Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Oh great.” Billie groans, and Coop grins at his sister’s dramatics.
“You know I have no issue with you being home with me, but you both need to spend some time with your mom; she misses the two of you.”
“She has Aaron and…”
“Yeah, but you’re her kids,” I cut Billie off before she can continue. “And I understand that it’s a little awkward at her house right now, but maybe you can see if she wants to get dinner or go to a movie.”
“But she’ll bring Aaron with her.”
“Maybe,” I agree, ignoring her glare, then ask. “You two know she loves him, right?”
“Yes,” Billie snaps while Coop presses his lips together.
“And you know she loves you both, right?”
“Yes,” Billie snaps again, and Coop nods.
“Then don’t you think so it would be pretty unfair of you to try to get her to choose between you guys.” I ask then continue softly watching Billie’s bottom lip quiver. “Though I think we all know that she would choose you two, it’s just up to you guys if you’re going to make her do that.”
“Fine,” Billie whispers with tears filling her eyes. “But I’m not staying at their house.”
“That’s okay, sweetheart.”
“Good.” She swipes the tears from her cheeks, and I look at Coop.
“Bud?”
“Okay, Dad,” he agrees.
“Come here.” I hold my arms open while looking at Billie and she slides off her stool and comes around the island to me. As she falls against me I wrap her in a tight hug and kiss the top of her head.
“Oh, we’re group hugging.” I smile when Coop comes over and wraps his arms around us. “I love you both.” I lean back to look at the two of them. “You know that?” When they both nod, I tip my head towards the entryway for the kitchen. “Good, now maybe give your mom a call and try to make plans for tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Billie mutters and looks at Coop. “Come on.”
With his shoulders slumped, he leaves the kitchen with his sister, and I pick up my cell.
I type out a message to Kristy letting her know I spoke with the kids and that they will be calling. After pressing send, I pull up my message string between Nalia and me and tell her to call me when she has a minute, and a second later, my cell rings.
“Hey,” I answer, putting my cell to my ear. “That was fast.”
“Sorry, I just thought maybe something happened,” she says softly.
“How’s she doing?”
“Still asleep, my parents are on their way and are bringing food, so I’m going to wake her soon and have her eat something so I can give her some more Motrin.”
“That’s good.”
“Is everything okay?”
I drop my eyes to the countertop. “Billie and Coop got home a little bit ago, and Billie filled me in on what she saw happen today.”
“What did she say?”
“That she saw a kid shove Zuri, then he laughed when he saw she was bleeding.”
“He laughed?” she repeats, sounding horrified.
“That’s what she said. She also thinks the boy is Jacob Stevens’ brother, named Matthew. She doesn’t know that for sure, but I think you need to call the police department and file a report and press charges if Zuri can tell you who this kid is.”
“When she wakes up, I’ll ask her if she knows who the boy was; if she doesn’t, I’ll have her call Heather. I think she saw who it was; maybe she knows him.”
“That’d be good, baby.”
“Thanks for letting me know, and tell Billie thanks again for everything.”
“I’ll do that, and let me know what Zuri says.”
“Okay.” She agrees as her doorbell rings. “Sorry, that’s my parents, I need to get off."
“No problem, we’ll talk later.”
“Sure, have a good night.”
Dropping my cell to the counter after she hangs up, I wrap my hand around the back of my neck. “What the fuck are you doing, Logan?” I sigh.
Over the years, I’ve casually dated a few women, but I’ve never been seriously interested in any of them enough to pursue things past the occasional hook-up. My focus has been my kids and my business, so it figures that I’ve found myself fascinated with a woman who seems like she could give or take me and is going to make me work for every inch I gain with her. “Fuck me.”
Laid out on my U-shaped couch in the basement with a pillow under my head and a movie playing on the TV, I half-listen to Coop, who is sprawled out on the opposite side of the couch, talk to Zuri on his iPad. Neither of them have said much about much, their conversation has mostly involve them sharing what kind of fruits or vegetables they are growing in whatever game it is they are playing.
At one point, I did hear Coop ask if Matthew was the one who pushed her yesterday. I tried to listen for her response, but couldn’t make anything out with how quiet her answer was, so I’m honestly not sure if she even told him. Then again, when I checked in with Nalia again last night, she told me that Zuri didn’t know for sure who shoved her because there had been a whole group of boys bothering her and her friend. And the two of them had their backs to them when the incident happened. Though she also said she wasn’t sure if she believed her because when she asked her, Zuri got nervous, as if she didn’t want to talk about it.