More confusion clouds my head as I strain my memory and come up blank. I really don’t know what to think, and I’m more confused than I was waking up in his bed.
But if Kel and I reallyarevibing, then maybe he wants to be my boyfriend. Maybe we’ll be in a real relationship, and at that point, would it really matter what happened Saturday night?
The bruise along my throat aches as I readjust my bookbag strap and decide to go with the flow.
If things go well, Kel Greene could finally be my boyfriend.
5
SILVER
“I tried calling twice this morning,”Rachel says the moment I answer the phone. “You didn’t bother answering.”
I grit my teeth, exhaling slowly through my nose. “I was busy with?—”
“Club business,” she interrupts, her tone clipped. “Yeah, I know. That’s always the excuse.”
Heat flares in my gut, my grip tightening on the phone. I bite back the first retort that springs to mind. The one that’d escalate this into a full-blown argument off the bat. We’ve danced this dance a thousand times before, and it never ends well.
So I decide to go with a difference approach.
“Is there a point to this call, Rach?” I ask instead. “Or are you just ringing me up to bust my balls like usual?”
She scoffs, and I can practically see her rolling her eyes. “Did you forget today was parent/teacher conferences at the high school? Your daughter is flunking four of her six classes, Jack.Four. The teachers are saying she needs to go into some special after-school tutoring program. But sure, I’m just busting your balls.”
I close my eyes again, pinching the bridge of my nose. I’m still irritated by Rachel’s contentious tone, but now I’m disappointed by the news she’s delivered on top of it.
Tabby’s a bright kid—she used to bring home report cards full of As, the look of her big smile as she showed them off still vivid in my mind. But ever since the divorce...
“I’ll talk to her,” I sigh.
My mind runs through a mental list of the things I’ll say. Encouragement, tough love, maybe a bribe or two...
“Yeah, I’m sure that’ll do a world of good,” Rachel mutters.
“Then what the helldoyou want me to do, Rachel?” I snap before I can stop myself. “You want me to build a fucking time machine and go back to before we tore our family apart? You want to lay all the blame at my feet? We both know it’s the divorce that’s got her down, but we also both know I ain’t the only one responsible for it!”
“Jack—”
“I seem to remember you having plenty of blood on your hands,” I go on hotly, now on my feet. I’m pacing the office back and forth like a lion in a cage. “Maybe we ought to sit Tabby down and explain to her exactly why I pulled the plug on our shitshow of a marriage. Like the afternoon I came home early to surprise you and found you bent over the sofa with?—”
“Stop it!” she screams. “Just… stop. You know I haven’t told the kids about Fred.”
“Yeah, I do. And I’ve kept that secret, Rachel. I’ve kept it for you. I’ve done it so the kids wouldn’t blame you. So they wouldn’t hate you. But what you’re not gonna do is put Tabby’s issues all on me.”
She’s quiet for a moment, suddenly no longer exuding the hostile energy she had seconds ago. When she speaks again, there’s a shift in her tone. There’s a note of weariness.
“Look… you’re right. I know we’ve both made mistakes,” she says, drawing a shaky breath. “But this isn’t about us. It’s about the kids. The real reason I was calling... with Tabby in this tutoring program, she won’t be home most afternoons. So I’m hiring a babysitter for Jack.”
“He’s ten now, Rach. Pretty sure he can microwave his own pizza rolls after school as he does his homework.”
“It’s testing season, Jack. I’ll be stuck at the school for hours most days, and I don’t want him alone that long.”
I open my mouth to argue, but a sharp knock at the door cuts me off.
“Hang on,” I mutter into the phone, then raise my voice. “Yeah?”
Big Eddie’s head pops into the crack as he eases the door open. “You ready to roll boss? Mace is out on the floor. We’re waiting on you.”
