Chloe reaches across the table and takes my hand, giving it a quick squeeze before dropping it again. “You’ve had a strange man here every day for the last week, all thinking they have a date with you, and we still don’t know why. Something is going on, and I think it’s best if you keep your door locked at all times. Either that, or you move in with me.”
I can’t stop the horrified look from jumping onto my face. “Oh, no. No way. Uh uh. Hard pass.” She’s laughing before I finish my refusal. “Do you know how early I’d have to get up to get here when I need to? I can’t go back to having a long commute.”
“I don’t live that far away,” she protests through a laugh. “It takes me five minutes to drive here on a bad day.”
“Five minutes?! No way. I’ll lock my door from now on.”
“Excellent. Well, now that that’s settled. Care to tell me why you were looking all hot and bothered before I grabbed you in the dark earlier? And how much did Nick have to do with it?”
I feel the blush creep onto my cheeks as I watch the knowing smile creep onto Chloe’s face.
“Well, well, well. This is certainly an interesting development. Tina has a crush on the big, hunky fighter. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.”
Damn it. If I were different, I’d want to know how it could turn out too. But I’m not different. I don’t date, so this little crush, if that’s even what it is, is going to stay right where it is. With me. Alone.
You Had Me At Crusty Bread
Nick
“Hey, kid. How areyou feeling?”
I’ve been with Jared since the hospital released him into my care last night. After getting him home and getting him into bed, I’ve just been sitting here listening to the kid breathe, of all the ridiculous things. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad could still happen, so I sat up all night monitoring his breathing.
He was aware enough to help me get him from the hospital to the car, but I was on my own when I carried him inside and put him to bed. It would have been a little easier if Rhett had been there, but he had a date he was hoping he could salvage afterhaving to cancel when he first brought Jared to the hospital. I didn’t want to keep him from it any longer. The guy needs to get out more.
Besides, one of the great things about being a big guy is the ability to carry dudes who can’t handle their liquor when necessary. And tonight it proved to be very necessary when I realized Jared had passed out in the passenger seat on our way home. I suppose I could have woken him up and made him walk into the house, but he looked so peaceful I couldn’t bring myself to do it. And besides, he needed the rest.
Jared groans and sits up, his hand reaching for his head, which has to be absolutely throbbing right now. After his initial workup, the doctor declared Jared to be fine despite being drunk as a skunk, and discharged him from the hospital with orders to drink water, take an over-the-counter painkiller, and get some sleep. He also had some choice words for me and Rhett, that boiled down to needing to toughen up if we planned to raise a teenage boy. I can still hear him laughing at us for bringing the kid to the hospital for basic drunkenness. The dude even called me a mother hen. Me!
I mean, he’s not wrong. But still. Imagine saying that to someone you just met.
“Ugh.” Jared smacks his lips and rolls his tongue around his mouth. “Why is my mouth so dry? Did I eat glue?”
I grab the bottle of water from the nightstand, open it, and pass it to him. “Drink this. You’re dehydrated.” I watch as he chugs the contents of the bottle, ready with a bucket because I know from experience what comes next.
“I don’t feel so good,” Jared says, dropping the bottle as he covers his mouth. “I think I’m going to puke.”
“Here.” I pass him the bucket. “Go nuts.”
To give him some privacy, I leave the room to get him some painkillers and another bottle of water for when he’s donethrowing his guts up. No one likes an audience when they’re sick. When I get back to his room, he’s sitting up with his legs over the side of his bed, feet on the floor, and head in his hands.
“She dumped me.”
Ah, shit. I was hoping to have a little more time before we had to get into this conversation. Not that I didn’t suspect this was coming for months already, but a little more time for Jared to sober up and get rid of his hangover would have been nice. Sadly, it looks like we don’t have that luxury.
“I’m sorry, kid. Breakups are never easy.”
“I don’t understand why she couldn’t wait for me. I’m only here for a few more months. We were supposed to be together when I went back home again. Maybe I should just go back now.”
I heave a sigh and take a seat in the chair beside the bed. I’ve known this breakup has been coming since Jared moved to Tuft Swallow to stay with me, but that doesn’t make this any easier. And as much as I wish I could take the kid’s pain away, nothing heals this kind of heartbreak but time. Luckily, time is something we have in abundance. Because even if he wants to leave now, with both his biological parents and his foster parents missing, there’s nowhere for him to go. And I’ll be damned if I let him be shuffled off to some new foster parents when he can stay here with me.
“I don’t know why she dumped you, kid. But I do know it’s her loss. You’re a good kid, last night’s misadventure in tequila notwithstanding, and she was lucky to have you. I can’t think of many other sixteen-year-old kids who would spend hours working out, doing homework, and working at the gym, all while trying to reassure their girlfriend that they wouldn’t leave them for someone else. Most guys your age would have used this as an opportunity to play the field. See what a little town like Tuft Swallow had to offer. But not you. You’re far tooloyal to do a thing like that, something your girlfriend would have known, if she’d known you at all. You’ve shown impressive dedication to your career so far. Maybe you should focus on that for a while? Give her some time to cool off?”
Jared scoffs and reaches a hand out. “Water?”
“Take these, too,” I say, handing him the painkillers first, then the water. “They’ll help with that headache.”
Jared pops the painkillers in his mouth then chugs the water. “Thanks.”
