Page 83 of Cattle Stop

Whit tightens his arm over Cooper’s waist. “I’m being serious.”

“Well, stop it, it’s weird.”

“Penny said I wasn’t good at talking. Well, she said I fucking suck at it, along with some other choice phrases. And that I should have told Drew about my dad, like she told me to.” Whit pokes Cooper’s stomach gently. “Why don’t you ever see your mom?”

“’Cause we don’t all have parents who carefully curate years of photo albums.” Cooper tries to squirm away, but Whit just tightens his arm. “She just works a lot, okay? It’s not a big deal.”

“What does she do?”

“Shouts into her phone and sends emails.”

“No, really.”

“Yes, really. Sometimes she takes a break to ask when I’m going to quit bumming around and get a real job, but then her phone rings, so it’s not like I ever have to answer.”

“She doesn’t like that you farm?”

Cooper pushes out a hard laugh. “I’m not sure she likes anything about me.”

“But she’s your mom.”

“I’m a mistake she made with a guy before she settled in for a life with the ladies.”

“She told you that?”

“She didn’t have to.”

Don’t assume, Terry had said once, smoothing Cooper’s hair back as she sat on the edge of his bed. Cooper wiggles again, trying to put a couple inches between himself and Whit. Well, Mom’s had a lifetime to tell her side of the story, but hell if she’d ever take the damn time.

“Do you know your dad?” Whit asks.

Cooper shoves at Whit’s arm. “We’re not doing this.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, okay, I have met the walking, talking cloud of cigarette smoke that contributed half of my genetic makeup, and no, we didn’t go play catch in the park, also fuck you, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“How long has Terry been around?”

“You want a goddamn report in a three-ring binder? Laminated, too?”

“You never talk about any of this.”

“Listen, mister, today is all about you failing to communicate with our buddy Drew at every turn. Don’t drag me into this.”

“I was always so confused why you were around all summer. I had no idea.”

“What, that I got shipped off upstate?” Cooper tries to free himself again, but Whit won’t budge. “It was visiting my grandparents and getting dropped off here at the farm most days, or an empty apartment. My mom might not give a shit about where I am or where I go, but she definitely read at least one parenting blog when I was a teen that told her I’d end up a degenerate if I was unsupervised for too long. Joke’s on her, ’cause look at me anyway.”

“C’mon, you don’t really think that.”

“Hello, you’re the one who likes to remind me I barely ever have steady employment.” You and good old Cheryl, he thinks.

“Coop…”

“You know, Mom would really appreciate your opinion of me: useless, flaky, and unreliable. It’d confirm everything she’s ever suspected.”

Whit lets out a soft breath, warm against the back of Cooper’s neck. “I’m sorry.”