Repair Me (Kin #1)(41)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Coffee went flying out of my nose and I began to choke. I couldn’t believe he’d just said that. Ford was laughing so hard, I thought we were both going to be choking. “Don’t say that where other people can hear.”

He kept laughing. “I can’t believe you’re actin’ all shy. It ain’t like there’s a lot of people in here.”

“I don’t want your aunt hearing. She’ll think I’m a slut.”

He laughed again. “She ain’t goin’ to think that. There’s a lot of slutty girls in this town, and my aunt knows every one of them.”

“From working here?” I wondered if everyone hung out at this place.

“From one of her sons bringin’ a different one of them home every night. Jamey is a male whore.”

“I thought you said her son is Joey?” I was confused.

“They’re brothers. Jamey just turned twenty-one. He thinks the world revolves around him.” He shook his head. “Wouldn’t you rather hear about my first kiss and whether I prefer ranch or blue cheese?”

I sat my fork down and looked right at Ford. “I want to know everything.”

He raised his eyebrow. “That’s goin’ to take some time.” He turned when the door opened and watched whoever walked in. Since I didn’t know anyone in town, I didn’t bother looking.

I folded my hands on the table. “It sounds like a lot of dates.”

Before Ford could reply, someone was standing over our table.

Ashley stood there, leaning on the edge. “Seriously?”

Ford looked from me to his ex. “Not the time, Ash.”

I thought back to the day where she’d chased me away and made me feel like Ford had been using me. “No, it’s fine. You should join us. Ford was just telling me all about his family. We came here so I could taste his aunt’s pancakes. I realize that it’s almost noon, but we didn’t get much sleep last night, right babe?” Ford was in shock and, to be honest, I couldn’t believe that I’d just done something so vicious. I’d never fought with a girl, or even defended myself to this sort of extent.

Ashley looked devastated. She made some sound and walked away from the table, without speaking.

Ford wiped his mouth on a napkin and finished off his coffee. “You probably shouldn’t have done that, darlin’.”

“She deserved it.”

He shook his head. “Ash is someone you don’t want to piss off. You may have just started a war.”

I didn’t care. She wasn’t going to scare me away from Ford.

Not again!

Ford

It was just my luck to run into Ashley my first morning that I had Sky back. Of course she would still come into the diner for breakfast. I knew what her motives were. She thought she was going to run into me, since I ate there almost every Saturday. Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t dining alone.

What started as a great morning, turned into something that worried me. When Ashley wasn’t the center of attention, she could be vicious.

“I’ll be right back.” Sky stood up from the table, so I stood up, too.

“Where are you goin’?” I was in a panic, feeling like she was going to dive right into another altercation with the ex.

She reached over the table and touched my arm. “Chill, Ford. I have to use the bathroom.”

I sat back down and looked around the diner, not able to spot Ash standing up anywhere. Figuring that everything would be all right, I finished up my breakfast and stole a piece of Sky’s untouched bacon. My aunt saw me and shook her head.

When I heard loud yelling coming from the direction of the ladies room, I knew what was happening. My aunt went running at the same time as I did.

Two grown women were down on the floor. Each had a hand full of hair and were swinging at one another. Sky’s skirt was jacked up higher than it should have been while Ash’s shirt was ripped at the neck. Knowing that my aunt wouldn’t be able to handle Ash, I went over and grabbed her, pulling her off of Sky. My aunt crouched down and offered a hand to her, while I held a very angry Ash against the wall.

“I’m not havin’ this shit in my establishment, you got it?” Aunt Viv was pointing at Ash and she wasn’t happy about it.

“She started it!” Ash pointed at Sky.

“She wouldn’t shut her mouth!” I couldn’t believe that Sky was still defending herself.

My aunt looked right at me. “Ford, go on and get your girlfriend home.”

Aside from a couple dirty looks the confrontation was over, courtesy of my aunt. She’d probably say I owed her some kind of project at her house, but I didn’t care. The fight could have gotten uglier than it already was.

Shortly after that, we left the diner and headed back to my place. We were both tired and I wanted to get a shower.

I didn’t want to argue with Sky, especially about Ash, but she needed to know what she was capable of. It wasn’t fair that Sky had to deal with her. We weren’t together when I met Sky. I owed her no explanation.

I pulled over a little ways down the road and leaned over, grabbing Sky’s hand. “I guess you hate the diner?”

“I thought breakfast was perfect. Sure, I had a little set back, but I’m not going to let it ruin our time together. This is too important to me, Ford.”

I kissed her hand. “I know what you mean. For what it’s worth, though, I’m sorry.”

She squeezed my hand. “Obviously, Ashley thinks you’re amazing, otherwise she wouldn’t be fighting to keep us apart. She told me that you told her you loved her a couple days ago.”

“I never said that! I swear!”

She smiled. “If you loved her then you wouldn’t be with me. I knew she was lying. That’s why I went after her. I’ve sat back and watched other girls fawning over my boyfriend. After a while, I guess he decided that he wanted to see what they had to offer. It changed me. I feel like if I want something then I have to be willing to fight for it.”

I let go of her hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to fight for me, darlin’, because I don’t plan on goin’ anywhere. You’re too great to let go of again.”

“Good answer.”

Leave it to my dad to get up in my business. He saw us pull up and must have wondered who the girl in the fancy car was. When he realized who it was, I think he was at a loss for words. “I didn’t think I’d see you here again.”