I put my hands on my jeans-clad hips and repeated, “Uh…shut up, kid.”

Ethan kept grinning. “No way. Girls stick together and I’ve had years of that. But guys stick together too. You’re screwed.”

I looked to the ceiling wondering, after dancing around for years in a G-string on a stage with a bunch of losers ogling me, if I had it in me to blush.

I found I didn’t.

I also found Merry’s hand at the small of my back.

I turned my attention to Merry for him to tell me immediately, “He’s not wrong, babe. Guys stick together.”

“See!” Ethan cried.

“How about you two guys go out for dinner and I’ll stay home, knitting or something?” I suggested.

That was when Merry’s hand slid along my back, his fingers curling around my side and pulling me into his side.

“You start knitting, you totally lose cool mom status,” Ethan warned.

“What?” I asked him. “You mean your friends coming over and me using them to try on sweaters with penguins and crap on the front won’t go over good?”

Ethan made a face.

Merry emitted a chuckle.

Vaguely, I heard a car door slam but felt Merry’s movements, so I looked from my kid to him to see him looking over his shoulder through the storm door to see what had made that sound.

I also felt his body instantly get tight beside mine.

At his reaction, I looked beyond him and saw Peggy’s minivan at the curb behind Merry’s Excursion, Peggy clearly visible in the passenger seat and Trent was making his way around the hood.

Shit, I’d forgotten he’d said he was going to be here Friday at five thirty to pick up Ethan.

Of course, I’d told him Ethan wouldn’t be here so he shouldn’t bother.

But now Ethan was here, so was I, and so was Merry.

Damn.

Merry started to disengage from me as the room started to get heavy with his pissed off, badass vibe.

Shit and damn.

“Ethan, go to your room,” I ordered swiftly.

“What’s Dad doin’ here?” he asked.

I looked to my son to see him staring confused out the storm door.

“Ethan, kid, go to your room. Please.”

“I told him I didn’t wanna come this weekend.” His voice was pitching higher, almost whiny in a way I never heard anymore unless he was really tired or not feeling good.

He really didn’t want to be with his dad.

And he really wanted to spend time with Merry and me.

“Ethan—”

“Man,” Merry spoke over me, “help your mom out by doin’ what she says, yeah?”

Ethan’s eyes jerked to Merry, he nodded, then looked at me before he dashed toward the hall.

Another boon. Ethan looked up to Merry, so when Merry spoke, he didn’t talk back.

On this thought, I heard the storm door let out its opening whisper and I looked that way to see Merry stalking out of it.

Badass unleashed.

Shit!