Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors by Tiana Laveen

Book: Smoke and Mirrors by Tiana Laveen Read Free Book Online
Authors: Tiana Laveen
Ads: Link
away.
    “She had a lot on her shoulders. But, you know, I was a kid then, Brent. I saw her, wanted to get with her, so I made my move. I had a raging hard on for redheads at the time, too. And quite honestly, Brent,”—The man shook his head and sighed—“I just wanted to have sex with her. I was a bone head back then, wild ’nd crazy.” He chuckled. “I hate that this is our first face-to-face conversation after all of this damn time, something so fucked up to hear I suppose, but after a while, I started believing ’er when she told me you didn’t want to see me. I had offered to fly you here a few months ago, as soon as I got my new place, and she said no. I’ve been out of jail for over a year, but I knew as soon as I got myself financially stable, I was coming after you, but she cock-blocked the shit out of that. Imagine my surprise to get that voicemail from you, huh?” The man leaned a bit closer and lightly tapped him on his shoulder, an affectionate gesture that only sent Brent further into his emotional tailspin.
    How could she do this to me?! Mama’s been lying this whole time! Even if he is lying too, some of what he is sayin’ has to be true, it makes sense! Who is she?! Who have I been living with?! No wonder she was acting so weird this morning. She knew eventually I’d be told what had really happened…
    “You and I don’t have a relationship. Closeness between us?” He pointed between the two of them. “Not so much. I want to change that, if you’ll let me.”
    They were quiet for quite some time; only the sound of cars driving past broke up the uncomfortable silence. “And as I look at you, it amazes me, man.” He shook his head and smirked, seemed to be admiring the smaller image of himself, getting a kick out of it. “We look so much alike.”
    Brent nodded in agreement. There was no denying the paternity. Maury Povich was definitely not needed…
    “Do you know why your eyes look like that?” The man’s lips curved in a slightly devious smirk.
    “No…but I was always told to take my contact lenses out with new teachers though, the ones that hadn’t seen me before, because it was distracting. Everyone thought I had those fun contact lenses, you know, like the ones people use for Halloween.” He half chuckled, causing his father to smile a bit wider.
    “Yeah…it’s actually a deformity. Your grandfather was albino. White hair down to his fucking ass, skin whiter than cotton balls and eyes like a fucking serpent. We have the gene, but it didn’t affect our skin tone and hair color the same way, only our eyes. It’s an extremely rare genetic disorder Brent, kinda freaks some people out.” He shrugged. “But the ladies dig it!”
    They both smiled at one another.
    It was true. His eyes were the first thing girls would mention to him. Their glossy lips would curl into a smile as they paid him a compliment about his damn peepers. No one ever believed they were his natural eyes, but they were, and he could see just fine.
    “Well, let me show you to your room.” They both stood and looked at one another. In that silence, it was more than apparent to Brent that he didn’t know anyone at all. He even questioned knowing his own self. He felt like a foreigner in his own slightly tanned skin, confused as he stared into those bizarre eyes that looked just like his own. His father’s gaze was heavily hooded, which gave him a certain look of lazy charm, layin’ cool, just like his own. The man looked as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Dad had long lashes, too. Women called their kinda eyes ‘bedroom’ eyes, at least one nice girl at school did. He even had the man’s nose—narrow, the bridge long and pooling into a set of slightly flared nostrils. He had the man’s lips…thin, with a delicate dimple on the right side. It gave him a permanent smirk, the appearance of being an ass when he really wasn’t…
    The way his cheekbones sat high, the hollow deep, as if he

Similar Books

Fates and Furies

Lauren Groff

The Sweetest Thing

Elizabeth Musser

Sweet Last Drop

Melody Johnson

Pucked

Helena Hunting

Always Mine

Sophia Johnson

Thorns

Kate Avery Ellison

Milosevic

Adam LeBor