I thought I detected a flash of disappointment cross his features, but then Mia asked him a question and he became animated again. No doubt those two would hit it off. If Mia hadn’t been there, I might’ve told him I was meeting Mom at an apartment rental after work, though I had no clue why I’d need to share that. Besides, he’d probably hear all about it next time he saw her at work.
Okay, enough of this overthinking shit. What in the hell was wrong with me? Seth was a dude I met through my mom—well, actually, through Dane. I liked him, was curious about him—which was natural, right?—and maybe we could be friendly. End of story.
When I strode toward the air compressor, Tucker was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “What?”
“You’re acting weird,” Tucker said.
“Fuck no, I’m not.” Christ, can’t I even have friends now?
“Whatever you say.” He shook his head. “You mentioned that you need to head out a couple of minutes early to meet your mom?”
“Yeah, she wants me to see the new place she’s probably gonna end up renting.”
“Gonna be strange without her, huh?” he asked, and I shrugged, not wanting my voice to betray me. “You know, I’m surprised you don’t have any pets.”
“I would if I wasn’t gone so much,” I said, which was an excuse. Plenty of people who worked had pets. But we had a dog growing up who used to sleep in my bedroom, and when the old girl passed away when I was about ten, it’d killed me. It wasn’t fair that animals had such short lives. “Maybe I’ll consider it when Mom moves out.”
“A fish is low maintenance,” Brett suggested. “Or maybe a cat.”
Brett had two cats he totally doted on. Paybacks were a bitch, but I wasn’t in the mood to make fun of him right then. I’d definitely save up the ammunition for later.
“Nah, he needs a dog,” Tad replied. “Dogs are cool.”
“What the hell? Cats are cool too.”
“You guys are ridiculous,” Tucker said. “Back to work.”
Later, I looked up the address Mom texted me, and pulled up to the modest apartment building a few minutes after that. I figured it was only about a ten-minute drive from my house, depending on traffic. Not bad. If she ever needed me, I could be there in a pinch.
What the hell would she need you for? To kill a spider? All that shitty stuff with my dad was behind us now.
Mom met me at the door, and once we did a walk-through with the superintendent and I asked way too many questions about security and maintenance, he gave us a couple of minutes to discuss it.
Mom bit her lip nervously. “So…what do you think?”
“I think it’s nice.” And it was. Small and clean, newer fixtures, and Mom would decorate it the way she liked. She’d held her tongue too many times on choices I’d made in my own house—like the too plain dishware she was nudging me to replace with something more colorful—and now she’d finally have whatever her heart desired. I could already picture the bright, floral accessories. “More importantly, what do you think?”
“Think I’m gonna put a deposit down tonight,” she replied, a flicker of excitement in her eyes. She hadn’t had anything to call her own in so long, I absolutely wouldn’t dare spoil that for her. She fucking deserved it.
“Cool,” I said, even though my gut roiled with that same old anxiety. Would it ever go away? Holding in my reaction, I forced out a smile. After all, it was for the best, and it was definitely time.
7
Seth
I wanted to text Jake, but I was nervous that messaging him would be weird.
He was nice to me; well, because he was a nice guy. And because I was friends with his mom, which probably made me sound like a huge dork. But it wasn’t like we were friends. He’d worked on my car because he could tell I was hopeless with things like that and because it was what he did for a job. There was nothing more to it than that.
But there was something about him—besides the fact that he was smoking hot and I wanted to know what it felt like to have his arms around me, even if the thought of it scared me too. I could tell he was a nice guy. Like Jesse, who could be cocky and sarcastic, but I’d known from the start he was a good person. He’d talked to me to be kind and helped me with makeup for the same reason. Even though they absolutely couldn’t have been more different, I got the same kind of feeling being around Jake that I did with Jesse—that I could be friends with him. I hadn’t always trusted my gut when it came to men, and when I hadn’t, things turned into a mess, but I was still caught up in wondering if part of that was a defect in me.
I hadn’t seen Bonnie since the day I’d made an absolute fool of myself at Rose City, so instead of texting her hottie son, I messaged her. Did the second look at the apartment go well? Are you getting it?
Yes! Jake loved it too. I move in soon!
Wow. That was quick. I found myself smiling, happiness bubbling in my stomach. I didn’t have details, but I knew Bonnie had been through a lot. I knew how excited she was to get out on her own, and to not feel dependent on Jake, who I was certain didn’t mind. I figured it was important to him to make sure his mom was okay. We should go celebrate! I’ll buy you dinner!
My cell rang a second later, and it was Bonnie. It was so weird to talk to people on the phone anymore. I usually only spoke to professionals or my mom. “Hello.”
“Oh, honey, you don’t have to take me out to dinner.”
Her endearment warmed my heart. That wasn’t something my mom and stepdad did—call each other sweetie or sweetheart or things like that. I remembered my dad doing it, though. He would call Mom honey, and she’d roll her eyes and make a comment about how silly it was, but she’d liked it. You could see the spark in her eyes when he said it. “I know I don’t have to. I want to.” Oh God. What if she didn’t want to. Maybe she only invited me to dinner that night to be nice, and now she thought it was odd to hang out with a twenty-one-year-old. “Unless you don’t want to.”
There was a pause, and somehow, I knew she was feeling sad for me.
“It’s really not a big deal,” I added. And it wasn’t. I could find something to do around the house or call Jesse…
“Oh, hush, of course I want to. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to keep an old woman busy.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not old. And I’ll come pick you up. Jake can come too if he wants.” Ugh. I was such a dork. Why did I want straight boys? Or a straight boy? It wasn’t like I had a habit of it.
“He’s actually not in. He’s with his friend Tucker, doing something or another tonight. Oh, I have an idea! How about I order a pizza and you can come over here. It’ll be like a goodbye to this house and the start of something new. We can eat dinner and drink wine and…I don’t know, have a pajama party. Do makeup and watch movies. That sounds silly, but I miss fun nights with friends. Jake’s dad was… No, I don’t want to talk about him. I’m not giving him the time of day.”
That basically sounded like the best night in the history of the world. “Perfect! But I’m bringing the pizza. We’re celebrating you, so I should bring it over.”