“Jesus.” I fumbled with the battery I’d charged last night for her DSLR, and it clattered to the counter. “Most people start with ‘good morning.’”
“And most people would’ve pulled their head out of their ass by now, so I guess it sucks for both of us.”
Brow furrowed, I glanced around. I couldn’t lie and say I’d been on my game since Sutton had left, but I’d been managing. The team shirt Laurel wanted to wear for the game this weekend was already washed and folded on the arm of the couch. The report she’d needed printed out was in her backpack. Her camera was now ready to go. But she was still looking at me like I’d fucked up.
“What’s the problem?” I asked. “Cami can’t pick you up for school anymore?”
“Oh mygod,” she groaned. “I’m not telling you to pull your head out of your ass aboutme, you big, lovable idiot. I’m talking about my mom.”
I blew out a heavy sigh and rubbed my fingers against my chest, where an ache had settled and wouldn’t go away. “Your mom and I?—”
“Are being idiots. Yeah, I got that.” Laurel opened the fridge, the happy little hum she made when she saw the fancy French yogurt she liked at odds with the scowl she shot me. She pulled a spoon out of the drawer and pointed it at me like a weapon. “I don’t like it when my parents fight. And this custody situation is bullshit. I’m splitting my time between this glorious home with my beautiful bedroom and the heated floors and everything that you’ve spoiled me with, and that construction zone my mom’sliving in because she thinks it’s better than sleeping in the room next to you.”
“Maybe she’s better off without me.”
“Says who? All I said was that she’d rather sleep in a construction zone than next to you because you’re being a big, dumb boy.”
“I’msaying it. I’m not good enough for her. I’ve got a lot of shit I need to deal with that I haven’t.”
“And?”
“What do you mean ‘and’?”
“I mean, look around. Everybody’s dealing with shit. You are, I am. You think my mom’s not? She had me when she was sixteen and then emancipated herself from parents who never thought she was good enough. And now you’re showing her she’s not worth fighting for.”
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks, the force of them crashing into me as I sank onto the stool. “Fuck.”
“Am I starting to get through?”
“I never intended to make her feel like that.”
“Yeah, well, impact matters more than intention.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about. I didn’t have a great role model. What if I fuck this whole thing up? I’m already doing it.”
“For the past nine days? Yeah, you haven’t been doing great. But are you really trying to say you weren’t good for us? Have you forgotten about the weeks before this mess?”
“What about them?”
Laurel dropped her head back and groaned toward the ceiling. “Are all guys really this oblivious? Or is it, like, a football player thing?”
“I don’t know, but I’m begging you to let me in on the secret, kid.”
“Fine, let me lay it out for you.” She settled on the stool next to mine and turned toward me. “You moved us in here after our home was flooded. You set me up in that sweet-ass bedroom with my own bathroom. You gave me a credit card with an unlimited spending limit to buy whatever I needed to make myself feel at home. You brought me tampons and a change of clothes when I bled all over myself at school because my period likes to show up whenever the hell she wants. You made every player on the football team sit through a two-hour lecture about consent, all because that asshole wouldn’t stop harassing me for my number. Am I getting through yet?”
“None of that was a big deal. Anyone else would have done that.”
“No, Daddy Grump. That’s what I’m telling you. No one else would do that for us. No one else ever has. I’ve watched my mom go through shitty boyfriend after shitty boyfriend. And now I’m just supposed to accept that when she finally found a good one, he can’t pull his head out of his ass to make things right?”
Before I could form a coherent thought in response to Laurel’s words, the back door lock disengaged, and my mom poked her head in. “Knock, knock.”
“Oh, thank god,” Laurel said, relief in her tone. “Maybe you can talk some sense into your son.”
I shot Laurel a scowl, a little offended at just how quickly she sold me out. “Really? We couldn’t keep this between us?”
She looked at me with raised brows. “I’ve kept it between us for nine days. It’s time for a few reinforcements.”
“So you called mymom?”
