Page 20 of Mr. Naughty List
But there were a lot of things from his childhood and adolescence that he preferred not to think about. And, frankly, Mom would be devastated to learn about them or remember them herself. She wasn’t a bad woman. She’d just been in a bad position. Thank God he was old enough to understand that now.
“It’s RJ?” another voice piped up from inside the house. “Perri? Is it RJ? Move over!” His tiny brother Beau’s high-pitched voice was just a bit deeper than his twin sister’s. It was the only way RJ could tell them apart on the phone, and one reason he preferred to FaceTime with them when he was away.
“Both of you get away from that window!” Mom scolded, coming over to shut it, her blond hair held back in a red scarf. “You know better than to—oh!” She raised a thin brow and scolded him with his full name, “Randall James Blitz! Where the fu…um, where on earth have you been, young man?”
“Mom, I’m sorry. I should have called. I didn’t—”
“Get in the house!” She frowned and pointed toward the door beneath the window. “Now!”
RJ raised his hands in surrender as she tugged both kids from the open window and shut it firmly behind them. He’d just put his hand on the front doorknob when the door was jerked open from the inside by a pink-cheeked Perri, Beau stumbling down the stairs behind her.
A golden retriever called Brady came barreling from the kitchen, barking at RJ as he always did. Like RJ didn’t belong in the house. Like he didn’tbelong.
“Brady, stop!” Beau yelled, wrapping his arms around his dog. “It’s just RJ. He’s come home. He’s our brother,yourbrother, remember?” He spoke to the dog, as calmly and sweetly as his little four-year-old voice could, and it melted RJ’s heart even though he wanted to find a way to be hard right now.
Hell, he’d been kicked out of Mr. Danvers’s apartment. His siblings barely knew him. The dog didn’t even believe he belonged here. Why should he feel any different?
But he kept those petty thoughts to himself. His mom wanted him here; his little brother and sister did too. Who knew what his stepbrother thought, but Doug claimed to be thrilled he was home. Never mind that RJ could see the lie in Doug’s eyes. He wished he wasn’t so good at spotting liars.
“RJ,” his mother said, starting down the stairs with her hands out like she was going to either smack him or grab him in a hug.
He dodged her when she reached the bottom, remembering that he hadn’t showered and that he was covered in the scent of sex and Mr. Danvers. No, the scent ofAaron.
God, what a sweet name.
He’d known Mr. Danvers’s first name already of course. But a night of holding the man in his arms and breaking him open with pleasure again and again had somehow changed the ring of it.
“RJ!” his mother said more sharply, as he started up the stairs without acknowledging or hugging her.
“Sorry, Mom,” he said, stopping on the second rung up. “I should have called or texted. I was…yeah.” He grinned sheepishly.
Her brows shot up.
“Anyway, uh, I need to shower.”
She blinked, shock falling over her face for a moment. But then she rolled her eyes and didn’t try to stop him. “Say it won’t happen again.”
“It won’t.” Although it would because he was a grown man.
“And if it does, you’ll text me.”
“I will.”
She rubbed her forehead before changing gears. She was good at that. “Come on, kids. We need to get some yummy breakfast in you and then we’re going to Target.”
“Yes! Target!” Perri fist pumped the air.
“No! Not Target!” Beau cried, his little shoulders slumping and a whine starting in the back of his throat. “I hate Target!”
RJ was grateful to disappear up to the second floor and down the hall to the guest suite before his little brother really got going. He knew he’d screwed up by not calling or texting his mom and might warrant a punishment. But listening to the whine of a discontented four-year-old had to be one of the most severe penances in hell. And RJ didn’t think he really deserved that.
He flicked open the curtains and looked outside. It wasn’t a cold day, not really. Especially not for winter anywhere else in the world, and it was barely cold by Tennessee standards either. Buthewas cold all the same. Being kicked out so unceremoniously from Mr. Danvers’s apartment that morning had stung.
He’d tried to salvage it and left his number in Mr. Danvers’s phone like he’d said he would. Plus, he’d left Mr. Dan—no,Aaron—he’d left Aaron hard as a rock and panting for more. But still…
After such a hot night, the morning had been like ice.
The steamy shower in the en suite attached to the guest bedroom was a blessing on his skin. He ducked under the stream and reluctantly scrubbed away all the lingering scents. His mother had put out fancy soaps in the guest shower, and he applied them liberally. He felt better afterward, more clearheaded, but also like he’d lost something important that he might never have again.