Read Online A Dangerous Game by Rick R. Reed - Free Book Online Page A

“Can you come back in about an hour?”
    “No, Mom. I got all this shit to carry around.” He pushed past his mother into the apartment. The first thing he noticed was that it was not a one bedroom, as she had said, but a studio. The second thing was her brass bed, all set up in the corner, and the man in it, clutching a sheet to his hairy chest.
    Linda tittered. “I don’t think you guys have ever met. Harry, this is my son, Wren. And Wren, this is my boss, Harry.”
    The man, besides having a body like a gorilla’s, had no hair on his head, and his deep brown eyes were piercing. “Charmed.”
    Wren nodded. He turned back to Linda. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that screwing your boss was part of your new job description.”
    “Wren! I oughta slap your face. Apologize to Harry.”
    Wren just shook his head, not removing his gaze from his mother. Like him, her skin was fair and pale, and he watched the line of scarlet move up from her chest to envelop her face. It felt good. She should be embarrassed.
    Linda pulled her robe tighter. Harry got up, keeping the sheet around him, and went into the bathroom, then closed the door behind him.
    “What’s going on, Ma?”
    “Oh, I’ve been meaning to tell you. Harry and I have been seeing each other for a couple of weeks now. It just happened. I know he’s kind of hairy, but I think he’s cute. And he’s good to me.”
    “And you’re good to him. Is this how you earned your promotion?” Wren sneered.
    Linda leaned her face in close to her son’s. She was smiling, but there was nothing cheerful about her words. “Don’t you dare talk to me that way. I don’t deserve it. All I’ve done, my whole life, is take care of you and make my share of sacrifices so you could be happy. And I’m not complaining. I did it out of love, expecting not a damn thing in return. So don’t you barge in here and judge me for maybe going after a little bit of happiness myself. Is that too much to ask from my son? My son who I thought, by the way, was a grown man?”
    It was Wren’s turn to redden. He could feel the heat burning his face.
    Linda went on. “And for you to insinuate that I got my promotion by screwing the boss, well, that really sucks. Do you know how hard I’ve worked? How many overtime hours I’ve put in? How much I volunteered for stuff no one else wanted to do just so I could get ahead? How dare you say that to me! It would make me nothing more than a common whore. Is that what you think?” Linda grabbed Wren’s chin, forcing him to look at her. “You think your mother’s a whore?”
    For the second time that day—and it wasn’t even 7:00 a.m. yet—Wren felt on the verge of tears. He’d been a shit to talk to Linda the way he had. His voice came out as a quivery whisper. “I’m sorry, Mom. I wasn’t thinking. I had a rough night.” Wren bit his lip, wondering if he should tell Linda the truth about what happened during the night but decided against it. She didn’t need the heartache, and she could never understand. Or maybe she would understand, and it was that second option he feared subjecting Linda to.
    No, he was a grown man, as she had said, and he should take care of himself.
    “Things didn’t work out with Devin. And I’m feeling kind of homeless right now.”
    As if to underscore the impossibility of Linda taking him in, Harry emerged from the bathroom, followed by the sound of a flushing toilet. He must have left his clothes in there, because he was now dressed in old man jeans and a light blue Oxford shirt. He was strapping a gold watch on his hairy wrist. Eyeing the two of them, he sat down on the edge of the bed and slipped on a pair of loafers, sans socks.
    Wren wondered what on earth his mother saw in this man. But that was a conversation for another time.
    “I better be getting downstairs.”
    He paused in front of Linda and smirked at Wren. Wren stepped aside, and Harry gave Linda a quick peck.
    “See you down there?”
    Linda