by Ryan Michele
"I'm not telling you a fucking thing," he snarled, and this time he actually spit at me. Nothing but spittle flew from past his lips, landing a foot before my boots.
My lips curved in a dark, sadistic smile.
He was going to give me everything I wanted to know, no matter how long it took me to beat it out of him.
I needed to know how to shut down his drug ring for good because my tentative relationship with Maggie depended on it. I'd seen the frantic, almost desperate looks that filled her eyes constantly.
Maggie, my sweet Poison, wasn't cut out for revenge.
But I was.
And I had a feeling I'd be damn good at it.
The End.
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Mama by Nicole Jacquelyn
An Aces’ Sons Short Story
1
Lily
“You have to be quiet,” Leo chastised, chuckling as my mouth snapped shut. “We’re on borrowed time as it is.”
His arms flexed as he held himself above me, and I let out a sigh as he rolled his hips. For a man that refused to dance under any circumstance, my Leo sure could move. Wrapping my legs around his, I scored my fingernails up his back.
“Oh, that ain’t fair,” he said, shaking his head. Just as I started to giggle, the baby monitor by our bed lit up and the sound of movement came through the speaker.
“Shit,” I whispered.
“Hang on tight, Dandelion,” he replied. His hand slid between us, and as his fingers found my clit his pace quickened. “I’ll get you there.”
“You always do.” Pulling my legs further up his hips, I gasped. Yeah, that was the angle I needed. It didn’t take long before I felt the beginning of my orgasm wash over me. Leo wasn’t far behind.
“We’re getting really good at quickies,” I said as Leo rolled away with a huff.
“We’ve always been good at quickies,” he argued, shooting me a smile. “But they’re gettin’ old.”
“Hey,” I said, mildly offended.
He rolled his eyes. “You know I’ll take ya any way I can get ya.” He leaned up on his elbow. “At some point, I’d like to take my time, though.”
“Ooh,” I whispered, rolling toward him. “I’m listening.”
Leo laughed and leaned toward me, but before he could speak, Gray’s voice came through the monitor.
“Daddy,” he rasped groggily. “Get me.”
I snorted. “The little prince has spoken.”
Leo flopped onto his back. “Is it just me,” he said with a groan, “or did he sleep a lot later when he was in here with us?”
“Of course he did,” I replied, sitting up. I climbed off the bed and pulled on my nightshirt. “It was nice and cozy in here.”
“He’s doin’ good in his own room, though,” he said, pulling on a pair of shorts. “Better than I thought he would.”
“Thank God,” I joked. “It’s nice to have sex in a bed again.”
“I fuck you in a bed all the time.”
“Your room at the clubhouse doesn’t count,” I shot back. “It’s tiny, and hard as a rock.”
“Never heard you complainin’,” he mumbled.
“You know I’ll take ya anyway I can get ya,” I mimicked him, slapping him on the ass as I passed him. “I’ll get Gray.”
As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I found Gray standing in the doorway to his room, his little hands curled around the top of the baby gate that kept him from roaming the house while we slept.
“Hey, mister,” I said, lifting him up as soon as his arms reached for me. “Did you sleep good?”
He nodded and laid his head against my shoulder.
“Let’s change your Pull-Up,” I said softly, rubbing his back as I stepped over the gate into his room. “You’re feeling pretty soggy.”
I set him back on his bed with a kiss, then crossed the room to his dresser. If I was going to change his Pull-Up, I figured I might as well just get him dressed for the day. As I pulled out some sweats and a t-shirt, Gray started chattering behind me. I wasn’t really paying attention because it didn’t sound like he was talking to me, but I froze with my hand on a tiny pair of socks when I realized what he was saying.
“Mama.” I didn’t respond.
“Mama, yuck.” Oh, crap. I spun just in time to see him pull off the sopping wet Pull-Up and drop it nasty side down on the bed.
“Dude,” I groaned, hurrying to pick it up. “I just washed your sheets.”
“Ew,” he said, standing in the middle of the bed in nothing but a t-shirt.
“Yeah, ew,” I agreed. Scooping him up, I carried him and the dirty Pull-Up into the kitchen so I could throw it away. “Don’t take your Pull-Up off, okay? I’ll help you.”
“I do it,” he argued, sticking his thumb in his mouth.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I said dryly as we made our way back down the hall.
We found Leo back in bed, one arm behind his head and the other scrolling through something on his phone.
“Merry Christmas!” I teased, dropping Gray onto the bed. “It’s a bouncing baby boy!”
“And he’s Porky Pig’n it,” Leo said with a laugh.
“He’s what?”
“Porky Pig’n it,” Leo said again. “You know—wearin’ a shirt and no pants.”
I laughed. “I’ll go grab his clothes.”
The boys laughed and wrestled as I stripped Gray’s sheet and blanket off his mattress, crossing my fingers that Gray wouldn’t pee in our bed. He was doing awesome with potty training, but any tickling and it was game over.
“I’ve got clothes,” I announced as I walked back into our room. “Put them on before you get peed on.”
“Me no pee,” Gray said, shaking his head. “Me no pee, Mama.”
I stopped suddenly, stunned, but thankfully, Leo took the words in stride.
“Silly Mama,” he said softly, his eyes on me. “Gray’s not gonna pee.”
“Right,” I said, my voice scratchy and weird. “What was I thinking?”
I tossed the clothes on the bed with a smile, then spun on my heel and hurried to the bathroom so I could cry in private. I should have known that Leo wouldn’t let me get away with it, though. Within a couple minutes, two fists, one big and one small, were banging on the bathroom door.
“We’re hungry,” Leo called as I blew my nose.
“Hungy,” Gray mimicked.
“You know how to cook,” I said, swinging open the door so fast it made Gray burst out laughing.
“But you do it so much better,” Leo lied. The innocent look on his face didn’t fool me for a second.
“I’ll do the waffles if you fry the eggs,” I said, poking Gray in the belly as we made our way to the kitchen.
My mind wandered as I started pulling out ingredients and Leo set Gray up in his booster at the table. I guess I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was that Gray had called me mama. Most of the other kids he spent time with had moms, so he heard the word all the time. And I did fill that role for him. I took care of him and comforted him, and he’d slept next to me more nights than I could count. I’d considered him my son since me and Leo got together.
But he’d always called me Lily, and I was perfectly okay with that.
“Hey, Mama,” Leo said quietly as he reached around me for the butter.
“Did that seriously just happen?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder.
Gray was playing with his little dirt bikes, making all kinds of engine noises and completely unconcerned with us, but I still didn’t want him to hear me making a big deal about it.
“Yep,” Leo said easily.
“Where did it come from?” I wondered out loud. Leo laughed.
“Why are you so surprised?” he asked, cracking eggs one-handed into the skillet. “You’re his mom in every way that matters.”
“It doesn’t bother you?” I asked tentatively.
&
nbsp; Gray’s mom had died in a car accident right before me and Leo got together, and I knew that it broke Leo’s heart that Gray couldn’t remember Ashley. It was something that we’d talked about a lot and I’d always been super aware of. Neither of us ever wanted Ashley to disappear completely from Gray’s life. It was why we had photos of her around the house, and Leo made a point to tell Gray about his mom’s favorite things and all the ways they were alike.
“Of course it doesn’t bother me,” Leo said, giving me a sweet smile. “There’s nothin’ wrong with Gray callin’ you mama.”
“But Ashley—”
Leo laughed. “Baby, Ashley would be grateful as fuck that Gray had someone that loves him like you do. Jealous? Hell, yeah. But grateful, too.”
“I doubt it,” I muttered.
“I know it,” he said firmly. “’Cause I’d be grateful, and jealous as hell, too, if I was gone and he had a good man that stepped into my shoes.”
I didn’t reply, because honest to God, I couldn’t imagine being grateful if Gray called someone else mom.
“You okay with it?” Leo asked as he turned off the burner and slid the eggs onto a plate. “You seem freaked.”
“Not freaked,” I replied, peeling a waffle carefully off the iron. “Overwhelmed.”
“Doesn’t change anythin’,” he said, squeezing my hip as he moved around me. “You’ve been his mom for a while now.”
“I know.”
“Get outta your head, Dandelion,” he teased as he moved away. “You’re overthinkin’ it.”
After dropping Gray off to sleep at Ashley’s mom’s house that night, I met Leo at the clubhouse. I was happy to have the time kid-free, but I had to admit that I wished we were spending the night at home instead of attending yet another club party. Don’t get me wrong, the parties were fun. We always had a good time, and usually made a point to spend some time one-on-one, but I was exhausted. Between finishing my degree and doing the books for a couple of small business owners my dad had introduced me to, I was stretched thin as hell.
“Good, you’re here,” my sister-in-law Trix said, pulling me toward the bar before I’d even taken my coat off. “Tell your brother that I’m right and he’s wrong.”
“She’s right and you’re wrong,” I parroted.
“You don’t even know what we were talkin’ about,” Cam protested.
“Let’s be real,” I said with a laugh. “Trix is usually the one who’s right.”
“Not this time,” Cam shot back.
I smiled as I felt muscular arms wrap around my waist from behind.
“Gray all set?” Leo asked, kissing my neck.
“Yep,” I replied, spinning to face him. “And Kathy was in fine form.”
“She give you shit?” he asked darkly.
“Not any more than usual,” I said, shaking my head. Ashley’s mom glowered at me any time I dropped Gray off, and a few times, I’d thought she wasn’t going to let him leave when I’d gone there to pick him up. She was a huge pain in the ass, but I couldn’t help but give her some slack. Gray was the only connection she had to the daughter she’d lost, and it had to be really hard for her to see me taking care of him when her daughter couldn’t.
“I’ll have a talk with her,” Leo said.
“Don’t,” I replied, kissing his chin. “You’ll only make it worse. I can handle Kathy.”
“She shouldn’t be actin’ like that in front of Gray,” he argued. “She shouldn’t be doin’ it, period.”
“She’s grieving.”
“She can grieve without bein’ a bitch to you.”
“Who’s being a bitch to you?” my cousin Rose butt in, wrapping her arms around both of us. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Kathy,” I said, grimacing.
“Oh, never mind,” she replied. “I draw the line at old people.”
“I didn’t know you had a line,” Leo said dryly.
“It’s faint,” she said, grinning. “But it’s there.”
“Hey,” I said, elbowing her in the side. “I thought you were working tonight?”
“I am.” She let go of us and took a step back. “But your little sister borrowed my coat the other day, so I dropped by to grab it from your mom.”
“You were with Charlie the other day and you didn’t invite me?”
“You were in class and I needed wing-women at the mall,” she said, shrugging as she walked backward. “I took all the girls.”
“They still love me more,” I called after her as she walked away.
“Keep dreaming,” she called back with a wave.
Leo’s chest rumbled with laughter, and I turned back around to see my brother scowling and Trix smiling triumphantly.
“You can’t just keep askin’ people to say you’re right,” Cam bitched, “when they don’t even know what you’re talkin’ about.”
“You just said I had to get someone to agree with me,” she said, pointing at him. “And I got multiple someones.”
“This is bullshit,” he muttered. Then he raised his voice. “Bartender!” He shot Trix an irritated look. “I’d like a Sex on the Beach.”
The people around us turned to look, and when he spoke again, there were no voices to drown him out.
“With a little umbrella, please.”
Trix laughed, clutching her waist as she bent forward.
“I hope you pee yourself,” Cam said, making her laugh even harder.
“One for me, too,” Leo called out. “Make my umbrella pink.”
He raised his fist so my brother could bump it with his. “Solidarity, brother.”
“Appreciate it,” Cam replied, his lips twitching.
“Aw,” I said, my voice teasing. “Do you guys need a second alone?”
“Real funny,” Leo said, reaching for the beer that the prospect brought him.
“You were kiddin’ about the Sex on the Beach, right?” the kid asked nervously.
“Yeah, man,” Leo said with a laugh. “Thanks.”
We left the bar and worked our way through the room, saying hi to people that we saw almost every damn day. If I hadn’t grown up in the club and known what I was getting into when I got with Leo, it probably would have driven me crazy. We practically lived in each others’ pockets.
“You’re coming for lunch tomorrow, right?” my mom asked. She was sitting on one of the couches with her feet in my dad’s lap.
“Yep,” I said with a nod, sitting on the arm of the couch while Leo made his way to the pool tables. “I told Kathy we’d pick Gray up at ten, so he’d have time for a nap before we come over.”
“Good call,” she said. “He’s going to need the energy to keep up with the big kids.”
“And he’d be a monster without a nap,” I said ruefully.
“Don’t call my grandson a monster,” she scolded, leaning against me. “He’s an angel.”
“Cool, I’ll bring him to your house next time he won’t nap,” I joked.
“Perfect,” she said, grinning.
“You’re nuts.”
“Seems like you’d be used to it by now.”
“Hey, Casper,” my Uncle Grease called from across the room. “Your oldest nephew thinks he can beat your ass at pool.”
“I didn’t say that,” my cousin Will said, glaring at my uncle as my dad patted my mom’s feet and stood up from the couch.
“Care to make a wager?” my dad asked as he walked toward them.
“Sit,” my mom ordered, lifting her feet in the air.
“I hope Will doesn’t think he actually has a chance,” I said as I took the spot my dad left.
“He doesn’t,” my mom said easily. “Grease is just stirring the pot.”
I watched as Leo laughed hard at something one of the guys said, and I couldn’t help but grin. Jesus, my man was hot.
“Things are still going good there, I see,” my mom said, nudging me with her foot.
“Yep,” I sighed happily and turned, curling one of my
legs under me. “Gray called me mama this morning.”
“Aw,” my mom cooed. “Did you cry?”
“Why would you think I cried?” I asked with a huff.
“Because you’re a crybaby,” she joked, jerking her feet away when I went to pinch one. “I’m kidding!”
“I only cried a little,” I admitted.
“I totally choked up when Cam called me ma the first time,” she said with a soft smile, glancing over her shoulder at my brother. “He was a lot older, though. He’d said it a bunch of times when we were trying to teach CeeCee to talk, but the first time he just called me ma, like it was no big deal? Hit me right in the gut.”
“He’s such a mama’s boy,” I muttered, chuckling as Cam threw Trix over his shoulder across the room.
“It’s not like Leo’s any better,” my mom replied. “He adores Brenna.”
“Good point.”
“And Gray adores you,” she said simply. “Girls are awesome, but boys are in a whole different league.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Mom laughed. “You know I love you guys the same,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But a boy’s relationship with his mama is an entirely different animal. Once you and Leo have a girl, you’ll know what I’m talking about.”
“If we have a girl,” I replied. “I don’t know if we’ll have any.”
“Really?” she said, lifting her eyebrows in surprise.
“We haven’t talked about it much,” I said with a shrug. “But anytime it comes up, Leo says he wants to wait.”
“That makes sense,” she replied. “You’ve got a pretty full plate at the moment.”
“I know, it just feels like he’s putting it off because he doesn’t want to tell me that he doesn’t want any more,” I confessed.
“Nah,” my mom said easily. “Leo’s always wanted you to have everything you want, and if more babies are something you want, I can’t see him saying no.”
“Maybe.”
“Just ask him,” she ordered. “I swear to God, ninety percent of the problems people have are from misunderstandings, because no one actually communicates with their partner anymore.”