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***Olive***
Ifmysmilewasany faker, I would’ve been a porcelain doll. I sure as hell felt as brittle as one while rushing through the Oklahoma Devils football stadium with my six-year-old trying to step on every line on the floor he could find. I had a job interview to be at and Jesse’s babysitter, also known as his father, wasn’t where he said he’d be. The stadium was huge and I could only get past so many security guards by smiling pretty before one of them started to worry that I was a crazy woman. I could feel my eyes growing wider with each minute that ticked away and I knew I was teetering intoHere’s Johnnyterritory.
“I think my dad’s gone crazy.” Jesse sang the Eminem song his aunt had proudly taught him at the top of his lungs, drawing the gaze of another guard. He loved to sing it and didn’t realize his aunt had been being a dick about his dad when she’d taught it to him. He just thought he was singing about his dad.
My smile crept into something akin to clownish as I took Jesse’s hand. “Remember that we talked about that song? Aunt Lydie was just playing a trick. It’s not a nice song to sing about your dad, Jesse.”
The guard walked over to us. “Do you need any help?”
I would’ve loved for him to help by hitting Jesse’s father over the head with whatever weapon he had, but I doubt he was willing to offer that kind of support. “I was supposed to be meeting someone here but I can’t find him. He said to meet him just inside of the north entrance, but he wasn’t there. I’m hoping he’s just running late after practice.”
“Football?” When I nodded, the guard turned and pointed the way I’d been going. “The locker room is in that direction. That’s probably your best bet. Practice just ended a bit ago.”
“I’m going to see my dad!” Jesse pushed his glasses back up his nose as they slid down and flashed his brightest smile. “I haven’t seen him in… Mommy, how many sleeps?”
I took a deep breath and squeezed Jesse’s hand. “Too many sleeps. Say thank you to the nice man for giving us directions, buddy.”
The man’s expression had shifted when he heard Jesse call me his mom. Openness turned to confusion and then to judgment. I was used to it after six years of people doing the assumed math in their heads. I looked my age at twenty-one and Jesse looked a little older than six, thanks to his dad’s freakishly big genes.
“Who are you looking for?” The guard crossed his arms over his chest as he studied me. “And does he know you’re coming? Or is this whole thing a surprise?”
I wanted to scream. I’d arrived in town the day before with a rental car full of crap to unpack and no time to adjust before I was thrown into the thick of things. I had to get the job I was interviewing for or I was going to be playing catchup before the semester even started. I had to get Jesse registered at his new school. I had to-
“Ma’am?”
I forced my brittle smile to stretch a little farther. “Taylor Clarkson. He knows I’m coming and he knows I’m with his son. The only surprise is that he wasn’t where he said he’d be.”
The guard stared at me and when I thought he’d speak, he just let the silence stretch on. Jesse danced around me, unconcerned that his mother was minutes from losing her shit.
“Taylor Clarkson.” He laughed. “The quarterback who’s supposed to be the top draft pick for the NFL this spring?ThatTaylor Clarkson?”
I opened my purse and started pawing through it, trying to find some form of proof that once upon a time Taylor Clarkson had unprotected sex with me. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but with each minute that ticked by, my sanity was crumbling. “Yes, that Taylor Clarkson. My name is Olive Oakley. I’m a new student here, a transfer from a community college in the town Taylor and I grew up in. This is Jesse Oakley, our son. I don’t know what else I can say to convince you, sir.”
His radio crackled at his side and a disembodied voice barked something about a parking lot. The guard stared at me for another few seconds before shrugging. “I have to handle this. I don’t have time to worry about relationship crap. Go down to the locker rooms and wait outside with the rest of the clingers. If he comes out, good for you.”
My jaw dropped as I watched him hurry away. I’d never missed my little sister more. Lydie was only a year younger than me, but she had always been my protector growing up. She was fierce and while I’d started learning to channel her energy, I had nothing on her tongue-lashing skills.
“What’s a clinger?” Jesse looked up at me with his giant blue eyes and his gap-toothed smile. “Was that man a douche?”
I swore under my breath and took back my previous thoughts about missing Lydie. “Don’t repeat words that Aunt Lydie taught you, Jesse. Douche isn’t a nice word for a little boy to say.”
“Can a big boy say it?”
I scooped him up and held him on my hip. He was too big for it but I had enough adrenaline flowing that I handled it like a champ and still managed to take off at a sprint towards the locker rooms. “Big boys can say lots of things that little boys can’t. Big girls, too. Like Mommy. Right now, Mommy wants to say lots of bad words.”
He wrapped his arms around my neck just a bit too tight and laughed. “Like what?”
Even in my panicked state, I had to grin at his curiosity. “I’ll tell you when you turn thirteen. How does that sound?”
I followed an arrow painted on the wall pointing me towards the locker room and rounded a corner, just to find myself at the back of a group of women who all seemed to be waiting around for the door to open. While I stood there, it did, and a wave of energy rolled through the crowd in front of me. I watched as a pretty redhead hurried over to the giant of a man and threw her arms around his neck.
“Are you listening to me, Mommy?”
I put Jesse down and knelt in front of him. “I’m sorry, bud. I got distracted. I need to find your dad as soon as I can. Give me just a second to call him and then you’ll have my full attention, okay?”
I grabbed my phone and hit the button to call Taylor again. I pressed it to my ear and swore to myself that I hadn’t made a mistake when I’d decided to follow Taylor to Oklahoma A&M. I was reciting all the positive things about the school and cursing Taylor’s name when I looked down and didn’t see Jesse.
