I fold my arms over my chest and rest my shoulder against the side of the building while having no clue where this is going. “Okay…what is it?”
Something passes through his eyes that I can’t quite place, and he shifts from one foot to the other as he chews on the inside of his cheek. His nervousness is palpable.
“Hey,” I say softly. “Whatever it is, just ask. It’s okay.”
Heaving a sigh, Lukas looks down at his feet. “Can I come live with you?”
My heart thumps against my ribcage, and I replay what he said, sure that I misheard him. “I’m sorry, come again?”
“I need a place to stay so I don’t have to move to North Dakota.”
“North Dakota?” I echo, bringing my hand up to scratch the back of my head. “What the fuck is in North Dakota, and why would you move there?”
“My grandma was supposed to move to North Dakota to live with her sister before my dad died. She ended up stayin’ because of me, but she’s still plannin’ on movin’ there. I have to go with her if I don’t find another solution.”
My mind is racing a mile a minute, trying to make sense of this, but it’s like he’s speaking gibberish, and I’m not catching up. “Does your grandma know you’re askin’ a stranger to move in with him? Because this is kind of wild.”
He exhales dramatically, in that way teenagers do. “Yes. I told you that she knows I’m here.”
“And she’s…fine with it? You’re thirteen.”
“Why do you keep pointin’ that out? Yes, I’m thirteen. What’s your point?”
I hold up my hands. “I’m just tryin’ to make sense of all of this. That’s all.”
“She told me that if I found somewhere to go, she’d let me stay here. But if I can’t, then I have to move, and Ireallydon’t want to move. The idea of going somewhere I’ve never been and switchin’ schools mid-year sounds like my worst nightmare.” He juts out his chin before adding, “And I’ve already been through enough in the last three months, don’t you think?”
Playing the dead dad card… He’s resourceful, I’ll give him that.
“Why is she movin’ in the first place?”
Shrugging, he says, “I don’t know. She’s getting old, and it’s becomin’ harder for her to move around by herself. She says her sister will be able to help her more.”
Breathing out a small chuckle, I scrub a hand along my jaw. “You do realize how crazy this sounds, don’t you? Comin’ here to ask me—a guy you’ve met once—if you can move in with me.”
“Yeah. But youdidsay if I needed anything, I could come here.”
“Well, yeah, but goddamn, this isn’t really what I had in mind.”
Lukas’s shoulders fall, and I watch as disappointment washes over his features. “Look, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. I just didn’t know who else to ask.”
“Why me, though?” This is the part I’m not understanding. “Why not one of the guys from your dad’s station?”
“Because I don’t really know any of them.”
“You don’t know me,” I point out. “Like, at all.”
“Yeah, but…I don’t know.” He sighs. “You’ve been where I’m at; you even said so after the funeral. And… And you were the only person that day who gave me a hug, and you didn’t talk to me like I was a baby. I felt… I don’t know. Safe around you. Like I could trust you.” A dry laugh comes out of him. “Ugh, that sounds so stupid. I’m sorry, I’ll go. I don’t know why I came here.”
As he turns to walk away, I take a step forward and blurt out, “No, just—ah—fuckin’ wait a minute, would you?”
Lukas stops walking, but he doesn’t turn around. “Why?” he asks, and I can hear the strain in his voice, like he’s fighting back tears.
My heart squeezes, and I hate that I’m screwing this—whateverthisis—up so badly. “Because you’re right. I did say you could come to me if you needed anythin’. I just… Give me a couple days to think about this, okay, kid?”
He turns to face me again, slowly. His face is red and his eyes are wet. “You mean it?”
“I’m not sayin’ it’s a yes, but I really will think about it. I promise.” I run my fingers through my hair, swallowing roughly. “And I really think I should meet your grandma before anythin’ gets decided.”
