But he wasn’t truly home.
The guys atNo Surrenderowned two condos they kept to use if someone needed a place to stay for one reason or another. And trust me when I say, they’d been put to good use over the years.
However, I never imagined—but it hurt like hell—that Jett would choose to go there instead of the house he grew up in. The place where his family was.
WhereIwas.
When I heard voices in the middle of the night filtering up from downstairs, I started to go down to see what was going on, but stopped in my tracks when I overheard Lyric tell Ruby they’d dropped Jett off at the deserted condo. My heart twisted and lips trembled at the news.
Ruby didn’t take it any better than me judging by her gasp, and I thought for sure she was going to head right out the door in her pajamas so she could finally see her brother. But once again, Lyric managed to convince her to give him a day.
Not wanting to eavesdrop any longer, I made my way back to my room, but not without the floor creaking along the way. There was no doubt that they both knew I’d been there and had overheard.
Easing back under my comforter, I lay there but sleep wouldn’t come. What had, were the waterworks. I curled in a ball, my heart hurting, and I let the tears fall until I finally was so exhausted I cried myself to sleep.
I woke to a blotchy face, red nose, and tracks of sorrow down my face. As I stood staring at my ghastly appearance in the bathroom mirror, my phone vibrated on the vanity countertop. Looking down at the screen where my cell rested, the words I saw on the lock screen were enough to send a chill racing up my spine.
Unknown:Ignoring me was a mistake.
With a shaky hand, I reached for my phone but then yanked it back. I knew there was more, but I couldn’t bring myself to look. The text may read from unknown, but I knew exactly who it was. Chaz had sent several texts over the last few weeks, all pertaining to my son.
And I meantmine.
Griffin wasnothis.
He’d denied him when he had the chance to not only do the right thing but be a father to someone precious. I knew why my son called Jett “Daddy”; it was because he had been the father figure in his life. The solid one and the man to take care of him since he was born.
Jett had…
Nope. I am not going to keep thinking about either of them. Chaz or Jett.
My emotions were running high, and there was an abundance of them filtering through me. There was no tellingwhich might win at any given time, but I had to get my son to preschool, and I needed to get to work.
Sometimes adulting sucked.
Not the mom part.Neverthat. That was my greatest joy, and Griffin was my world.
Nope, I meant the work part because I couldn’t just come back home, curl up in a ball, and sleep.
Or drown my worries away in a pint of Rocky Road ice cream.
I’d let emotions win and left adulting by the wayside.
The guys at work would have to deal with me being late. Two of them brought Jett to the condo, not home, so making a pit stop before going in anyway was their fault.
An irrational thought, yeah, most likely. But I wasn’t really thinking clearly at that moment.
When Ruby offered to take Griffin to preschool on the way to dropping Autumn at school—Tristan stayed with Gramps as he often did if not with one of the other ladies—I caved. Sometimes we went our separate ways, sometimes I helped, and other times she did. We were a great team and support system for each other, but I was sure I was the one who truly won the lottery.
Just before we got in our cars, Ruby slipped me a piece of paper. Looking down at it, I noticed there were two codes that I was sure would get me into the parking lot and doors of the condos.
Yup, she knewexactlywhere I was headed and what was brewing.
Anger.
It had taken center stage and festered through the night, right on into breakfast.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” she whispered.
