Sal (The Ride Series) Read Online Free PDF

smile that he saw right through.
    “Mack will drive you home,” he said with a sigh, knowing he wasn’t going to get any further with me on the subject. He’d known me long enough to know when I wasn’t going to share.
    “Okay, great.”
    When I arrived home I felt a jumble of confusion, joy, and sheer exhaustion, but mostly exhaustion.
    My phone began ringing the moment I got inside. Thinking it might be Scar needing something, I rushed to dig it out from the depths of my purse.
    “Hello?”
    “Katherine?” a raspy woman’s voice demanded. Though it’d been ten years it wasn’t a voice I’d ever forget.
    “Ma?” I replied incredulously. What the hell did she want? “What the hell do you want?” I voiced my question aloud.
    She barked out a laugh and I winced at the sound. Clearly, she still smoked a pack a day.
    “Nice way to greet your mother,” she said as she snorted.
    “You never deserved the term. What do you want?” I asked again, ready to be done with the conversation.
    She sighed wearily. “Stu and I are in a bind. We need to borrow some money.”
    “Who the hell is Stu?” I demanded.
    “My boyfriend,” she replied with exaggerated patience as though she needed to speak slowly for me to catch up.
    “What happened to Dad?” I asked, sitting down hard on my barstool.
    She snorted. “That bastard and I split years ago, Kat. Now, about my situation.”
    “Hold on a second,” I demanded abruptly. “Let me get this straight. I haven’t spoken to you in ten years. You’re telling me you’re not with Dad anymore and you only called me to borrow money? You’re shitting me, right?”
    “No, I’m not!” she exclaimed. “We took out a loan, we had a sure thing, but it didn’t work out. And now this cock sucker is demanding interest on top of what we borrowed,” she whined.
    “And you thought I was your best bet?” I demanded incredulously.
    “Well, yeah,” she answered as though I was completely stupid.
    “How did you even get this number?”
    With several state lines between us, I hadn’t planned on ever seeing or talking to either of my parents again.
    “Stu knows people,” she replied simply.
    Maybe if I was smarter I’d have dug a bit more into that, but I was so desperate to get off the phone I couldn’t bring myself to give a shit. “Well good for Stu,” I said sarcastically. “I don’t have any money for you, Ma. I make enough to pay the bills and put food on the table, which is more than I could say when I lived under your roof. I certainly don’t have any to spare and especially not for you,” I said, surprised at the conviction behind my words.
    “Well, fuck me,” she muttered.
    “Nice catching up, Ma,” I replied sarcastically.
    “Listen you little…”
    I hung up before she could finish and fought the urge to hurl my phone across the room. I glared down at my shaking hands and took a few deep breaths. I was so angry with how she could still affect me, that she knew how to reach me.
    Then realization dawned.
    I’d told her off. No, I’d told her off . Maybe I should feel sad my mother didn’t give a shit about me and, sure, part of me did. But handling her that way was like vanquishing one of my demons and it felt good. No, it felt great.
    With the feeling of gratification, I slipped off my clothes and crawled immediately into bed, sighing with relief. I didn’t think I’d ever been so tired. Despite my mother’s disturbing call, not much could have kept me from sleep.
    Now I needed to drift into oblivion and that’s exactly what I did.
    The next morning found me holding my new favorite person while her tired parents looked on. I’d brought them good food and strong coffee, which gave me immediate baby privileges. I was in my own world talking to a sleeping Grace, feeling relaxed and happy. So, I was completely unprepared when a knock sounded at the door and Sal walked in with Axel and Tag.
    My heart did that annoying pounding thing and my stomach