Craved Mate: Cybermates by Ayers, Candace (good short books .txt) 📕

“Go to hell, Uncle Mac.” Jenny dragged a pack of cigarettes from her purse, shook one out, and lit it, inhaling deeply. “Things were easier before you came, you know?”

“For you. Yeah, I bet they were. You didn’t have anyone holding you accountable. But now you do, so I suggest you step up and grow up.”

“I am grown up. I have a kid.”

“You birthed a child. It’s not the same thing.”

She took another hit from her cigarette, breathed it in deeply, and blew it back out in a long stream of smoke. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?”

“Am I? Okay. I’m an asshole. Fine. I’ll be an asshole, but you’re nineteen years old with a child you don’t take care of and an ill father that you don’t seem to give two shits about. You don’t work, you don’t go to school. All you do is follow dumbass boys around, trying to get knocked up with another baby that you won’t take care of. From the way things look, I’d say you’re pretty much deadweight around here. Your father may be dying, and if that happens, your mother could very well lose her will to live too. The grief of it could kill her, but what’s it to you? As long as they’re still able to stand upright and breathe in and out, they can shoulder your responsibilities for you, isn’t that right?”

Heather came rushing out of the house, a pained look on her lined and weary face. “Hamish, no. Don’t do this, please. Not like that. Not right now.”

Jenny threw her cigarette down and stomped it onto the pavement. “I’m fucking out of here.”

Swearing, I turned back to my niece, my sister’s guilt trip already ripping a hole through my heart. “Jenny, wait. I’m sorry. I—”

“Fuck off!” Her voice wavered and tears filled her eyes before she turned and took off down the street.

Heather slapped the back of my head. “What the hell, Hamish? I know her behavior is atrocious right now, but shouting at her like that isn’t going to solve anything.”

Heather was ten when I was born, and she’d assumed the role of second mother to me. She was the only person who ever called me Hamish, my given first name. To everyone else, I’d been Mac since I was six years old.

I growled. “Someone needs to say something. She’s a delinquent.”

“Yes, well, she’s having a difficult time too. Like you pointed out, she may lose both her parents.”

I closed my eyes and rolled my head back releasing a sigh. “I didn’t mean that, Heather. Neither of you is dying. Warren’s a fighter and he’ll pull through. I was just trying to get through her thick skull.”

“Give her some space, okay? I know she’s not handling this in a very mature way, but she’s still a kid herself. I’ve been trying to convince her to let me set her up with a therapy appointment. So far, she’s balked at the idea, but I haven’t given up.” She sighed. “If you get tired of caring for Amethyst—”

“I’ll never get tired of her! Don’t worry about that. Ame is a blessing. I’m very attached to that drool-dlebug, and you’ve got enough on your plate. I got her.”

I’d purchased the condo next door to my sister and brother-in-law so I would be handy when Heather needed me to help with Warren. Lately, when I wasn’t on shift at the station, I’d also been keeping Amethyst overnight, since Jenny was making it home fewer and fewer nights these days, and Heather and Warren needed all the sleep they could get.

Being woken up by an infant in the middle of the night didn’t bother me one bit. I’d been a firefighter for eleven years, since I was twenty-two. I was used to having to hop out of bed, alert and ready, whenever duty required.

“We’ll be fine, little brother. Stop worrying so much.” She grinned. “You need to have your own life too, you know. So you stress less about mine.”

My own life? My mind drifted, like it had for the five hundredth time in the last five hours to a tall, willowy, hazel-eyed beauty.

Who would be perfect, if she weren’t human.

7

Mel

Breakfast at Rise and Shine was a total-body experience. The dining room served fresh cinnamon rolls that melted in your mouth. And bacon—I hadn’t eaten bacon since 1997. My thighs might suffer later, but my belly was in heaven. I’d forgotten how orgasmic high-fat food could be. The freshly squeezed Florida orange juice was the topper. I could drink a pitcher of the stuff. And I would have, if I didn’t have to carefully monitor my glucose level.

Since I’d arrived, I’d shot Adam a couple of short texts but avoided his calls. I’d spent the rest of the day yesterday, after my tree incident, lying on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and enjoying a delicious dinner at a place called Tuna’s Seafood House. Then, with a glass of wine in hand, I watched the sunset while soaking in my private jacuzzi. Embarrassing tree incident aside, so far my vacation was turning out better than expected.

No place was ever this enjoyable with Adam around.

Jacob sat at my table and talked to me while I ate breakfast. He was a nice kid and pleasant company, and he shocked me when he called me Melody Manes. The kid had put two and two together. Frankly, I was impressed that a kid his age had ever heard of me. Or should I say that he’d ever heard the one song that was my claim to fame. Yes, I was a one-hit-wonder.

Not that I had any sour feelings about descending from a chart-topper to an everyday nobody. It had been my choice to secede from the limelight.

Jacob asked me to sing a couple of times, but I didn’t want to interrupt anyone’s breakfast. Before he had a chance to implement persuasive tactics, a small woman with