Thin Love (Thin Love, #1)(143)
“Damn, Kona, don’t get all soft on me.” Ransom laughs, slapping his shoulder. “Your shadow is huge, man, but I’m happy to walk in it.”
Kona takes Ransom by the back of the neck, pulling him close. It’s not quite a hug, but a little touch of expression that he hopes tells Ransom he loves him. “Buddy, my shadow will be nothing to the one that follows you. I have zero doubts.”
To his left, Kona hears Keira sniffle and both he and Ransom turn toward her, eyes wide as they see the tears leaking from her eyes. And then, just like that, the awkwardness passes as Ransom and Kona both laugh at her.
“Oh shut up.” She gets up from the table, throws her napkin at them before she brings her half eaten plate to the sink. “You’re both *s.”
“Come on, Mom, don’t get pissy.” Ransom leaves the table and stands behind Keira, kissing the top of her head. “You are such a girl sometimes.” He ducks away from Keira’s elbow and pulls his phone out of his pocket when his text alert chimes. “Oh shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Keira pulls a dish rag from the counter to dry her hands and looks up at Ransom as Kona clears the table.
“Um, nothing.” He looks again between his parents and Kona recognizes the smirk. He’s noticed his son giving Keira that look over the past few weeks when he was trying to butter her up. But he’d never given it to Kona. Not until this moment. “Hey, man, you think I can check out a little early? I mean, I know you wanted us to watch that movie and everything…”
“It’s cool. I’ve got that meeting in the morning, so I wasn’t planning on staying up too late anyway.” Kona nods to his phone. “What’s up?”
“Emily has an extra ticket to Jazz Fest. They’re on the way to see Frank Ocean.”
“The redhead?” Kona smiles at the way Ransom tries not to bounces on his feet. She was a pretty girl. He’s not surprised by his son’s poorly-contained excitement.
“When did this happen?” Keira asks, leaning against the sink. “I thought you two were just friends.”
“We are. I mean… sorta.” His attention returns to his phone when another message sounds and the smile on his son’s face becomes ridiculous. “So, can I go? They’re gonna pick me up in like ten minutes.”
“Ransom, you don’t know the city.” Keira gets a strange wrinkle between her eyes and Kona blinks at her. He’d never seen her look at their son that way. “Emily is a nice girl but I don’t anything about her or who you’ll be with.”
“Mom…”
“Come on, the boy’s sixteen and it’s not late.” Kona tries to keep his voice light, easy. He doesn’t know if he is overstepping his bounds with her, but, he figures, Ransom is his kid too. He should have a say in what he does. “He’ll be back soon enough and then you can head back to Mandeville when the concert’s over, Wildcat.”
“Would stop calling me that?” She says to him, head turning in his direction.
“Sixteen years, sweetheart and you’re still asking? You know I won’t.” Kona fails at keeping the laugh out of his tone. This is Keira deflecting, Keira trying to distract the attention so she’ll win an argument. Some things never change. Kona rolls his eyes, touches her arm to make her look at him, generally curious where all this worry is coming from. “What’s the problem? He’s a good kid and I’m sure he’s not gonna get mixed up in something stupid. Besides, you can’t tell me he hasn’t been to a concert before, not with the industry you work in.”
“That’s not the point. New Orleans isn’t Nashville.”
“Please.” Another small laugh and Kona reclines against the island, staring down at her. “You know what I was doing at sixteen in this city?”
“Someone cheap and tarty, I’m sure.”
Ouch. Not completely wrong, but that was still below the belt. Kona shuts up, not eager to piss her off, but can’t seem to stop himself from glaring at her.
“Mom, it’s fine. I’ll tell her I can’t go.” Ransom doesn’t pretend to hide his disappointment and Kona hates that the kid’s voice goes soft, that he immediately moves his thumb across his phone, likely telling his girl he can’t see her. “We’ll go back to Mandeville after we watch the movie. That okay?”
When he walks away, not waiting for answer, Kona widens his eyes at Keira, motions toward the sad slump of Ransom’s shoulders.
She watches him for a second, then slaps at Kona’s touch when he tries pushing her toward Ransom. “No, that’s okay, son. You go. I’ll wait for you here so they won’t have to drive all the way out to Mandeville.”
“You sure?” he says, turning on his heel.
“Yeah. It’s fine, just be careful and please text me when you get there.” Kona clears his throat. Keira sighs, but doesn’t fuss at Kona. “Well at least text me when you’re on the way back, okay?”
“Thanks, Mom.” That sad attitude vanishes as Ransom sends his text, then kisses Keira on the cheek. She waves him off and returns to the sink, attacking the mess Ransom had made in Kona’s kitchen when the boy catches Kona’s eye. His kid is not remotely subtle, gives Kona a nod, then another that he directs toward Keira.