and grabbed a blanket. Slade had lost his happy.
His support.
He’d lost one of his best friends.
I fell asleep with a frown, wondering how I was going to make sure the cranky bastard had a friend he could trust—who didn’t want something from him.
How do you give someone a present they don’t think they want or need?
He wasn’t mine to save.
And I didn’t even like him ninety percent of the time.
He’d hurt me.
He’d made me feel insecure.
Ugly.
He changed the way I saw myself.
He didn’t deserve my help.
But I was going to give it anyway.
Because it was the right thing to do.
Chapter Nineteen
SLADE
I stared at the breakfast casserole like it was poison.
Not only had Mackenzie labeled it so I would know what it was, but she’d left a pink sticky note on the side: Heat for forty minutes at 350. I ripped the note off and crumpled it in my fist.
Did she think I was an idiot who didn’t know how to cook?
Why the hell was she leaving me food?
It had been three days since I’d helped her with her bloodied hand. Extreme paranoia had followed that episode, making it almost impossible to sleep. Had I been too rough? What if she got blood poisoning? The cut went septic? Should I have sent her to the hospital? Even let her drive herself home?
It was stupid shit.
All of it.
But I couldn’t stop the rerun of what-ifs that kept slamming into my brain. It got so bad that the minute she showed up the day after, I’d been so relieved that I’d stared at her a solid two minutes before grabbing my duffel and leaving. She probably thought I had a learning disability.
Thus the sticky notes.
Because ever since that morning.
Food.
All the food.
I had premade food for breakfast, lunch, dinner. She’d even gotten the secret recipe for my smoothies and had one waiting for me this morning, all before humming her way around my house feeding my dog.
I slammed the door to the stainless-steel refrigerator and leaned against it. My phone started buzzing. I picked it up from the counter immediately. I never missed calls.
I’d learned my lesson once.
“Yeah?” I barked into the phone.
“Slade?” Mom’s voice was tired. “Are you feeling alright?”
I frowned. “Yeah, why?”
“You haven’t been by this week . . .” Her voice was filled with so much sadness my chest hurt. My parents might not have been together anymore, but they’d still enjoyed a friendship that went beyond that of normal divorced couples.
Mackenzie chose that moment to walk by with Alfie attached to his leash and looking happier than I’d ever seen him. You’d think it was impossible since she walked him twice a day, but the little guy was packing on the pounds.
“We’ll be back!” Mackenzie said in a clear voice that I knew my mom could hear.
“Who was that?” she said almost the second the door clicked shut. “Was that a woman?” She perked up so much my heart broke all over again. “You’re dating!”
“Not—really.” I scowled. “She’s just—”
“Oh, I can’t believe it! I’ve been so worried about you! Is that why you haven’t been visiting? Because you’ve been with this girl? Oh, Slade.” And that was when she burst into tears. I didn’t have the heart to say no.
She was crying because she thought I was happy.
I could be happy.
I could fake it.
I did it once, right? After all, Hugo had been happy—not a care in the world.
Just channel Hugo.
“Yeah, I was going to tell you,” I lied through my teeth. “But it’s still . . .” I gulped as I stared out the kitchen window. Mackenzie’s ponytail bounced with each step, and Alfie kept looking up at her as if he had a new favorite human. “New,” I finished. “It’s still new.”
If new meant nonexistent, then sure, that’s what it was!
“Oh, honey.” She blew her nose. “Do you think you can bring her by at some point?”
Shit. “Yeah, Mom, I’m really busy with the team right now, but I’ll do it soon, alright?”
“Oh! I can’t wait! I’ll get the albums out just in case it’s sooner rather than later.”
I cringed and squeezed my eyes shut. “Yeah, you do that. I gotta go, Mom.”
“Oh. Okay! Love you!”
“Love you back.” I hit end and stared at my phone for a few brief seconds before it registered that I was going to be five minutes late to practice. I ran out of the house and tried not to stare at Mackenzie as I drove by.
Tried.
Failed.
Same thing. Right?
Chapter Twenty
MACKENZIE
His car was gone