft breath.
Giana clapped, removing them and setting them aside as she started cutting the cake.
“I had no idea what you liked, but I figured I couldn’t go wrong with chocolate. And sprinkles, of course. Everyone loves sprinkles.” She handed me a plate with a huge slice on it. “Shawn was at the game today. We talked a little after the media frenzy. He asked if I would be at the coffee shop to watch him at all this week.” She waggled her brows at me as she forked off a bite of her own slice of cake. “By the way, you did not have to go that hard with the last play, but I am so damn glad you did. That was incredible. The reporters were in a tizzy. You’re going to be all over ESPN tonight.”