She's his fucking assistant. He's literally paying her to sleep with him.
Do we know they're sleeping together?
The reply is a screenshot of the Friendsgiving photo.
Dude, he's almost old enough to be her dad.
My cousin went to school with her, she's like 24 or 25.
I find Addie's InASnap account. She's made it private and removed me from her followers.
It's likely a text will go unanswered, but I try anyway.
Can we talk please? In person?
Addie
At lake.
Oh, right, Christmas is in a few days.
I came home the other day to wrapped gifts at my front door. A few for Cooper, and a large box for me. I didn't bother to read the tags, I know who they're from. Which is why they're tucked away in my closet. I might give Coop his on Christmas, but I wonder if it will make this all harder than it already is.
I want to scream into the void.
But what's worse?
I want to hit apples.
Chapter thirty-nine
Mateo
"Happy New Year," I say. "How was your Christmas?"
"Good, but man, how are you?" Kyler asks.
"Fucking miserable."
"You look like shit, dude."
I prop my phone up on my dresser. My dresser. I'm officially in my old bedroom, and Mom and Dad are back in theirs. It was my idea, hoping the close proximity to Addie would help make her talk to me again. I haven't gotten more than a word or two from her since she discovered the details about me and Jade.
"Thanks, truly. But hey, I was calling because I'm flying in this weekend. The closing on my condo got moved up."
"You find something yet?"
"I did, closing in a few weeks. You guys around this weekend?"
"Yeah, I'll get a sitter for this girl. We can grab dinner." He holds up baby Maddie.
"No need, I'm not in the mood to be in public lately. And besides, Uncle Mateo needs some Maddie snuggles."
Kyler laughs.
"Sure thing, man. Text me Friday."
We hang up, and I wander downstairs. The house is quiet, too quiet. We all hate it. Mom and Dad mope around when they're home. Addie's a fucking hurricane, crashing out. The emptiness is weighing on all of us. It's fucking heavy. Too heavy and I don't want to fucking hold it anymore.
