Nice Buns: Cheap Thrills, #7

By Mary B. Moore

Alex

Regrets—I've got them.

Mistakes—I've made them.

And I lived with them every day. Wondering if I'd made the right choice back then or if I should have walked away the day my superiors called me into their offices to discuss the case.

I didn't, and it's something I'll always wonder if I should have done it differently. Now I worked next to my son, and I loved every minute of it and the peace I'd finally found in life.

Until my new neighbor moved in and distracted me from the orderly course I was on.

Evie

My mom was a romantic. That's where I'd gone wrong with my ex-husband, thinking anything the man did could ever possibly be considered romance. The divorce had given me back my freedom, though, and I had custody of my son, Cody, so I was putting it behind me.

All I was planning to do was to start over and focus on the two of us. Everyone had known my business back in Pflugerville, so this time I'd keep my head down and stay in the background.

That was until I totally embarrassed myself taking the box from the bakers in town out of my car. To be fair, I was talking about the buns, but if the nice buns shoe fits…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary B. Moore
• Release date: Aug 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215057179

Book preview

Prologue

Evie

To all of the people who’ve been cheated on—how did you find out about it?

Me: I was watching a video that’d gone viral on social media of a kid doing a stupid stunt that went wrong. It had me dreading the day my son called me saying he was in the hospital because he’d jumped up on a metal railing on his skateboard, that’d then slipped, and he’d landed legs akimbo on the bar and had burst his balls.

Sounds innocent, right? Well, in the background of the video was a motel, and just as the kid’s nuts hit the metal and the video zoomed in more, I noticed a familiar red car in the background.

Squinting, I’d tried to read the plate number, but I couldn’t do it until they changed angle. Then, as the guy lay crying on the ground, out came my husband from a door in the background behind him with a woman. Not only that, but he’d kissed her, then looked straight at the camera and grinned.

And this discovery had just happened ten minutes ago.

To begin with, I was numb. But as I watched the video over and over, taking screenshots so I could zoom in on the screen and make sure it was Neil, the numbness gave way to anger like I’d never felt in my life.

See, at the end of the video, it zoomed in on the kid lying in a hospital bed, and just above his head was the date on a dry erase board next to his name.

My son’s birthday.

The birthday his father had missed three days ago.

He’d told us he had a business trip he couldn’t get out of in Atlanta and had apologized profusely for how his ‘job was taking him away from his son on one of the most important days of the year.’

But I recognized that motel. I knew the park the poor kid became a gelding in, too. It was fifteen minutes away from where we lived.

Storming up to the bedroom, I opened the closet and went to Neil’s side. If he was a smart man, he’d have gotten rid of any evidence of his bullshit.

It took me only forty-three seconds to find proof that he was the dumbest, cheating, lying, full of shit, asshole in the world.

He’d left a receipt for the motel in his pocket, and one for his parking was on the floor next to his shoe. There were also condoms in all of his suit pockets—both the jacket and slacks—which was impressive or he just had delusions of grandeur. He’d never been able to go more than once since day one and said any book, movie, or man who claimed it was doable was lying or popping little blue pills.

At least he was using protection, I guess. Not that I’d touched him in years since I’d found him telling a woman he’d never met in real life, only on the internet, that he loved her. I’d only taken him back because I had no experience with divorce and wanted the best for our son, Cody, and thought having both parents in the house until he left for college would do that.

Not once did I think he’d lie to his child’s face and put his dick ahead of his kid’s birthday.

Well, fuck him.

How long has the affair been going on for? I asked as soon as he came through the door three hours later.

Cody was upstairs gaming, so he wouldn’t come down any time soon and overhear the conversation. I never wanted my baby to hear anything like this, especially not about his father.

Jumping, Neil looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Excuse me?

I’d never once had a spine during our marriage. I’d had enough of being beaten down, though, and now I was taking hold of the reins with both hands.

For years I’d forced myself to smile in public, and the only time I smiled in my house was for my son. No more.

You heard me. How long?

Dropping his keys onto the table near the door, he smirked, and it was ugly. And who would I be having an affair with, Evita?

Pulling out the receipts from my pocket, I dropped them on the floor, hiding the smile that wanted to break free as he watched them with a frown on his face. Then, pulling out my phone, I sent him the screenshots, one by one, all thirty-three of them, along with a copy of the video.

I’d take a look at them if I was you. They make for some interesting reading. Maybe the two of you should look for a career change and become porn stars. You’d make a killing.

Keeping his eyes on me, he pulled his phone out of his pants pocket. Then, cockily, he lowered his eyes, unlocked it, and started to look through it all.

The second it registered what he was reading, his expression changed from smug to furious.

Where did you get these?

Amazing what you stumble across on the internet these days, isn’t it?

Unable to look at him anymore, I spun on my heel and walked toward the kitchen.

Things had been bad between us since our son, Cody, was two. I’d come home from taking him to the hospital because he’d had an infection in his ear that’d dehydrated him thanks to the constant vomiting and had picked up the laptop when it wouldn’t stop making noises.

On the screen had been a chat, and with messages coming through so frantically, I’d immediately thought the worst and that something had happened to one of my siblings or parents, or maybe even that there was a work emergency.

Yeah, no. It’d been the woman he’d been having an online affair with.

Because Cody was asleep, I’d scrolled through them with tears rolling down my face at the lies and nasty shit he’d told her about me. She’d been married as well, with three daughters, but she was hinting at leaving her husband and moving closer to where we were.

And guess what? One of the biggest complaints he had about me was that I was always with Cody, and he felt like it was us against him. Those were his exact words, like we were all three years old, not adults with a little kid to look after.

Her reply was: How selfish.

A mother of three calling me selfish for looking after a small child. Did hers have to raise themselves?

Tired, fed up, and over his shit, I’d ended the marriage the same day and thrown him out of the house.

He’d come back two weeks later in tears, begging for another chance, and like the fool I was, I’d given it to him for Cody’s sake. My parents had been together since they were nineteen, and no one in my family had ever had a reason to get divorced, so I’d thought I was doing the best thing for my child.

More fool me. Once the trust was shattered in a marriage, few can get it back to where it was before it happened.

We went to couple’s therapy and tried everything, but, as the therapist explained, if I wanted to pretend it hadn’t happened and go back to how it’d been before this, I’d have to let it go completely. I couldn’t do that, so I went along with the motions, never once complaining when he fell asleep in his study every night, and focused on my son.

But this was too far.

The fact he’d chosen his affair over his son’s birthday, had lied to his crying kid’s face, had ruined that special day with his absence, and had done it to have sex with a random woman in a motel fifteen minutes away from our home lit a fire in me.

And I’ll repeat—the video had gone viral.

Thousands if not millions of people would see him smiling smugly at the camera. Our friends would see it. Our families would end up seeing it. I could only hope they watched it until the end and saw the date and realized what he’d done.

He was a liar. He was a cheat. He was a selfish and manipulative bastard. And I was done.

Even our two dogs, Rocket and Razzle, were done with him. They’d never even raised their heads when he’d come in, and come to think of it, I don’t think they’d done it for a while. They were lazy by nature, but not this lazy.

You’ll understand why I’m making the decision I am, I told him when I heard his footsteps behind me. "You have three days to celebrate Cody’s birthday with him and pack up your stuff, and then I’d like you out of here.

I’ve contacted a lawyer about the divorce, and she’s putting things in motion for me. I’ll retain custody of him, but you can visit him whenever you want—

That suits me fine, he interrupted, trying to sound blasé but failing miserably. He wasn’t sad or upset, he was pissed because he was in the wrong. You can keep him. I don’t want the responsibility of being a parent, anyway.

An almost animalistic noise drowned out my gasp, and when I turned around to see where it’d come from, it was to find Cody standing pale-faced in the doorway.

And he’d heard what the asshole had said.

You— You don’t want me?

I saw the expression on Neil’s face change from a sneer to fake sympathy before he glanced over at him, not even turning fully or looking ashamed at how badly he’d fucked up.

You and your mom are close, kid, so you need to live with her. I’ll see you when I’ve got time, okay?

Cody, my brave little eight-year-old mini-man, tilted his chin in the air, doing his best not to show his dad how close to tears he was.

If you don’t want the responsibility of being a parent, I don’t want the responsibility of being your kid when you feel like it. All my friends’ dads do things with them, but you can never be bothered with me. Their dads go to stuff and are proud of their sons, but you’ve never once done that. You just sit there, looking bored and playing on your phone.

Instead of putting Cody’s mind at ease, Neil just sighed. Let’s not be dramatic. Everyone finds going to school for their kids boring. I’m not the only one who’s found a way to get through it with my phone.

I opened my mouth to tell him to stop, but Cody got there first.

Rot in hell.

Straightening up, Neil glared at him. You’ll have some goddamn respect when you—

Why? Cody yelled, his arms rigid at his sides. You just said you didn’t want to be my dad, so why do you get respect?

Looking from him to me, Neil sneered. You disgust me. I don’t know how I stayed married to you for as long as I did.

I blinked at the hatred in his voice, wondering what I’d done to deserve it, but most importantly, I felt anxious about not wanting my son to witness this.

"The marriage has been more of a cohabiting arrangement for years now, Neil. You know that as well as I do.

Now, for the sake of my son, I’d appreciate it if you could please hold back anything else you’ve got to say until he’s not here to hear it. I kept my tone even and my voice low, hoping it would diffuse the anger in him and save Cody from being hurt further.

No, Mom, I want to hear what he’s got to say. I think I deserve it, Cody said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

My poor, poor boy.

Sweetheart, why don’t you—

Of course the bastard had to interrupt me.

You’ll always be alone, Evita. I mean, look at you. He looked like he’d tasted something disgusting as he scanned me from head to toe. Good luck, you’re going to need it.

Leave my mom alone, Cody screamed, completely losing it.

Storming over to where he’d dropped his stuff as he came in, I scooped it all up and walked back to where Neil was standing and dropped it at his feet.

You need to leave. I’ve paid for more of this house than you have, and I’ve got a child who lives in it.

Yeah, I earned more as a hairstylist here in Pflugerville than he did in his job in Austin, but I’d also had savings my grandparents had started for me when I was born that’d paid for a substantial down payment on the place. I wasn’t losing one cent of it to him.

Once we’ve found a new place to live, I’ll put this one on the market, and whatever the lawyer says you’re eligible to receive from the sale, you’ll get.

Neil went to interrupt, but I didn’t give him a chance. Now, as the resident of the property, I’m asking you to leave. If you need to collect anything, you can do it when my dad’s present to ensure you don’t take what you’re not entitled to.

He’d never seen me like this. I’d always been the one to roll over and go with what he said, but not this time.

Not any other time.

Wisely, Neil chose not to say another word as he picked up what I’d dropped in front of him and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Instead of running to me like he usually did when he was upset, Cody turned and ran to his room. When he did this, it was his way of not wanting but needing time to himself.

It killed me to do it, but I gave my boy all of thirty minutes before I checked on him to find him gaming with his headset on. He was laughing and taking part, but there was a sadness about him.

He shouldn’t have heard any of what had been said tonight or have the burden of it anywhere near him. I hated that it hadn’t worked out that way.

Later on, when he came through to my room and lay across my bed with his head on my stomach, I promised I’d make his life the best and happiest I could, and we made plans. What our house would look like, how he’d have the chickens he’d always wanted but that Neil had said hell no to, and how our dogs would be able to run around in the garden without him losing his mind for no reason about it.

We surfed the internet, finding dinner plates we both loved, cutlery to die for, glasses Cody insisted we had to have… Hell, we even got excited about the small trash cans for the bathroom and holders for our toothbrushes and toothpaste. All of these were things that’d been denied to us until now by a fucked up bully who never wanted to spend any money, and who went for the ugliest and shittiest stuff he could find.

And then we clicked on bedding and towels, and the excitement and enthusiasm coming from my son both made me smile and broke my heart at the same time.

He loved being involved in the decisions, and even though we didn’t have a home to put it all in yet, he knew exactly what we were getting. I’d have let him choose the ugliest stuff available purely to see him like this, but it turned out my kid had good—and also expensive—taste, so I was spared the pain of smiling about things I didn’t like.

I wasn’t going to just make his life the best and happiest I could. I was going to make sure we both followed our dreams. Words were cheap, and money just couldn’t buy you happiness, but actions were rich and said everything.

My actions were going to scream how loved and precious he was. Anything his dad had let him down on, I wouldn’t. Everything his dad couldn’t be bothered to do with him, I’d do. Every mountain he wanted to climb—although I meant that metaphorically—I’d be standing right behind him.

They weren’t empty promises, either. I didn’t know how I’d do it, but I’d make sure I did.

Chapter One

Evie

It was the cut-off sweatpants that did it.

Eyes front and forward, Evie Louise.

Don’t you do it. Don’t look at—

I did it. Not just once but repeatedly.

Every time he pushed the mower forward, his crotch bulge would jerk in the same direction and then settle back until he took a step forward, which was almost constantly.

Those gray sweats, cut so that they were about two inches above his knees, weren’t designed for discretion. And either his underwear was baggy and the non-package-supporting kind, or he wasn’t wearing any. I didn’t care which it was—I was lying, the latter was front and forward in my mental sneaky peeks under his pants—I just had a whole new feeling of gratitude going on today for the whole situation.

Lord have mercy, sweats and lawn mowing porn should totally be a thing. Gardening stores would sell out of mowers, and designers would be drawing down gray sweatpant designs faster than you could say ‘gray sweatpant porn.’

Taking covert peeks out of the corner of my eye, I watched him bend over to do something with the mower and couldn’t stop my mouth from running away.

Nice buns!

Jesus Christ, Evie. What are you doing?

Reaching into the trunk, I stared at the box I’d just picked up from the bakery, ironically called Nice Buns. I didn’t subscribe to keto or carb-free diets, and I had zero regrets about it, regardless of what my ex had to say.

Well, that was a lie. I did regret eating carbs after I was done doing it, but I kept that little nugget of truth to myself.

Excuse me?

I needed an excuse that would get me out of this, so I lifted the lid before the box cleared the side of the car so it looked like I’d been looking into it when the words had slipped out.

With an exaggerated movement like he’d startled me, I straightened up and held the box in front of me.

Oh, hey! I didn’t see you there. You mowing the lawn?

Someone smack me around the head for my stupidity.

Even through all of this, I fought with my eyes to not lower down to the bulge. It was like there was a magnet in his pants. If I even glanced he’d see it and know, so I couldn’t give in. But it was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do, seeing as how the area was facing me now.

The gray bulge was practically staring at me. I could feel it!

Looking from me to the mower and back again, Alex lifted an eyebrow as if to say, "What do you think?"

Fortunately, though, he was a gentleman, so he didn’t actually say it out loud.

Yeah, grass’s growing quickly in this weather, so I have to do it almost every weekend.

Mental note to self: get popcorn for the weekends.

Is that your lawn mowing outfit? I asked, then mentally kicked myself while I tried to dig myself out of the pervert hole. It- Well, I-

Think, Evie, think.

The whole time I was doing this, he was watching me with a slight smile on his face, like he knew what was going on inside my head.

Oh, Alex, you definitely don’t want to know that.

It’s a comfortable outfit for it. I don’t mow my lawn—

Don’t point at the stones covering your whole front yard—the feature that sold you on the house because it meant less yard work because there’s only grass at the back.

—but if I had to, I’d totally go for sweats.

Stop. Talking.

But did my mouth obey? Like hell it did. Well, unless it was the summer and they weren’t cut-off like yours are. That’d be a whole new form of hell.

Looking back down into the box, I tried to pretend that I didn’t feel him staring at the side of my face. Trust me when I say it was almost as problematic as fighting the pull to do a quick crotch take.

I have a couple of pairs of cut-offs I wear during the summer, but, yeah, this is the outfit for the job. In terms of his crotch, I preferred these to his uniform, but in other ways, the uniform had it beat hands down. Nice buns?

I almost dropped the box when he asked the question and looked over to see him staring at my buns. My butt ones, not the box ones.

Sorry?

Slowly, he lifted them to meet my eyes. You said nice buns.

No, I drawled, feeling my cheeks getting hotter. "You just said it."

The chuckle that came out of him was deep and husky, and I felt my toes curl in my flip-flops.

Evie, honey, you said it before we even started talking this morning.

Curses!

Jiggling the box at him, I made a point of showing him my alibi. He was a detective, so he’d appreciate the proof.

"Just did a run to the bakery for some buns—nice buns."

Dusting his hands off on the legs of his pants, he moved closer to the small fence that separated our properties at the front. What kind did you get?

And then he did something that made the angels sing.

He lifted his leg over it, meaning that the sweats tightened across the bulge, making it even more visible.

Sweet Lord in a manger, I swear I saw veins and the outline of the head of his penis.

Was it possible to buy shares in just the style of a garment instead of the whole brand? Like a sponsor-a-sweatpant type of deal?

He had one leg on either side of it when I heard his husky laughter get louder. Evie, you’re gonna drop the buns.

Unable to look away, I moved my hand to try and straighten the box up, but that was as good as it got.

That was until the one thing that could snap me out of my stupor did just that.

"Mom, can you hurry the hell up? You texted like twenty minutes ago saying I had to be at the door five minutes ago. I’ve been waiting the whole time, and I’ve got stuff to get back to."

Stuff meaning gaming. My eleven-year-old son rarely took time away from it unless he was going to school.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw my boy glaring at me from around the corner to the back of the house. My world was wrapped up neatly in one human being, but sadly his rarely involved me. All the hurt and pain caused by his dad had been balled up into one meteor that he kept hurling at me when it got too much for him, and it hurt.

And today appeared to be one of those days.

Say hello to Detective Bell, Cody.

His eyes cut over to Alex, and instead of saying the word, he just jerked his chin at him and looked back at me. Can I go back to what I was doing yet? Some of us don’t have all day.

Cody, I snapped, patience gone. "I forgot my keys this morning because I wanted to get something nice for you in the hope we’d actually have breakfast together like families do.

I apologized when you gave me grief for forgetting them after you finally replied to my texts, but there’s no good reason for you to be rude to Detective Bell. Now, say hello, please.

Ever the obstinate child, he glared over at Alex again. Yo!

Cody, Alex greeted back, his voice firm. Wanna carry the box inside for your mom?

Giving him a belligerent look, Cody shook his head. Not really. She’s got arms and legs.

Oh, my God, this was humiliating.

That she does. But when someone goes out of their way to get you something like your mom’s done this morning, the polite thing to do is to assist her with it.

Rolling his eyes, my son gave a small man sneer. Whatever.

Okay then, Alex drawled, his voice sounding closer to me now. It’s just as well she invited me to join y’all. Seeing as how she has arms and legs to carry all this in, you’ve got arms and legs to get plates out, put the coffee on, and do the dishes afterward.

His eyes widened at this. Nuh uh, we’ve got a dishwasher that does all that.

Not missing a beat, Alex took the box out of my numb hands. Nuh uh, he parroted back. Your mom says it’s acting up, so I’m checking it out—he leaned forward slightly—"after the dishes are done, ‘cause I’ll be needing the sink."

Glaring at me, Cody snapped, You can’t do this. I’ve got rights.

I was done. I’m thinking that given Detective Bell works as a law enforcement officer, he’s more aware of your rights than you are. I also think that I need to change the Wi-Fi password later so that you understand your behavior right now is horrific.

You can’t do that, he screeched. You changed it on Monday.

Before I could reply, Alex was moving me forward and closing my trunk. Nudging me toward the house, he kept his eyes on my kid as he said, No need to change the password, Evie.

Cody’s body relaxed dramatically hearing it until Alex added, I’ll show you how to block gaming on your settings. It’s much easier to do because then you don’t have to go around all of your devices re-attaching them to the internet.

Holy shit, that was like heaven. I couldn’t even count the amount of time I wasted doing that. Almost everything was attached to it these days, including our lighting, and it was a pain in the ass fixing it all when this one acted up.

Thank you, I breathed, shooting him a smile.

See, my ex was never like this. I’d lay down the law with Cody, and he’d go behind my back and say okay just for an easy life. I’d change the Wi-Fi password, and he’d give it to him. He also never had the time or inclination to teach our son how to do things or even spend time with him, so it was like I was fighting a battle that was impossible to win.

Having someone even take my back for five minutes, or show me something as simple as adjusting the settings on the internet, was so vastly different from how life had been three years ago. Sure, it was temporary—so temporary it would last a matter of minutes—but still. It felt like I could breathe for the first time in years.

Cody begrudgingly held the door open for us, then moved over to the sink as Rocket and Razzle danced around Alex for a moment, then returned to their bed when he’d given them chin scratches.

The way Cody was staring down into it made my stomach drop. My darling child had a habit of taking dishes to his room or making something while I was out. Then he’d hide it somewhere, swearing blind he didn’t have it in his room until he either couldn’t stand the smell, or I threatened him with hosing it down with everything in it, including his Xbox and PC.

Which I’d done last night, so obviously, while I was out, he’d ‘found’ the missing plates and bowls and had dumped them in the sink, thinking I’d do them while I did the rest. Unfortunately for him, Alex had unknowingly given Cody a taste of karma, and he was now going to have to clean them himself.

I can’t do it, Cody said firmly, shaking his head. I don’t know how to wash dishes. They don’t teach us stuff like that at school, so—

Keeping his tone light, Alex interrupted. You don’t know how to fill the sink with water and dish soap? How to pick up the sponge and rub it across the plates until they’re clean? How to put them on the dish drainer next to you so they dry unless you’re feeling super helpful, and pick up the dish towel to dry them by hand?

Because his voice wasn’t mocking or scornful, it had an impact