Inevitable Addiction by Christina C. Jones

Author:Christina C. Jones [Jones, Christina C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-28T04:00:00+00:00

&

“So… who is Patrick?”

I practically spit out my water but caught myself at the last second and swallowed instead, setting off my choke reflex. Tariq was unmoved, watching me with a completely placid expression as I worked to clear my throat, taking another sip from my glass. When that one went down correctly, I cleared my throat, and returned my water to the table.

“How um… how do you know about Patrick?”

One corner of his mouth twitched up, into the tiniest smirk. “Your mother.”

Ugh.

Of course.

I should’ve known my business wouldn’t stay mine very long between those two. Friends since they were kids, developed into a connection that was deeply familial, but definitely not the brother and sister type. I’d always known there was more to their relationship than “friends”, but the details hadn’t interested me too much. All I cared about was that I had a mother who loved me fiercely, and a Tariq whose love was just as strong. Even before they finally stopped playing and got married, I’d long considered Tariq the only father I’d ever known.

Hell, even knowing the dark details of my conception, including who my paternal family was… Tariq was the only father I cared to know.

“I… was under the impression that was something that would stay between us,” I said, cautiously choosing my words as I tried to avoid the question. Lunch had been great so far – he’d cursed about the problems I was having in rehearsals, offered to go kick ass, given me words of encouragement, questioned my spending habits, told me all the cute things Serenity was doing, giving me the real deal of how recording an album was stressing my mother out.

Why did we have to broach this subject?

“I don’t think she thought it was something private, that she couldn’t share. But, we’re good and settled with each other, so we deal in all of each other’s daily minutiae.”

My eyes went wide. “Catching your adult daughter walking her overnight guest out in just a robe is “daily minutiae”?”

“No…,” he said, dragging the word out as his face dropped into a frown. “But “ran into Dawn today, with her friend Patrick who builds custom furniture – we should commission that bed for Ren!” … is.”

“… Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” he replied, sitting forward a little bit. “I just wanted to know who my wife was trying to give money to, but now I need all the details about this lil nigga. Start talking.”

“Tariq…”

“Dawn, I’m not playing.”

I sighed. “I mean… there’s nothing to really tell. He’s a nice guy. He treats me well. He makes me happy.”

“Has he asked you for any money?”

“Seriously?!”

Tariq shrugged. “You’re a beautiful, young girl, with more than you need. It would be ridiculous for me to not wonder.”

“No,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. “His business has been in his family for years, and he’s a homeowner, and he’s… not like that. The only thing he asks is… that I be myself. That’s all.”

Tariq stared at me for a moment, then nodded.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.