I burst out laughing. “Truth,” I said between gasps of breath. I could just picture Tanner’s face if I did a public blog about that. “But anything looks tame when you put it next to your work, Mom.” Having an erotica author for a mom had that tendency.

She chuckled and walked behind the bar to wrap her arms around me. I hugged her back, shaking my head. “I do wish I could help Hannah,” I said, my thoughts returning to our conversation this morning.

“Oh, honey, I don’t think she needs a Smile Maker. She seems pretty content with Jake.”

“Ew, gross, Mom. No.” I shuddered. “I meant with all the other stuff. The advice and…I don’t know.”

“I know, Amber,” she said, patting my back before she let me go. She looked me in the eye. Waiting.

“It’s not just birth control info they hide,” I said. “It’s everything. Anything to do with sex.” I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking about that ridiculous presentation today. “It’s archaic. Hulk Smash. Sex bad.”

Mom brushed back the feathered ends of my hair. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do about that…” A light clicked behind her eyes. “Should I write the school? Tell them their education on the subject is outdated? I could send a few signed books as a bribe? Or maybe to show them that what you all want to know is…what was the word you used? Tame?”

“No, Mom,” I said, laughing. “I heard a rumor that the board is already trying to move the school in a different direction.”

“Oh really?” She grinned. “Seems I need to give Hannah’s mom a call and get the scoop.” She sighed. “But you know you can always ask me if you’re ever curious about something.”

I nodded. We’d always had an open-door policy. I was free to ask questions without judgment. Dad was a youth psychologist, so he was beyond chill whenever I came to them with anything. Not that I usually hit them with anything too crazy.

Like what happened with Brandon. Mom knew most of the details. She’d been there to help me through it, help me understand that I wasn’t in the wrong.

“Hannah, too,” Mom said, thankfully yanking me away from the past. She reached for the Nutella, grabbed her own spoon, and took a bite. “I know Connie can be a little…I don’t want to say uptight, since I like her so much but…” She chuckled. “My knowledge is Hannah’s knowledge.”