My chest tightens, and it takes a second to find my voice. “Yeah. Okay.”
He inspects me closely, his features hardening. “I was sixteen, still living in Dallas where I grew up. I bounced around for a while, but it wasn’t easy staying low, trying not to get caught or turned in to the foster system. And my old school—shit, forget about it. I kept going at first, but people started to notice when my hair wasn’t washed and I always wore the same clothes.”
He clears his throat, and my eyes sting as I picture it: the sixteen-year-old version of him. Alone and on the streets. I’ll never truly understand what that was like for him, but in a way, I’ve always known his soul feels lonely. It’s one of the things that draws me to him—we’re both alone, in our own way. Two individuals who don’t fit into the world as easily as the people around us. But until now, I never suspected just how deep his loneliness runs.
“Anyway, Henry found me one night sleeping in an alley downtown. It was raining, you know, middle of winter, and I was freezing as shit. He didn’t ask questions, didn’t make me talk at all. He led me to his hideout and put some food in my stomach, even let me use the blanket off his back. Later, he talked me into going back to school, but, uh”—he sighs, rubbing the top of his head and making his thick hair more disheveled than usual—“some personal things came up, and I had to move here.
“So I went to the library, found a couple rooms for rent on Craigslist. The first few didn’t work out, and Tim ... he was the only one willing to take in a rough-looking teen without his parents. Took a little convincing, and he wanted to eventually meet my dad in person, but in the end, he agreed. So tonight was the second time Henry’s done this for me, pretending to be my dad.”
“Where are your actual parents? Your mom?”
“Pass.”
I frown. “Your dad?”
He huffs out a dry laugh. “Vegas, probably.”
“You don’t know?”
“Don’t really care either.”
I tilt my head, and he shrugs.
“You wouldn’t get it, so don’t bother trying.”
“Wouldn’t I?”
He only looks at me, lines forming between his brows.
“Joshua, I’ve gone my whole life knowing nothing about my dad. Until he called out of nowhere almost four months ago, I didn’t even know if Tim was alive, let alone—”
“Mr. Everest? He’s your dad?”
I chuckle. “Why else would I be here? TimEverest... BlueEverest...”
“Yeah, I put the two together. I figured you were a niece or something.” He sinks deeper into the seat, surveying my face like he’s seeing it for the first time. “Guess I always assumed Kimmie was his only daughter.”
Something stabs my gut, piercing straight through my lungs, and I pull in a shaky breath.
“Shit.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and scrubs his palm down his face. “I don’t know why the hell I said that.”
“I get it,” I whisper. “There aren’t any pictures of me or anything. Makes sense he wouldn’t have mentioned me either.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Joshua shakes his head. “Doesn’t make sense at all. He’s yourdad, Blue. And Tim ... I know a thing or two about guys who leave their kids. Tim just doesn’t seem the type.”
I lift a shoulder, trying to smile. Usually, when I force myself to smile even if I feel like I can’t, it eventually becomes real. “I know. There’s more to it, and I’ll find out someday. I’m just happy I’m here now, you know?”
“Just like that, you’re happy?” he asks. “You’re not bitter? You’re not pissed at him?”
“Okay, maybe happy is too big a word. I’mgrateful. And yeah”—I shrug—“a part of me is happy too. I mean, just a few months ago, I was sure I’d never meet my dad. And now I’ve not only met him, I’m staying with him, and it turns out he’s actually a really good guy.”
“Yeah. He is.”
He watches me, neither of us speaking, and warmth passes between us. It’s sweet and unexpected, tugging a real smile from me that seeps down my chest. I wrap my fingers around the birthstones hanging at my neck and mutter, “It’s kinda amazing, isn’t it? When you really think about it?”
“What is?” he asks, his tone low and gruff.
“Everything ... the universe.”
