know I told you to call me Sharon.” His mother looked up to Ezra. “Maddie is tired and needs to rest. Kelly has invited us all over to her house to eat all the stuff Mary brought so I’ll see you there.” Sharon’s mouth flattened just a tiny bit. Ezra knew his mother didn’t like Vaughan’s ex. Never did really.
But he also knew his mother respected the job Kelly had done raising Maddie and Kensey. Yes, Vaughan was involved. Ezra’s baby brother was a damned good father and he loved his daughters with all he was. He saw them frequently, as often as he could.
And yet, when he toured, it was Kelly who was there every single day. Kelly who gave up a lucrative career in modeling to stay near and raise the girls near their father. Kelly who dealt with the daily slog that parenting could be.
So his mother would be civil because she, too, loved those little girls and it was in everyone’s best interests to pull together.
And, Ezra hoped, because his mom knew her opinion of Kelly wasn’t fair. It was set back when Vaughan had first left and didn’t tell the whole truth of the situation. Over time it was clear to anyone who bothered to really look that it had been Kelly who’d stepped up from the start and done what needed doing.
After one last hug, his mom headed toward Natalie, and Tuesday turned his way again. “I know this is a family thing. I’m going to head into Portland for a while. Do some stuff. I’ll see everyone at the arena later.”
He shook his head, not pleased at all with the idea of her going off anywhere. “No, I want you there. Natalie will want you there. If Nat does then Paddy will. My mother—you’ve met her so you can imagine how often she gets her way—will think I did something to upset you and drive you off. She’ll harass me forever about it. Have a heart. Do it for me, Tuesday. Do it for Maddie.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re diabolical. Maddie’s not even going to be there.” A smile hinted at the corners of her mouth and he gave in to his.
“But it’s for her. And you know, it’s neighborly, too. You haven’t even met her mom yet.”
“I’m sure she’s superexcited to meet some random friend of her ex-husband’s brother’s girlfriend. She probably has it on her bucket list.”
“You should know I find a dry sense of humor one of the sexiest qualities.” He stepped closer. “It’s already four-thirty. We stay for a while, then the band has to leave for sound check anyway. Plus, you’re driving home with me. Paddy drove in with me so he can ride home with your blonde roommate there.” He tipped his chin in Natalie’s direction. “Did you actually even throw this idea past her? I doubt it or she’d be pouting all pretty like.”
Tuesday shook her head. “I did, and she said all the stuff you did. You’re as bad as she is.”
“Maybe. But my kind of bad comes with orgasms.”
Her smiled bloomed. “True. You do come in handy that way. Though I think I need more research. It’s really the only way to be sure.”
“You keep saying I’m trouble but it’s really you. I’m going to be thinking about the way you felt on my tongue all night long.”
“You’re going to pay for that.”
“I sure as hell hope so.”
“We should go. Everyone is leaving now.” Her voice had gone breathy and he liked that. A lot.
“Be sure to eat your vegetables today. You’ll need your strength later,” Ezra told her as he led her out of the waiting room in his family’s wake.
Natalie turned, trying to catch Tuesday’s eye, but she caught Ezra’s instead. He shook his head, waving her off. “I have it. She’ll ride with me.”
Natalie’s brow rose but before she could say anything else, Paddy caught her around the waist and steered her out.
Hurleys against the world. Fuckyeah.
* * *
TUESDAY HAD TO suck in a surreptitious breath to calm herself after Ezra got her all hot and bothered.
Again.
He and Nat thought she hadn’t seen their little exchange. She had, but because it was also in line with her own plans, she wasn’t going to argue. And he did come out and say he liked to be in charge. Tuesday needed to see how that worked and if she liked it or not.
The sex part definitely passed muster. What they’d been able to finish anyway.
He paused at an SUV and she gave him a look. “No sports car today? Did I let you see my boobs too early?”
He laughed and she felt a little more in control.
“I had Damien and Paddy with me. Paddy’s boots were a mess. And then we got into a shoving match.” He opened the door of his SUV for her. She hopped up.
Honestly. “You got into a physical fight with your brother. Because he had dirty shoes?”
Ezra grunted as they all made their way out of the parking lot.
“You’ve met my brother. Don’t you want to punch him sometimes?”
She snorted. “I want to punch all sorts of people. Pretty much all day long every day. I have five siblings—it’s not like I don’t know what it’s like to want to hit a brother or sister in the face. But I refrain. They do. Usually. Though my two oldest brothers got into a fistfight at Thanksgiving dinner three years ago. So dumb. My dad let them at one another in the backyard while the rest of us ate dinner. My mom didn’t speak to my brothers and my dad for weeks.”
“Six kids. I have to meet your mother.”
Diana Easton would love Ezra Hurley to the stars and back. Tuesday’s mother would simply latch on and Ezra would never know what hit him.
“To be fair, there’re two sets of twins in there.”
“Jesus. Your parents really like each other then, huh?”
She nodded. “I never knew other people’s parents weren’t constantly hugging and kissing and laughing until I got old enough to have sleepovers. My parents are straight up in love. They can fight—don’t get me wrong. But yes, Greg and Diana are mates in the deepest sense of the word.”
They’d given her an example of what a working relationship was. She and Eric hadn’t been perfect, but they had been united. Tuesday sometimes felt that loss like a phantom limb.
A phantom relationship.
Something would happen and Tuesday instinctually found herself turning to Eric. The bones of her relationship with him still remained, though the rest of it had faded over time.
But the instant she remembered—that moment in time when reality came back like a punch to the throat—that hurt to her bones.
For a long time there was so much grief she couldn’t see past it. Couldn’t imagine a time when it didn’t make her ache every moment. But it hurt less that day than it had a year before. And it would hurt less next week. And so on.
Ezra
