Free The Heart's Game (The Kelly Brothers, Book 4) by Crista McHugh Page A

door. “Really, that’s not necessary. I’m a big girl, and I can dress myself.”
    “But I want you to look nice in case we meet a good Vietnamese boy for you in Chinatown.”
    I wonder what would happen if I told her I spent the entire night fucking a white boy.
    “Mom, if that’s the reason you want me to go to Chinatown with you—”
    “Why are you not letting me into your room?” Her mother tried to grab the knob again, but Jenny continued to block her. “How messy is it?”
    “ Very messy.” Rumpled sheets, tossed clothes, naked man…
    “Then I will clean it for you while you get ready.”
    “No, Mom, please, I—”
    Her words died in her mouth as the door gave way behind her, and she stumbled back into a hard, warm bare chest.
    If ever there was a need for a wormhole to swallow her up, it was now. Or maybe a Tardis…
    Her mother’s eyes bugged out, and her jaw dropped. Jason coughed to cover his snicker.
    “There’s my shirt.” Dan took it from her and bent to place a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks for finding it.”
    “Who is that?” her mother whispered in Vietnamese.
    Time for the most embarrassing introductions in my life . “Mom, Jason, this is Dan. Dan, this is my mother and brother.”
    Unlike her family, Dan seemed to remember his manners. “Nice to meet you.”
    When they still didn’t respond, he tilted her chin up and placed a quick peck on the tip of her nose. “I’ll see you later this afternoon.”
    “Okay.” If my mother doesn’t kill me first .
    Her mother and brother parted to let him pass, still trapped in stunned silence.
    But as soon the door closed behind him, the spell was broken, and her mother started screeching in Vietnamese, “What was that man doing in your room?”
    A sting of irritation formed at the base of her neck. A few weeks ago, she would’ve respectfully lowered her eyes and pleaded for forgiveness from her mother, but since she was already on a crash course for being disowned, she might as well say what was on her mind. “He was sleeping before you barged in and woke us up.”
    “He was sleeping with you.” Her mother pointed a single finger at her, but it was full of censure. “First, you sleep with your brother’s husband, then you sleep with a white boy?”
    “Just to clarify, she never slept with Mike,” Jason interjected, but their mother drowned him out with a string of Vietnamese curses.
    After hearing her mother call her a slut and a disgrace, Jenny stopped listening. She crossed her arms and sank onto the sofa while her mother circled the room, vocalizing her anger and distress to the walls.
    Jason plopped down next to her. “He has a cute butt.”
    “You would notice that.”
    “I’m an ass man,” he said with an unapologetic grin. “So, tell me a little more about him.”
    Jenny couldn’t help but notice her mother’s rants began to quiet, her ear turned toward them so she could pick up any details.
    “He’s Paul’s old college roommate.”
    “And?”
    “And he just moved up here and joined our game.” She didn’t dare tell them about Comic-Con. Her mother had never understood her fascination with cosplay, and she didn’t want to give her the wrong impression that cons were little more than orgies.
    “What else?”
    “He’s a doctor.”
    That shut her mother up. She came to the sofa, the sly smile on her lips complementing the scheming light in her eyes. “What kind of doctor?”
    “A surgeon.”
    Her mother nodded. “A surgeon is good.”
    “Yeah, too bad he’s a white guy, and I’m nothing more than a slut, eh, Mom?”
    The smile slipped from her mother’s face, and the ranting revived at full force.
    Jason gave her a playful nudge. “Nice comeback.”
    “Maybe I’m getting a bit cranky in my old age.”
    “Don’t forget hormonal from the baby.”
    “How can I forget that?” Her stomach was already churning. She grabbed a watermelon candy from the bowl on the coffee table and popped it in her mouth.