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Shut up. I sign, growing more annoyed.
Come on. Palmer puts her hand on Adley’s arm. You can take it home with you.
Palmer stands and picks up Adley, who’s fussing as if she doesn’t want to leave. Matt gets up from his chair, and I narrow my eyes, wondering what the hell he’s doing. Surely he understands that Palmer is mine. Well, not mine, but there’s no room for him in our situation. She’s my daughter’s mother, which means he needs to find someone else to fuck around with while he’s in town.
I’ll walk you back, Matt signs.
Palmer smiles and points toward her house. We’re right next door. I’ll be fine.
Who is going to hold her ice cream?
She stares at him for a moment and nods.
I kiss Adley goodbye, and her small arms tighten around my neck. God, I love her so much. She’s worth every day that I don’t do a stupid trick on the halfpipe. The three leave, and I watch through the window as they make their way over to Palmer’s house. Palmer slips, and Matt steadies her, almost dropping the ice cream, but of course, he saves the day.
“Are you going to stand there all night?” Theresa asks from the kitchen.
As I turn my head in her direction, Matt walks into Palmer’s house.
What the fuck is going on?
“Jesus, Hudson, what am I missing?”
Stripping myself away from the window, I join Theresa as she cleans up, packaging the leftovers that she’s more than welcome to take home.
I don’t respond because I’ve never felt whatever this is stirring inside me. I’ve never felt this feeling that’s brewing under my usual casual demeanor. Matt is a friend, and Palmer isn’t looking for anything serious. Why not let her have some fun while he’s in town? But something inside me doesn’t like it.
“Hudson!” Theresa says louder.
“What?” I run my hand through my hair, pulling on the back of my neck. “I just don’t want Matt to use Palmer.”
She scoffs. “From what I hear, it’d be the other way around.” She puts the lid on the ice cream, and I’m tempted to return it right now to interrupt the two of them next door.
“What’s that mean?”
She turns around and puts her hands on the counter on either side of her. “I’ve heard rumors about that girls’ trip she took with her cousins. That she was looking hard to hook up with someone, and that she was with different people every night.”
Irritation sparks like a match in my chest. I could see her meeting one guy and spending the trip with him, but she’s never been the type to hop from guy to guy. “That’s not Palmer.”
“Of course you defend her. That’s the reason I never told you.” She puts the leftovers in her bag. Good, because I wasn’t going to eat them.
“First of all, I don’t need to defend her because even if it were true, she was single and could do who and what she wanted. Regardless, rumors are rarely true.”
She huffs and shakes her head. “Am I in the middle of something I shouldn’t be?”
“What do you mean?” I grab a washcloth and wipe down the table, especially where Adley was.
“You know what I mean. Do you have feelings for Palmer?”
“I love Palmer, but I’m not in love with her. She’s my best friend and the mother?—”
“Of your daughter. I get it. That’s what you always say, but the man I saw tonight wanted to reach across that table and rip Matt’s head off for flirting with his best friend.” Her eyebrows rise, asking me to answer to my reaction that I haven’t even deciphered yet.
“It’s just me being protective. That’s all. We have a good thing going with co-parenting Adley, and I don’t want anything to disturb that.” I start on the dishes, wishing we could end this conversation.
“And where does that leave me?” She grabs a dish towel.
I hand her a pot once I’m finished washing it. “You’re my girlfriend—I don’t understand what you’re asking.”
