Page 195 of Buy Back My Love

I damn near sat straight up. “No, you did not.”

Van grinned. “Sure did.”

“Give it here.”

“Can I get in the room first?”

“No.”

Laughing, he handed over the Red Bull before setting the food on my tray. I stared at the can like he had brought me a diamond. “You don’t understand how long I been wanting one of these.”

“I do understand. You complained about it for months.”

I ignored that. “What sandwich you get?”

“Your regular.”

I opened the bag and immediately smelled it. “This might be better than when you told me you loved me.”

Van pulled the chair closer to my bed. “That’s fucked up.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Clearly.”

While I ate, Van leaned over the bassinet and looked at Myles. “He been good?”

“So far. He already got his days and nights mixed up, though.”

“He just got here.” Van reached down and touched one of Myles’s tiny fists. “Give my boy a minute.”

I stopped chewing long enough to look at him. “Your boy?”

“My godson.”

“Mhm.”

He stayed there looking at Myles for another few seconds before sitting back down. I had already made it halfway through my sandwich when I noticed he’d gotten quiet.

“What?”

Van rubbed his hands together once. “My lease up next month.”

“Okay.”

“I’m not renewing it.”

I lowered my sandwich. “Where you moving?”

“My grandparents’ house.”

That got my full attention. “The Dog River house?”

“Yeah. I been thinking about it for a while. Ain’t no point in letting it sit empty, and I know I don’t wanna sell it.”

I remembered that house from the estate sale, the water out back and all the old furniture, pictures, and memories everywhere you looked. Even back then, before I really knew Van, I could tell that place meant something to him.

“That makes sense.”