Page 26 of The Fates We Tame

“What girl?” I ask.

She waves her hand as if waving away my bullshit. Always could see through me and my brothers.

Dad laughs. He’s wearing a vintageRolling StonesT-shirt, jeans, and his biker boots, even though he’s no longer officially affiliated with the club.

Mischief sparkles in Mom’s eyes, even as tiredness keeps them bruised. Dad always said her eyes were the reason he was able to keep his dick in his pants, unlike a lot of the other bikers in his generation. Camelot, Uther’s dad, drove his old lady to leave, even though he’d tell anyone who’d listen he still loved her. And both Cue Ball and Wrinkle were part of the old-school belief that old ladies and club girls should be equally sampled.

But my dad? He set the bar for what it meant to fall utterly in love with one woman and keep it that way. Mom says it’s unconditional love between them. But I remember Dad telling me when I was around thirteen years old that it wasunconditional support. He knew down to his soul that Mom had his back and encouraged him to be exactly who he wanted to be.

“The girls got back to the clubhouse in such a flurry yesterday, all full of how you were looking out for a young woman called Sophia.”

“And the old ladies are a bunch of gossips who have nothing better to talk about,” I say, taking the plastic container of treats my mom offers.

“How is she?” Mom asks. “I heard she fell or was knocked down or something.”

“She’s fine. Common hazard in this place.” I pop the lid on the container. Mom’s made me my favorites. White chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I lift one out and take a bite.

Dad reaches over and steals one too. “What does Sophia do?”

“Nothing right now. She has no memory at all of her studies or what she did. Apparently, she was in real estate before her accident.”

“Geez,” Mom says. “Can you imagine? It’s more than the ability to remember. You lose your connection to everyone and everything. At least you remember us. Your family. Your brothers. It would kill me if I thought you didn’t remember me. Poor thing. Is she close to her family?”

I’m not sure how to address it. Even less sure that I want to get into it with my parents. “They come visit her quite often.”

“I’m guessing she’s a pretty little thing,” Dad says.

I try to bite back a smile at the thought of her by stuffing my mouth with one of Mom’s cookies.

“I saw that flicker of a smile,” Mom says.

“Don’t be getting ideas,” I warn.

Mom purses her lips as she studies me. “You just turned thirty, and I’m not getting any younger waiting for grandkids.”

I almost choke on the cookie. “Mom, you have three grandkids. Your other sons have already started.”

She leans back in her seat. “So?”

Dad pats Mom’s thigh. I grew up in a touchy-feely family. Not in a weird way. Just, we show affection for each other. “Your mom won’t be happy until there’s a houseful. Keeps telling me I need to install two sets of bunk beds in the back bedroom so we can fit ‘em all.”

“Well, don’t build ‘em because of me. And Sophia is here for the same reason as I am. We just…”

I find it hard to dismiss Sophia like I was about to.

And a wild idea pops into my head. The two of us, married. Visiting my parents. I’m going to have to speak to the doctor to see if the pain meds I take can cause hallucinations because marryinganyoneright now feels like a bad idea.

“Leave the boy alone,” Dad says, as if he didn’t just hear Mom say I’m thirty.

“You and I both know it’s a tradition for the men in your family to fall hard and fast,” Mom says to him. “How long did it take you to ask me to marry you? Four days?”

Dad huffs. “Took you three months to say yes though.”

Mom chuckles and looks back at me. “And your grandad proposed to your gran after sixteen days. Your brother said he’d fallen in love with Ziana by the end of their first class of their first semester together.”

“Okay, I get the idea,” I say, humorously exasperated by Mom’s efforts. “Reavis men fall fast and hard, but I swear this is not one of those times.”

Except…