Kiss My Sass [Books 1 & 2]

[book 1] chapter twenty: blast from the past

"I HAVE A surprise for you," I told James the next day at lunch. I was way too excited to keep the news a secret from him.

    He looked up from his mashed potatoes, his eyebrows raised. "I hate surprises."

    I bumped his shoulder with mine. "Shut up and listen."

    James put his spoon down, a bored look on his face. "Let's hear it."

    "I found your mom's address!"

    Nothing. I was hit with the cold air of silence. James' face was blank, not a single expression on it as he stared back at me. Finally, after what felt like forever he blinked, once and then twice. James genuinely looked at a loss for words until he cleared his throat. "What did you do?"

    "I found your mom's address," I repeated in a much smaller voice, feeling a wave of regret course through me. Damn it, why didn't I listen to Niko? For once the idiot actually made sense, but of course I was too stubborn to listen to him.

    "Okay."

    "That's it?" I asked bewilderedly. I just dropped a bomb on the guy, and that was all he had to say?

    He poked the mashed potatoes with his spoon evidently not interested in the rest of this conversation. "I have nothing else to say about this."

    "You don't want to meet your mother?" I questioned.

    James shoved a spoonful of his lunch in his mouth before spitting it out into a napkin. "What the hell is this shit?"

    "The lumpy gravy should've been a giveaway," I muttered.

    "We're going out for lunch tomorrow," he proposed, wiping mashed potato residue off the side of his mouth.

    "We can get food tomorrow," I agreed. "After we see your mom."

    His expression turned hard and he looked at me so intensely I shifted in my seat. "Why don't you understand I have zero interest in seeing her?"

    "But she's your mom," I cried.

    "So what?" His expression softened when he saw my reaction from his yelling. "If she really wanted to see me she would have reached out."

    "I'm sure she had a good reason," I offered. Why couldn't this guy just give her the benefit of the doubt?

    "I'm not interested," he finalized.

    "James," I whined.

    He raised his hand to silence me. "This is my choice and I say no. End of discussion"

~*~

    "Come on," I said during the drive home.

    "I said no more talking about this."