Mandy puttered around the house for five minutes and then went back down the hall and shut his light off. He protested, with a whiney, "Mom! I was nearly done this chapter."
She flicked the light back on and took the book from his hands. "Colton, time is up." She shoved the bookmark against the spine of the book, and put it on his dresser. "Do I need to tuck you in?"
That got her a glare. But he got under the covers, his head on the pillow. His back was to her, his body rigid. She kissed his cheek again and he wiped it off. "I love you, Colton," she whispered. "See you in the morning."
"Yeah sure," he said, pulling the covers up further on his body. Mandy shrugged and walked to the door. She heard him turn in bed and stopped, glancing over her shoulder. "Mom," he said, "I love you too."
"Night," Mandy said once more, leaving the room. She stopped and fed the cats, before curling up on the sofa with her latest book.
Across the room the beep of her computer made her look up. She stretched and yawned, a little annoyed. She thought she'd shut off the computer. Rolling her shoulders, she went over and peered at the screen. "You've got mail," she muttered, using the over used AOL email greeting, as she leaned over the desk, grabbing at the mouse.
She clicked at the screen, finding the right folder her mail had been diverted in to. She stared at the subject line, Kip Turner has added you as a friend on Facebook.
Mandy dropped into the chair. She rubbed her eyes for a moment and then looked back at the screen. Kip Turner. Well, motherfucker, she thought. The one person she was determined not to think about tonight. The one person from the one place.
She clicked the link accompanying the email. But then, as it asked her if she wanted to accept or ignore the request, she hesitated.
Leaning back in her chair, Mandy removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She let a picture of Kip form in her mind. Kip as she remembered him, not the Kip she watched on television. That Kip was the not HER Kip. Although there were some similarities. He was still strikingly handsome, and even behind the mask his green eyes glowed out. Making him look like the Tiger Goalie he was sometimes called. He even had a tiger painted on his mask.