he snaps, causing me to shrink back. “It’s not there.”
“Um…” Sam says, pulling our attention his way. He scrunches his face up, and I already know what’s coming next before he says it. “I took it to school with me this morning and drank it.”
“It’s okay, kiddo,” I tell him.
“No, it’s not okay.” He slams the fridge closed, gaze angry and sharp. “That was mine.”
I snap my head to Nolan, narrowing my eyes at him. “It’s just a drink, Nolan. He didn’t know better.”
“I’m sorry,” Sam says quietly.
“It’s okay,” I tell him again. “Just make sure you ask next time. Why don’t you go put your homework in your backpack before you forget?”
His eyes bounce back and forth between me and Nolan, the worry clear in his stare.
Patrick and I had our fair share of problems, but we never fought in front of Sam, and I don’t have any intentions of fighting with Nolan in front of him either.
With his shoulders sagging, Sam gathers his things and trudges down the hall.
As soon as he’s around the corner, I whirl on Nolan.
“What the hell is your problem?” I seethe, poking a finger into his chest. “Don’t you ever talk to my kid like that again. You need to apologize to him.”
He mutters something I don’t quite catch, but I know it’s not good.
“What did you just say?”
He gnashes his teeth together. “I said, maybe your kid should be a little more respectful of shit that isn’t his. I found one of my books under the couch this morning too, and there were Cheeto fingerprints on the pages I know didn’t come from me.”
I see the regret in his eyes with every word he speaks. He’s not lashing out at Sam. Not really. He’s lashing out at me. I just don’t know why.
Nevertheless, the things he’s saying about my child are pissing me off.
Sam doesn’t deserve his ire.
I step into him. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you need to get a grip and stop blaming a twelve-year-old for whatever is going on in that thick head of yours.”
“Nothing is going on other than I’m tired of not having my space to myself.”
I lift a brow. “Really?”
“Really.” He doesn’t back down. If anything, he doubles down on his convictions…whatever the fuck they are.
“Well, lucky for you, you don’t have to worry about that any longer. We’re moving out—next weekend.”
He swallows once. Twice.
And then, he nods, casting his eyes away from me.
“Good.”
The word is final and sounds eerily like a goodbye.
“Good,” I echo.
“I think that’s for the best.”
“I do too.”
He steps back, then around me, making sure not to brush against me as he passes by. “Let me know if you need help moving.”
I don’t move a muscle.
If I move, this is real.
We’re done.
It’s over.
If I move, I’m going to break.
“Well, that should be the last of it.”
Cooper sets the heavy box down with a grunt, then wipes the sweat off his forehead.
“Thank you, Coop. I know I took you away from a day of gaming, but I appreciate it so much more than you know.”
“It’s not a problem at all. Besides, if I said no, I’m pretty sure Caroline would withhold sex from me for at least a week.”
“Two!” she calls from my bedroom, where she’s hanging clothes up in my closet with River.
For the second move in as many months, Sam’s at his dad’s. Though it would be nice to have him here for the help, it’ll be good to have one more night to myself before I have to go pick him up tomorrow.
This past week has been one of the most tiring of my life. Who knew avoiding someone requires so much energy?
I boxed all of my and Sam’s things back up throughout the week and asked Cooper and Dean to help me move.
This morning when I walked out of the apartment with my last box in hand, Nolan was nowhere to be found.
We haven’t said a word to each other since I told him I was moving out, and I still don’t know what went wrong.
One day he was fine; the next he wasn’t.
It was like a switch flipped.
“Hey,” Cooper says in a low voice. “You okay?”
“Huh?”
He rubs his hand over the back of his neck. “You sort of drifted away for a minute…”
His pale green eyes are full of worry, and I love the guy for being so concerned.