Page 63 of Phoenix

They stopped at the light and Jule said, “How is that great?”

“Because if you’re channeling your homicidal tendencies at me, you’re too distracted to aim them at that other driver.”

“I can multitask.” Jule returned his gaze to the mirror and frowned. “Where’d he go?”

“Passed us when you were threatening my life and then ran the red. The camera got him.”

That calmed Jule’s anger. “Really?”

“I saw it flash.”

Jule smiled.

“Happy?” Tor asked.

“Yeah. Fuck him. Nobody gets that far up my ass except you.”

“Glad that’s handled.” Tor reached his arm out and caressed Jule’s nape. “Anything I need to know to prepare for this dinnerwith your mother? Because I’m thinking I shouldn’t approach it like you’re approaching the drive over.”

“Approach it however you want.” The light changed and he drove forward. “She’ll either get on board, or it’ll be the last dinner I have with her.”

“Jule.” Tor’s voice was low, serious.

“What?” He flicked his gaze toward Tor.

“She’s your family.”

“You’re my family. You, Ty, Trey, Trav, Tan, Mags, Mikey. Plus Jenny, Carley, and your other cousins, their kids. We have plenty of family.”

“We do. We have a great family. And she needs to be part of it. She’s your mother.”

“I’m done hiding you.”

“From everything you’ve told me, she cares a lot about you. She invited us to her house for dinner. That’s not hiding anything.”

He clenched his jaw.

“Is this about your dad’s parents? Have you heard from them?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“Nothing good.” He shook his head. “Not sure if they could have gotten there with us anyway, but after everything that happened…” He shrugged.

“We’ll figure it out.” Tor put his hand on Jule’s thigh, the pressure warm, comforting. “Tell me about your mom’s husband.”

“Langston Bennett. They’ve been married for a few years now, but I don’t know him well. He’s a pretty quiet guy. Divorced. Has a couple of kids who live out of state. He’s a federal judge now but he worked at my mom’s firm a long time ago, that’s how they know each other.”

“Do you like him?”

“Seems decent.” He parked in front of his mother’s house. “He’s nice to my mom.” He thought of his father and the husband he had been. “She deserves to have that.”

Tor squeezed his leg and looked out the window. “Need a minute?”

He nodded and closed his eyes, letting the feeling of Tor’s hand on him and the sound of his quiet breathing push away the disappointing memories so they could go inside and make better ones.

Chapter 18 – Age 30