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He laughs and holds the door open for me. “Great timing. I’m starved. Come on in.”
I walk inside, then peer over my shoulder at him. “Were you going to invite me in if I hadn’t brought food?”
“Guess now you’ll never know,” he teases. “Are you okay with an indoor picnic in my room? My roommates will probably be back soon, so it will get noisy down here.”
“Yeah, sure. Lead the way.”
I follow him up the stairs, then over to the side staircase that leads to the attic. I can’t help but check out his butt in his nicely fitted jeans and nearly trip over my own two feet.
I never really notice stuff like that on guys, but he’s got onefineass. I know he works out a lot, and I’m sure playing hockey helps keep him in incredible shape.
Once we’re inside his room, Eli spreads a blanket on the floor next to the bed as I pull out the food, napkins, and condiments. We settle down on the blanket, and I grab my knapsack.
“Now for the good stuff.” I pull out the six-pack of beer and toss one to him. “Burgers and beer. Food of the gods, right?”
He pops the top immediately and takes a swig. “Fuck. You don’t know how much I needed this, Holland.”
“The food or the beer?” I ask, amused.
He shrugs. “Both, but I just needed some chill time, to be honest.”
“I guess I ran you ragged.” I pop a French fry into my mouth and make a face. “Sorry about that.”
“No, it wasn’t that,” he assures me. “It was a busy week with stuff, for sure, but I’ve just got a lot of other shit going on.”
I unwrap my burger. “Like?”
He leans back against the bed and takes a bite of his burger. After he swallows, he looks over at me. “Shit’s fucked up at home.”
“Uh-oh.”
He runs his fingers through his hair, then waves a hand. “My step-dad is a total fucking asshole. He’s divorcing my mom, and things are a total disaster right now. She’s a complete mess.”
“I’m so sorry.” I place my hand on his arm. “Are they putting you in the middle of things?”
“Eh.” He shrugs. “It’s hard not to be, you know?”
“Yeah, I do.”
He dips a French fry in ketchup. “Are your parents divorced, then?”
I nod. “My dad married his mistress about four years ago. He started a new family, then forgot that me and my mom existed. I haven’t talked to him since. The only reason we knew he was still alive was because his child support check got deposited into the bank account. Now that I’m over eighteen, there’s no communication at all.
“Holy shit,” he mutters, staring at me. “That’s horrible.”
“What really sucks is that he was the stable parent. My mom’s a total fly-by-night kind of person. She’s always off chasing a dream or a man. I love her, but she’s totally self-absorbed. I get why they didn’t work out, but I don’t know why my dad felt the need to write me off, too.”
As I talk about it, all the old feelings I thought I buried deep rear their ugly head. If I ever have a kid someday, I will never abandon them. Never.
“Have you ever asked him why he did that?”
“No,” I admit. “I found him on Instagram a while back, though. He’s got all these pictures of him with his new wife and two little kids on there. When I followed him, he blocked me the next day.”
“Jesus Christ.” Eli’s jaw drops as he stares at me in horror. “That’s... fuck. I don’t even know what to say.”
“I know. Maybe he can’t stand to look at me because I’m the spitting image of my mom, and he doesn’t want to be reminded of her. I just have no idea.”
“If that’s the case, then he needs to grow the fuck up,” Eli mutters. He takes another bite of his burger. “You’re his kid, for fuck’s sake. His blood.”
