I smile. “I would really like to.”
Warren picks at the skin around his thumb and seems to be collecting his thoughts. I look away to give him the space to do so.
“I’m glad you care about Luke though. Not many people have. He’s a good kid. He makes poor judgement calls when he’s trying to impress people—a family trait.” Warren continues before I can get a word in, “I do ask that you don’t get too close. In just over five months, we’ll be out of each other’s lives. I’ve been looking at another school a few cities over—housing is a bit easier to find around there, and I could commute or find another shop to work at.”
He pauses to look up from his hands in his lap. “I don’t want to see him lose anyone else.” His expression is full of weariness that tightens his jaw.
I take a moment to consider carefully what to say next. “I won’t overstep again but… what you’re asking doesn’t really feel fair. For any of us. This is my home too, and I don’t want to be walking on eggshells or live this… distantly.”
I hold his eye contact timidly. “If I’m being honest, I could use some backup. Today was the first time since Willow has been home that I even felt a little bit like me, simply because of a shower. I don’t want to feel scared to ask for help every now and then. We can keep things separate but still be human.”
“Human?” A glint of teasing returns to his eyes.
“Think hunter-gatherer style. For the betterment of our young and our survival.”
“What do you suggest?” Warren asks.
I’m happy to see a small curl return to the corner of Warren’s lip.
“One grocery list—we can still label items, but there’s no point doing two trips. You make breakfasts, and I’ll make dinners. We’ll split the bill fifty-fifty. I won’t interfere with Luke, but I will be his friend—because I like him, and because he might need a friend other than his grumpy older brother.”
I give him a coy smirk. “Sometimes I’ll ask you or Luke to hold Willow when I need ten minutes to myself. We can stop orbiting and perhaps start checking in with each other—so we don’t blow up when shit gets hard.”
“Okay… that can work.” Warren pouts his bottom lip as he nods softly.
“Okay, good,” I respond triumphantly.I honestly thought it would take a lot more convincing.
Warren takes both of our dishes and opens Luke’s door. A moment later, they both step out, and Warren pats Luke, who is now carrying my bowl, on the back.
Warren signs,“And Luke will do the dishes.”
Luke seems to be relieved—cleaning duties might be less harsh a punishment than he was expecting.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Where are you two headed so early?” Warren takes Willow from me, freeing my hands so I can lift the car seat and diaper bag onto the dining table. He boops her nose when he thinks I’m not looking.
“We have Willow’s first cardiologist follow-up at the hospital at ten. It wouldn’t take so damn long if the buses were back to back, but we have a thirty-minute wait between our second and third bus.” I shove another baby bottle of water into the diaper bag and go to the kitchen to fill up the formula container.
“Three buses?”
Warren sounds as if he’s asking Willow, but I answer for her. “Yep.”
He shifts Willow onto his chest, holding her head against him with one palm while her bum rests in the bend of his arm. Something about the way he can carry her with one hand and how small she looks in his arms makes me swoon. How natural it is for him to hold her, like she weighs absolutely nothing at all. He takes a long sip of his water and watches me go around the kitchen.Always staring.
“What?” I ask incredulously.
Warren smirks into his glass and shakes his head before replying, “Can you drive?”
“I’m saving for a car—you know that.”
“That isn’t what I asked,” he says, smirking.
“Yes, I can drive,” I huff.
“Safely?” Warren is almost mocking in tone.
“I think so?”
