Not all surprises were great, except mine usually are.

I didn't mean to brag, but I should get a gold medal for these kinds of things because the look on my mom's face when she saw me pull up in front of her hair salon on my motorcycle was to die for.

All the times I'd spoken to her on the phone and video chat, I never once mentioned that I was the proud of owner of a motorcycle. Let alone the fact that I got my motorcycle license over the summer.

The shock hadn't lasted as long as I hoped because it was quickly replaced with that overprotective mama bear face, thrown in was that famous hands on hips pose. I knew what was coming. I was going to get an earful which was why I came prepared.

I turned off the bike, removed my helmet then gave my thick hair a shake. It was long enough to cover my eyes now, so I usually kept it sleeked back into a man bun unless I was wearing my helmet.

I reached for the bouquet sticking out of my backpack and the box of Godiva chocolates. Then I casually strolled through the glass doors, using my free hand to fling it open. "Hey, Mom!" I gave her a toothy grin. "Surprise!"

"Cameron Alexander St. James!" She shouted sternly, but her expression was soft, and her eyes filled with warmth. She missed me.

And me being the mama's boy that I am, I had missed her too. I held out my presents, almost like a "don't kick my butt" offering. Fingers crossed it worked.

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't try to butter me up, mister. You can't waltz in here with my favorite flowers...."

"And chocolates," I mentioned in case she missed them.

Her mouth formed an O when she saw it. Then her bottom lip jutted out as she threw a hand over her heart. "I have the sweetest son." She leaned in to sniff the flowers in my hands with a smile creeping up on her lips.

I thought I was in the clear. My shoulders slumped with relief. But I had jumped to that conclusion all too quickly. Mom's hand flew, slapping my bicep. I felt the sharp sting. If I hadn't been wearing my biker jacket, I would have witnessed my arm turning pink then red with her handprint rising to the surface.

"This doesn't excuse you not telling me you were coming home early. I could have been busy. I wanted time to cook you a nice dinner and maybe throw a party. I don't know." She huffed out a breath through her nose, her brows pinched together.

A chuckle escaped me, then I took a step back because that could have cost me a slap upside my head next for being as bold as to laugh at my mother in this situation.

"Completely unnecessary," I replied, knowing it's not what she wanted to hear. "I wouldn't want to see all those people anyways." That's the truth. I was happy to be home, and seeing her was enough.

Mom waved off my response. I knew she was going to plan something no later than tomorrow night.

I changed the subject. "At least it doesn't seem like you're swamped today." I looked around the place.

On a Saturday, Mom would usually be booked and busy from opening to closing. But today, every seat was empty, and the waiting area resembled a ghost town. "Don't tell me you have actual competition in town or something." That was the only logical explanation as to why the best hair salon in town was empty.

Mom diverted her gaze from mine. She fought off a frown and chose to give me a forced smile. "Slow business day, I guess." Snatching the flowers and chocolates out of my hands, she dropped them on the counter. "Yesterday was a lot more packed," she mumbled, but I couldn't shake the feeling that she was lying. She had no reason to, but it was hard to believe her.

"Oh yeah." I peeked over her shoulder. "Is it lunchtime?" I asked after not seeing a single employee at their station.

Mom was about to answer me when Sadie and Phoebe rounded the corner.

"CAMERON!" Phoebe ran to hug me.

"Mother, please take notes," I said, earning myself an unamused stare.

When Phoebe released me, Sadie took her spot. "Oh, we missed you. We had no one to make our coffee runs or fetch us lunch."

Mom and Phoebe cackled.

"Good to know," I mumbled. "I should have hired a stand-in. My apologies." I flashed her a grin.

Phoebe and Sadie are two of my mom's oldest friends. They've been with her since she opened the salon eight years ago.

Phoebe had just graduated cosmetology school and was looking for a salon that allowed her to be herself. In other words, a workplace with a cool boss that let her dress the way she liked. Phoebe was in her late thirties, and her clothing inspo resembled a hippie, but she was more a rebel with her tattooed arms and bright colored hair.

Sadie was in her early forties, a single mom of two. She moved back into town to live with her parents after she divorced her husband. As luck would have it, she was looking for a new job when mom opened up.

Their friendship was built on those late-night closing chats, salon promotions, etc. Sadie and Phoebe are mom's ride or die, hide the body they didn't see anything, and her, no matter what time you call them, they will rush to your side, girls.

"You know we're only messing with you," Sadie teased.

"Cam, you've done a lot of bulking up this summer. The farm did you good." Phoebe nodded, taking in my new physique.

I had to agree. It was what I needed. "You look more handsome than when you left, and you got your ear's pierced!" Phoebe thumbed my one ear lobe. I didn't know how she saw them with my hair covering it.

Mom's eyes widened, "WHAT? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?" She shouted, twisting my ear and forcing me to bend over to alleviate the pain.

"OW OW OW MOM!" I let her drag me back to the front desk.

The ladies laughed at me at my pain instead of coming to my rescue. Typical.

"I'm calling your uncle that idiot wasn't doing his job properly." She angrily swiped up her phone. "Anything else I should know?"

"I love you," I muttered, with puppy dog eyes.

She tugged on my ear harder. "That's not an answer!"

"Ma ma ma! I'm sorry! There's nothing else, I swear." I hissed out a breath.

"There better not be!" She released my ear, giving me a menacing glare.

I didn't care how old I got. Nobody would scare me as much as my own mother.

You'd think her petite frame and angelic-like features with her ashy blonde hair and sage-colored eyes would mean that she was a kind, forgiving, and maybe even gentle person. But definitely not a hell raiser woman that would give Hades a run for his money.

"Dani! Dani! Go easy on him," Sadie intervened after how many minutes had passed. "Boys will be boys."

Phoebe snorted. "That's a terribly dumb saying. They use that to excuse their mistakes instead of owning up to their stupidity." She crossed her arms.

"Umm..." I was trying to think of how to disagree nicely. Not that I wanted to defend every member of my gender. I believed Phoebe was right. I just didn't want to get lumped into that idiotic category.

"Oh, not you, hun. You've been blessed with some good brains." Phoebe revised her statement with a wink. I blew out a breath of relief, wiping away the invisible sweat from my forehead.

"Does good brains do this?" Mom wildly gestured to me. I'll be lucky if she doesn't yank my piercing out in my sleep. She was at the right level of savagery to try those things.

"Eh. It's not the worst he could do. And it doesn't look bad. It's just one ear anyhow. When I was his age, I dated a guy in a band...."

"No, no, no!" The rest of us protested, refusing to listen to another one of those stories about her failed relationships.

Phoebe snickered. "Fine. I won't tell you guys the story. But I'll have you know, it was a good one!"

"You said the running to Vegas to marry your one-night stand was a good one," Sadie told her. Mom had to cover my ears through part of that story, and I was glad she did. Whatever Phoebe said to them that day left their jaw hanging for the remainder of the evening.

"And the one where you supposedly fell in love with a park ranger on your weekend getaway," Mom inserted.

"Let's not forget my favorite, how she got robbed by a man posing as a millionaire at the casino in San Fran." I shook my head.

"He was a good actor! He had the Rolex watch and Armani suit." Phoebe tried in vain to explain her folly.

"Those were probably stolen," Mom said with a tight smile

Phoebe blew out a breath. "So what you're all saying is that you found none of those stories exciting?" She looked at us in disbelief. "I was living on the edge! My life used to be wild, free and–" she took a moment to think of other words, but we helpfully supplied them.

"Chaotic," Mom added.

"Illegally immoral," Sadie said after her.

It was my turn. "How about–"

"I got it, I got it. I'm surrounded by total lame-os." She grabbed a seat. "I'll save that story for people who will actually listen to me."

Me, pretending not to be the least bit curious. But also knowing that I really needed to stop getting caught up with gossiping like those women in the small town TV shows. Adding the fact that the setting is a local hair salon doesn't help.

I've spent way too much time around women. That was 50 percent a complaint and 50 percent, if they didn't spoil me with affection and treat me like I was their son too, I'd have a problem.

The chimes above the doors alerted us to two customers walking in. We greeted them. I gave them a friendly smile and told them they were at one of the best salons in America. Naturally, mom shushed me, looking like she wanted to throw a pen in my direction. That was how I got thanked for hyping up her place of business?

The first lady glanced at me with an odd look then whispered to the woman beside her. Her eyes grew into saucers as she looked me over.

"I'm sorry. We just remembered that we had something we needed to do. Sorry, we're leaving." They hurried out.

"Uh, I can't be the only one that thought that was strange." I turned to mom, who wouldn't meet my eyes. "Mom is something–"

"Crap!" She smacked her forehead. "I just remembered we don't have any food at home. You should hit the grocery store for me."

"I can't exactly buy groceries and carry them on my bike."

"I know that, silly." She fished her jeep keys out of her back pocket and shoved them into my hands. "Take my car. Drop the food off at home and come to pick me up when you're done. Since it's slow, I'll probably close early. Phoebe and Sadie will be glad for the break after the hectic week we've had." Her eyes go to them. "Right, girls?"

They blinked at her then quickly agreed. "Yup," one replied as the other said, "Sure."

"Okay," I said slowly. They must know that I was not dumb enough to fall for this.

"Here!" Mom gave me her debit card.

"What's my budget?" There's always a limit to how many waffles and Oreos I could buy.

"No limit. Have fun! But don't forget the essentials, though." Something was definitely going on here.

I let mom twist me around by my shoulders and shove me out the doors.

"Drive safe. Love you." She kissed the air.

I spoke with confusion. "You too?"

She smiled, leaving me on the sidewalk.

I gave myself a solid few seconds to shake off all the odd thoughts in my head.

Mom hadn't told me where she parked, but I knew it must be in the parking lot next to the salon, somewhere.

I hit that panic button, aka the "I need to find my car button."

The silver jeep wrangler alerted me to its location at the back of the lot.

I hadn't made it one step when I heard my name, "Cameron?"

I could hear her ragged breaths, how she must've ran to catch up with me. Either that or she was boiling mad, huffing and puffing, ready to light me ablaze with her sharp tongue.

It was only a matter of time. An inevitability that I wanted to try to escape. That idea was as silly as me thinking, mom would happily accept her son driving around on a motorcycle.

"Cam?" she repeated the nickname all the people close to me liked to use. I still remembered when I gave her the privilege to address me as "Cam." I didn't let it come off as a big deal, but secretly it had been.

But we're not close anymore, we haven't been in for a while, and that reminder brought back this aching feeling to my chest.

Dang, it. I was doing so well without the thought of her.

She was closing in on me. I could hear her footsteps and see her shadow next to mine.

I should walk away. I didn't need to talk to her, nor do I have anything to say to her.

I managed to take two steps. But then those soft hands encircled my wrist.

I had no choice now, do I? If she couldn't take a hint, then I would have to chase her away.

Steeling myself, I took a breath then spun to face her. "What?" I snapped and instantly regretted it.

She flinched, softly dropping my hand. Those brown irises locked with mine, and a look of pure hurt overtook her face. Her brows curved into a deep V, and her plump lips were folded into a fine line.

I willed myself not to feel anything. To ignore all of it.

Her rigid posture, the smell of her perfume, how she still wore the hair clip I made for her, and that floral yellow sundress that... I couldn't let my mind run with that thought right now.

A slight gust of wind lifted her side bang brushing it against her cheek. My fingers itched to tuck it behind her ear like I used to.

I tore my eyes away. "Can I help you?" I muttered coldly.

My tone of voice hadn't scared her off. "H-h-how are you?" she asked, simply.

The first part of my answer came with a low chuckle. Out of all the questions I had expected, that wasn't one of them.

"Fine. I'd ask you to the same, but that would require me caring." I think I read some guy say that in a book once. The girl definitely turned on her heels and stalked off after that.

But not this girl. She was stubborn.

She nodded. "Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. I'm fine, and I've been waiting for you to return my calls. I know you've been going through stuff, so I wanted to give you time. I hope that was the right decision." she stared me down, waiting for me to agree and tell her she had done exactly what I wanted of her.

I stared back, unblinking. How do I respond to that?

"Maybe we can talk over some coffee?" she suggested with a faint yet hopeful smile. "I was actually headed to the café down the street to grab a drink. I'll throw in a coffee roll if you're nice to me and tell me what the heck happened with...."

I interrupted her. She had misread my silence, and it was about to messy.

"Summer, you've heard the rumors. Feel free to make whatever assumptions you'd like," I told her harshly.

She shook rapidly shook her head. "Screw the rumors! I know they're not true. And how dare you think that I would fall for that crap like everyone else at school. Give me more credit and talk to me!" she folded her arms against her chest.

I knew this wouldn't be easy. I raked my hands through my hair. "No. Just stay away from me." I lowered my voice and bent over so we could be at eye level. "I don't want to have to tell you again."

Summer's mouth fell open, but she recovered quickly, "Sure thing, jack ass." She breezed by me, bumping her shoulder into mine.

I knew my return would stir up enough drama. She should steer clear.

After all, the bad boy would ruin a girl like her.