“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.

  “Dad, can we go get Sonic?” Coop asks dragging me from my thoughts and I look over at him.

  “Your mom is going to be here to pick you up any minute to take you and your sister to dinner.”

  “Oh, right,” he mutters.

  “We can get Sonic tomorrow after school.”

  “I want Sonic,” Zuri says in the background, and Coop grins, then looks at me.

  “Can we eat with Zuri again like we did the other day when you picked us up?”

  “Sure, if Nalia says that’s cool,” I mutter, wondering if Nalia is going to be pissed that the kids being friends means she can’t avoid me like she might want to.

  “You should ask her,” Coop tells his iPad.

  “I will, she’s on the phone right now.” She says as the doorbell upstairs rings and Dozer starts to bark.

  “That’s probably your mom, bud,” I sit up and get to my feet.

  “Ugh, Zuri, I have to go my mom’s here.”

  “Okay, bye, see you tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, later.” He gets to his feet and then tosses his iPad down on the couch.

  “You ready?” I ruffle his hair.

  “I guess.” He trudges towards the stairs, and I follow him up to the first floor and find Dozer waiting by the door but Billie nowhere in sight.

  “Go on and get your sister and put on your shoes.”

  “Okay, Dad.” He heads up the stairs while I go to the front door and swing it in.

  “Hey.” Kristy smiles.

  “Where’s Aaron?” I step back to let her inside.

  “Home, I thought it might be good for just me and the kids to hang out.”

  “You think that’s smart?” I ask quietly as she leans down to rub the top of Dozer’s head.

  “Yes, why?”

  “They need to get comfortable around him; that’s not going to happen if they don’t spend time with him.”

  “They’ve spent time with him, but things have been tense, and I just want to enjoy an evening with my kids. We can all hang out another time.”

  “Alright,” I mutter, knowing that I’m not going to be able to change her mind. That is something I learned while we were married, and it used to frustrate the shit out of me. Not because I needed to constantly be right but because there was no give on her end.

  “How is your friend’s daughter?” She changes the subject.

  “Zuri’s alright, she got a few stitches, but she’ll be okay.” I don’t correct her on the relationship between Zuri and Nalia, it’s none of her business.

  “That’s good,” she says softly, then adds. “Cooper was worried when he found out what happened to her.”

  “Yeah, he and Zuri have become pretty good friends this year at school.”

  “Is that how you know her and her mom?”

  “Ready,” Cooper says, bouncing down the stairs, cutting into our conversation.

  “Where’s your sister?” I ask him as Kristy opens her arms for him to give her a hug.

  “I’m here,” Billie says from the top of the stairs, taking them much slower than her brother did, then her eyes scan the foyer. “Is Aaron in the car?”

  “Nope, he stayed home, it’s just us tonight,” Kristy tells her, and Billie visibly relaxes at the news.

  “Where are we going?” Coop asks.

  “I was thinking that we could go to the bowling alley in Franklin and eat there while we bowl.”

  “Cool.” His whole face lights up.

  “Did you want to come?” Kristy asks, focusing on me.

  “I have some stuff to do, I’ll probably head over to the shop for a couple hours.”

  “Aww, come on, Dad, it will be fun,” Coop pouts.

  “Another time, kid.” I ruffle his hair as Kristy opens the door. “Go enjoy some time with your mom.”

  “Fine,” he mutters, following Kristy out of the house.

  “Are you sure you can’t come?” Billie asks quietly.

  “I’m sure.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “Go have fun with your mom and brother.”

  “Bowling is only fun when you’re ten.”

  “Then pretend that you’re ten.” I lead her out the door.

  “Shotgun,” Coop calls as he jogs towards his mom’s car.

  “Great,” Billie groans, and I laugh.

  “You’ll be fine.” I kiss the side of her head, then open the back door for her.

  “I should have them home around seven-ish,” Kristy says, looking back at me as she gets into the driver’s seat.

  “Sounds good, have fun.” I step back and slam Billie’s door then wait with Dozer at my side as they back out of the driveway.

  “Come on,” I call Dozer and head back to the house. As I’m changing out the kids’ laundry a few minutes later, my cell beeps with a message so I pull it out of my back pocket.

  Nalia

  Zuri just told me that we are going to Sonic after school tomorrow

  Grinning, I message her back a single word.

  Yep!

  Eight

  NALIA

  Sitting in my home office with my laptop open, I slide through the spreadsheet on the screen while I go over the hours that were turned in by the guys who work for Bax and Talon. If there were one thing I wish I could avoid every week, it would be payroll. Only because I have to double-check each and every single person’s hours and calculate overtime if they have any, then double-check to make sure things are correct before I send the information over to the accountant. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it’s time-consuming and usually takes me all day to get done.

  While I’m clicking away on my calculator, my cell phone beeps with a message, and I glance over at my phone that is sitting face up on the top of my desk.

  Cole

  Hey, sorry I missed your call last night; I’ll try to call you this afternoon if I have time.

  Dragging in a deep breath, I focus back on my computer rather than the annoyance that has settled in the pit of my stomach. I’m not even annoyed with Cole; I’m annoyed with myself for thinking that we had even a shot at making a long-distance relationship work. We could hardly find time for each other when we lived in the same building, and now with me here and him there, it’s become an out of sight, out of mind type of situation. I don’t even blame him for that, neither of us have put much effort into finding time to connect.

  Pulling up Google, I type in what is a fluid relationship? As I read the first few suggestions, my mouth falls open. Each definition is different, but the gist of it is that you and your partner are open to a third person entering the relationship. I wonder if he even knows the definition. I also wonder if it even matters. If I’m being honest with myself, I know that he and I aren’t even together and that I’m just holding onto him because it’s safe. The same way it was safe to be with him when we lived in the same city, because he never expected too much from me. Not my time, not my feelings. For sure not love.

  Shoving that depressing thought out of my head, I exit out of my search history and dive back into work. At around two, the grumbling in my stomach becomes so loud that I can’t ignore it any longer, so I get up with my phone and head to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I find it mostly empty except for the stuff for Zuri’s lunch and breakfast. Grabbing a Diet Coke and one of her Lunchables, I rip open the top and make myself a cracker cheese and meat sandwich as I lean against the counter. As I’m chewing, my cell on the counter beeps, and I look down at it.

  Logan

  Open the door.

  Like I can see through the walls of my house, I look towards the living room, then almost jump out of my skin when the doorbell goes off a few seconds later.

  Shoving the rest of the cracker meat and cheese into my mouth, I walk through the living room and stop to look in the mirror next to the door. My eyes look tired from staring at my computer all day, my hair that I tied up in a messy bun this morning is still a mess, and my black tank top is sprinkled with bits of cracker dust. After dusting the crumbs off my top, I start to fix my hair but it’s hopeless, so I just leave it be.

  Ripping my gaze off my reflection I drag in a breath and open the door ignoring the way my heartbeat speeds up at the sight of Logan.

  “What…” My question is cut off when he holds my Bronco keys up between us. “You fixed my car already?”

  “It didn’t take as long as I thought it would,” he says, and I look past him to the driveway and find my Bronco parked next to his mom’s car. “I figured I could drop it off, and we could pick up my Jeep, then drop off Mom’s car before we go pick up the kids.

  My eyes slowly slide up to his. Yesterday, when Zuri told me that she wanted to go get food with Coop after school, I reluctantly agreed because I could tell that she was excited about the idea of hanging out with her friend again, and I want her to be happy despite my own reservations about spending more time with Logan.

  “I thought Zuri and I would just meet you and Cooper at Sonic after school.”

  “We’re going to the same place, no need to drive two cars,” he says, and my stomach curls in on itself at the idea of spending even more time alone with him.

  “I still have a little work to do.”

  “That’s cool.” He takes a step towards me, leaving me no choice but to back up. “I can hang out here until you’re done.” He takes another step towards me, and I take another step back, then watch him close the door.

  Okay, apparently, he’s staying, and I don’t get a say. Scraping my teeth over my bottom lip, I pull my eyes off his and turn towards the kitchen. He doesn’t make a sound as he follows me, but I feel his presence like a weighted blanket. Walking to the counter, I pick up what is left of the Lunchable, load up another cracker with cheese and meat, and shove it into my mouth.

  “Is that your lunch?” I look over to where he’s standing, watching me.

  “I didn’t have a lot of options today,” I tell him after I swallow. Picking up my Diet Coke, I take a sip. “Do you want to hang here or there’s a chair in my office. I shouldn’t be long.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  Of course, he will. Maybe I shouldn’t have given him the option and just told him that I would be back in like fifteen minutes. Without a word, I head down the hall to my office and step through the door. With the blinds open, lots of bright light fills the small space, making it feel bigger than it is. Taking a seat at my desk, he sits on my reading chair that is tucked in the corner of my room next to my bookshelves that are stuffed with my prized paperbacks. The chair was a hand me down from my mom after she got a new one, and I haven’t really had a chance to use it, but Zuri often comes in here with her iPad to hang out while I’m working.

  Unlocking my computer, I get back to work, but I can feel his eyes on me, the attention makes me self-conscious.

  “Can you please stop staring?” I mutter, digging my hand into the bag of gummy worms I keep on my desk.

  “I like looking at you.”

  “Well, stop, it’s making it hard to focus.”

  “Is it the attention or me?”

  Both

  I look over at him and feel the pulse in the base of my throat beat wildly when his eyes lock on mine.

  “Stop.”

  “I’m not doing anything.” He’s right, he’s not doing anything, but just being in his presence is enough to throw me off balance. The problem is I’m attracted to him, and he has made it obvious that he’s attracted to me, which is both exhilarating and unnerving.

  “I’m going to make you leave.” I shove two gummy worms in my mouth, and he grins.

  “Alright.” He holds up his hands. “I’ll try to behave.”

  I don’t believe him, not even a little.

  I can still feel him watch me as I finish up payroll and e-mail everything over to the accountant so he can direct deposit everyone Friday. When I’m done, I close my laptop and look over at him.

  “Done?” He asks, sitting forward, the muscles of his arms testing the material of his shirt.

  “Yes.”

  “You ready to go then?”

  “I… Maybe we should just meet you…”

  “No.” He stands and looms over me, he’s so tall he seems to suck up all the light in my office like an evergreen tree. “Come on.” He holds out his hand.

  Ignoring his hand like he’s ignoring my desire to put space between us, I get up and walk out of my office. Going to the kitchen, I grab my cell phone from the counter where I left it earlier, then follow him to the front door, slip on my shoes, and pick up my bag, wrapping the strap across my chest. With his mom’s car keys in my hand, I let us out of the house and lock the door.