AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her face screws up and she sniffles. "I hate this for y'all."
"Come on in." Dad hitches his head toward the back door. "Let's spend the afternoon together. Sound good?"
Even though I spend a lot of time with him already, the answer is easy. "Sounds great."
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kara
I've texted Abel a couple of times over the weekend, but he hasn't gotten back to me. I'm starting to worry, so I leave the food truck early on Sunday, and head over to his house. With any other man, I wouldn't do this, I would feel odd just showing up, but I care about him, and it's never been like him to completely ghost me. Although we’ve only been romantic for a few weeks, we’ve been friends for much longer. His truck is in the driveway when I pull up.
I'm slow getting out of my SUV, because there's something about this that feels off. I'm scared I'll find something I'm not sure I want to see. Going up the porch, I look through the windows, but I don't see him. I close my hand into a fist and knock on the door. There's a loud noise inside. "Abel, are you okay?" I yell inside.
He comes to the door, and I immediately know things aren't well with him. His eyes are bloodshot and his cheeks are flushed. His fingers grip the neck of a beer bottle. It's the early evening, and I've never known him to be drinking this early just to be drinking. His eyes are glassy as he struggles to unlock the door.
My stomach clenches as I wonder what in the hell has happened, to make him react this way. "I'm not okay." He frowns.
"Why are you alone?" I question, trying to see inside. "You should've called me."
He takes a drink from the bottle. "Was with Dad and Alexis for a while, and then I decided to come home. Didn't mean to start drinking. I’m not drunk though,” he hurries. “I’m upset. I meant to drink an entire six pack, but only got through two before I started crying and couldn’t stop.”
"Can I come in?"
His eyes clear slightly, almost as if he's realizing he hasn't invited me in yet. "Yeah, please. I don't wanna be alone anymore."
I step over the entrance as he moves back, and immediately take him into a hug. He wraps his free arm around my neck, holding on tight. "You're not gonna be alone." I rub my palms up and down his back, hoping I give him comfort. "I'm right here. Let's get completely inside." It takes a moment, but I manage to get him inside far enough to close the front door, and turn him toward the kitchen. He lets me move him, and when we get there, I take the bottle from his fingers, putting it onto the top of the island. I pull out the chair, and help him sit down. "Tell me what happened? Last I heard you were going to meet your mom for coffee, and I haven't heard from you since."
"I'm so sorry," he apologizes.
"No, don't apologize. I'm just trying to figure out what happened."
He runs a palm down his face. "She was late, like always, and I was thinking about how I've spent most of my life waiting for her. Which is the truth." He scoffs. "She would be supposed to pick me up from practice at school, and I'd be waiting on her. Like the last person, standing out there, trying to figure out if I needed to call my dad. But I was conflicted, because I didn't want to cause issues between them. He would get mad at her, and I hated to see him mad. I knew she was always trying her best." He stops for a second to rub at his face. “At one point, I even stopped seeing her because she never made me a priority, and I didn’t feel safe around her friends. The husband she has now, Matthew, he was pivotal in getting our relationship back on track. I’m so thankful she has him with her right now. I don’t know where she’d be if she was with some of those others. But I still feel like the hurt kid I was back then, sometimes.”
My heart aches for him, for the small child who didn't want to upset either parent. Who knew that taking one side would mean not taking the other. It's obvious he has trauma from where they've unintentionally pitted him against each other.
"Kara, I wish you knew how hard it was to be a child with them as my parents. It's not like I ever cared about how eccentric she was. More than anything, I cared that she forgot about me. It was hard knowing that something would take her attention away to the point where she wouldn't pick me up from practice. Those were the biggest arguments her and dad got into. As I got older I kind of understood where she came from." He clears his throat. "Because life gets messy. It gets complicated especially when things aren't laid out for you. And she's never been the type of person to lay things out in a linear fashion. I wish she was, but she is who she is."
He grabs the back of his neck, his forearms flexing as he grips the flesh. It's as if he's trying to rip the pain from his body. I reach out, hooking my finger in the belt loop of his jeans. He rocks into me slightly, seeming to seek the comfort I'm offering. A breath escapes his chest, and he continues speaking.
"I've always tried to accept her and not ask for more than she was willing to give because I had Dad. He was the best of both of them. He picked up the slack where she failed. But I don't want to say that she was a bad mother because she wasn't. She has loved me the way she knows how. And what she told me today literally fucking kills me."
Sweat breaks across my brow, trying to figure out what he's not saying. "What happened?” I ask softly, silently begging him to tell me what has got him so upset. "Why are you drinking on an evening when you don't normally do it? Please let me in. Let me help you," I beg him.
"She has cancer." He chokes the words out as if they taste bad.
My stomach clenches at his words. Tears come to my eyes at the strangled sound of his voice. "Oh my God, Abel, I'm so sorry. I know the two of you aren't close, but this is awful to hear. How are you?"
"How the fuck am I supposed to be?" His eyes are so full of pain, dark with hurt. "She's young. My parents were so young when they had me. I've never had to deal with the type of health issues friends have had to deal with when it comes to their parents. This is the most shocking thing that has ever happened. I never believed my parents would be old enough to have cancer. It might sound stupid," he shakes his head. "But they're so young that I always thought they were invincible."
Thoughts run through my head, trying to figure out what the best thing is to say to him. None of my friends have been through this, and I have no idea how to react to it, other than speak from the heart. I don't have the right words to say, or anything rehearsed. I say a quick prayer before I let the words fly, hoping they're the right ones. "There's no set way you're supposed to be," I assure him. "There's no set reaction for how you're supposed to take this news. No one knows how they're going to feel about it until they're put in the situation. It's not as if you need to be something for someone else, Abel. It matters how you feel, what you're doing. I'm here for you."
He makes a noise in the back of his throat, like a wounded animal, before launching himself at me. I catch him easily around the waist, my mouth already opening against his before he smashes his lips to mine. The kiss steals my breath and reason as he presses into me, and I stumble, taking his weight. My feet push backward until my back meets the wall and we come to an abrupt stop. He digs his fingers in my hair, pulling me tighter to him. Needing to be closer to him, I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on as tight as I can. His tongue sweeps the top of my mouth, leaving the taste of the beer he was drinking earlier in the wake of his retreat. The rasp of his five o'clock shadow scratches against my upper lip. My nipples tighten in response, and I relax into his hold, comfortable in the knowledge I trust this man with everything in me.
He pulls away, leveling his gaze at me before he licks his lips. "I'm sorry," he apologizes, voice deep with arousal. "That was more aggressive than I intended for it to be."
My heart pounds inside my chest. "I liked it." I smile up at him. "I'd like more of it."
His gaze darkens. "The mood I'm in right now, I'd give it to you."
