When I finally look up, I manage a small, tired smile. “It’s fine. Just…someone I used to know. It’s handled now.”
That’s a lie and we both know it, but Callum doesn’t call me on it.
Instead, he studies me a beat longer, his brow furrowing slightly like he’s filing the information away for later.
Then he exhales slowly and nods once.
“Alright.”
Eli breaks the tension before it grows too overwhelming. “Can I watch a movie?”
I fix his shirt before standing up straight again. “Sure, baby. Go ahead. You can pick one from the list on the table.”
He grins, bounding toward the TV stand and scrolling through the hotel’s movie menu with the remote in hand, humming under his breath.
The rest of the day drifts by in a blur.
Eli watches his movie, curled up in a blanket, a mug of cocoa cupped between his small hands that he eventually exchanges for a bottle of water and a candy cane Dean stole from the concierge’s desk downstairs.
Around dinner time, Grant returns with takeout from the diner down the street, his gaze lingering on me the entire time.
I know they all want to ask questions, just like they did when Jared came around, but I’m too emotionally and mentally drained.
My chest is heavy, my mind far away.
In the back of my mind, all I can think about is Evelyn’s voice creeping back in.“I better see you bringing him to my house by next weekend, or else you know what will happen.”
When I finally tuck Eli into bed, I linger beside him longer than usual.
Watching his little chest rise and fall, I let the silence fill the room again, hoping maybe by morning, I’ll wake up and the world will feel a little less like a shit show.
But deep down, I know better.
My karma would never make things that simple.
With a soft exhale, I pull the blanket higher over his shoulder and slide off the bed.
The floor creaks beneath my bare feet as I cross over to the door.
I hesitate, glancing back once more at him before I step into the adjoining room and pull the door shut behind me.
The sound of the TV is faint. A hockey game plays on the screen, some local teams I don’t recognize, but it’s obvious none of them are actually watching it.
Dean’s perched on the edge of the armchair closest to the door, a bottle of beer in hand that he’s barely touched.
Grant sits at the far end of the couch, elbows braced on his knees, his broad shoulders tense.
Callum’s sitting on the opposite end, one arm draped over the back of the chair, his gaze flicking to me the second the door clicks shut.
They don’t say anything, not right away, but I can feel the questions hanging in the air.
Questions they’ve been holding onto since Jared’s sudden appearance, since the moment Evelyn started berating me just like her son loves to do.
I fold my arms over my chest instinctively, aware of how small I suddenly feel.
Grant leans back against the couch, his expression unreadable but his eyes gentle in that quiet, steady way of his. “You okay?”
I let out a soft laugh, but it sounds thin and brittle even to me. “Define ‘okay.’”
