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)
“Alright.” I let out a frustrated breath and take my cell phone out of my back pocket. “Go put your bag down and come out and play soccer with Zuri while I call your mom to let her know that you guys are here.”
“Okay.” He looks at Zuri, who gives him a sad smile before following behind him up the steps.
“I’m going to go up and check on Billie,” Nalia tells me when the kids walk into the house.
“I’ll be up in a sec.” I dial Kristy’s number and listen to it ring.
“Logan,” she answers, sounding panicked. “Please tell me that you’re calling because the kids are there.”
“The kids are here.”
“Oh my god,” she whispers. “I can’t believe that Billie just took off without telling me she was leaving with her brother.”
“What the fuck reaction did you expect her to have, Kristy? Just last weekend, she saw Aaron on a dating website and was under the impression that he was moving out, not putting a ring on her mom's finger.”
“The dating website thing was a misunderstanding.”
“Really? Is that what he told you?”
“Yes,” she snaps, sounding angry, which pisses me off.
“And you believe him?” I ask, unable to hide the disbelief in my voice.
“Of course I do.” Then you’re an idiot. I don’t say it, but fuck, I want to.
“I gotta go, I need to go check on our daughter.”
“Tell her to call me.”
“I’ll tell her, but I’m not sure that she’s going to be up to doing that tonight,” I mutter before I hang up.
As I’m stepping up the porch to go inside, Coop and Zuri walk out of the house.
“You two okay?” I ask, wrapping my arm around Coop’s shoulders, hugging him into my side.
“Yeah.” Coop shrugs.
“Is Billie okay?” Zuri asks.
“Yeah, honey, she’s okay,” I lie because I don’t know what’s waiting for me when I get upstairs. “You two okay out here alone for a bit?”
“Yeah.” They both answer.
“Alright, stay away from the road.”
“We know, Dad,” Coop grumbles like I’m an idiot. I let him go and walk into the house, leaving the door open. When I get upstairs, Billie’s door is open and her and Nalia are sitting on her bed. Both of them with their backs to the headboard, Billie with her legs pressed to her chest, leaning into Nalia, sitting next to her with her arms wrapped around her.
“First,” I say, and Billie’s red-rimmed eyes come to me. “You do not ever fucking drive when you’re upset and crying.”
“Dad,” she whispers.
“Logan,” Nalia snaps.
“No.” I look at both women before focusing on Billie. “Do not Dad me, Billie. You put your life and Coop’s life in danger doing that, and that is absolutely unacceptable.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpers while Nalia glares at me.
“Now, come here, sweetheart,” I order softly, and she shakes her head. “Come here,” I repeat, and she hesitantly gets off the bed and walks to me. “I’m sorry about your mom.” I pull her into my arms and hold her tight.
“She’s so stupid,” she chokes out.
“Love makes you act stupid, sweetheart. You’ll unfortunately figure that out for yourself someday.”
“I’m not going to be stupid enough to stay with a guy who is on a dating site while living with me.”
“I hope not.” I sigh, holding her tighter, my gaze landing on the woman still sitting on my daughter’s bed, watching us.
“I can’t believe that she is going to marry him.”
“That’s her decision, and unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it if that’s what she decides.”
“But I can decide I don’t want to be around him.”
“You can,” I agree, wondering what the fuck Kristy’s thinking with this bullshit. Things between her and the kids just started improving, and now, understanding what changed Billie’s mind about Aaron months ago, I get why she didn’t want to be around him.
And Nalia was right. Coop didn’t know about his dating profile, but he loves his sister, so when Billie decided that she didn’t like her mom's man, he went along with her. I just doubt there is going to be any way Billie will ever accept Aaron, and she will likely always assume that he’s up to no good, even if he’s not. And, again, Coop always having his sister’s back is going to act accordingly and I won’t blame him.
“Did you and Coop eat dinner yet?”
“No, we were trying to figure out what we were going to order for dinner when Mom told us about Aaron.”
“Does pizza sound good?”
“Yeah,” she mumbles. “Hawaiian.”
“You got it.” I kiss the top of her head. “Go on and wash your face and meet us downstairs, we’ll order dinner, watch a movie, and hang out.”
“Okay, Dad.” She lets me go and sends Nalia a sad smile before walking into the Jack and Jill bathroom between her bedroom and the guest room. Going downstairs with Nalia right behind me, I stop at the front door and look out at the kids. It’s starting to get a little dark, but they have a few minutes before the sun fully sets and the street lamps turn on.