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What are you going to say, Tate? Get it out. You’re killing me here.
“There’s a frat having a party tomorrow night.”
What? That wasn’t what I had hoped to hear. “You’re part of a frat?” I didn’t know whether to be impressed or disappointed in that revelation. I leaned toward disappointed. I hoped he wasn’t one of those typical frat boys.
Tate shook his head. “No, but a couple of my friends are. But this one’s at Pitt, not here. I was invited and now… so are you.”
I blinked. That was kind of a weird invite. But… “Why?”
Tate frowned. “Why what?”
“Why would you invite me?”
His frowned deepened, causing creases around his mouth. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Oh, how about… you don’t know me, I’m gay, I’m deeply in lust with you and you’re probably and unfortunately straight… for starters.
“I mean, I’m… uh…”
He tilted his head and stared at me. “You’re…”
“A freshman. And not from Pitt. They won’t care?”
His frown was now gone and an amused smile replaced it. I definitely liked the smiling Tate over the frowny-faced version.
My attention got caught on the upward curl of his lips for a second.
Or two.
“No, they won’t give a shit. And Pitt has the best parties.”
“Do they charge anything to get in?” Because that could be a problem.
He shook his head. “They charge for a cup if you want to drink.”
“Like how much?” For shit’s sake, I was so damn lame! And broke.
A look crossed Tate’s face. Like he suddenly understood the reasoning behind my hesitation. “Don’t worry about it. I got you covered.”
“You don’t—”
Tate leaned closer, stared me right in the eyes and said, “I got you covered.”
Well, damn. I could read all kinds of naughty things into that. But I doubted Tate meant any of them. “I’ll pay you back.”
“It’s nothing.”
It wasn’t.
Tate straightened and tossed one strap of his backpack over his shoulder. “So, see you tomorrow?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll email you the details when I send you the notes.”
“Okay.”
Tate jerked up his chin. “Think about it, at least.”
“I will.”
He turned and headed in the opposite direction.
I remained standing right there in the hallway, watching him. Until he finally got lost in the crowd.
Think about it.
There was nothing to think about. I had already decided I was going.
CHAPTER 3
Tate (Now)
I tightened my hold on Mazie’s hand since my four-year-old had a tendency to run off when I wasn’t paying attention. And since we were in the city, I couldn’t risk her darting out between parked cars and into traffic.
If I thought my life was messed up now, having something happen to my daughter, especially due to me not being vigilant, would completely annihilate it.
Alec, with his dark head tipped down and wearing a deep scowl, was staying about ten feet in front of me because he wasn’t happy and he wanted to make it known to not only me, but the whole world. With every step he took down the sidewalk toward the entrance of my building, when he wasn’t kicking the toes of his sneakers into the sidewalk, he was dragging them along the concrete instead.
He was doing his best to get on my nerves and I was doing my best to not let him.
After asking him to stop a half dozen times, I’d given up. But I also warned him that he’d have to live with those scuffed sneakers until he outgrew them no matter what they looked like since we weren’t getting him another pair.
My eight-year-old son was clearly telling me with his actions that he didn’t want to spend the weekend with me even though he insisted over the phone the other day that he missed me.
The inconsistency that came from my kids was just another joy in a whole list of them when it came to parenting.
Smiles and kisses were what parents expected.
Mood swings and temper tantrums were what they got.
While I loved my kids more than life itself, sometimes I did not love the way they acted.
But I needed to remind myself to have patience, their lives had recently been tossed upside down when Dahlia and I divorced and then again when I moved back to Pittsburgh. A city I never thought I’d return to, even though I had originally planned on never leaving it in the first place.
But here I was, back in the Burgh.
Twelve years, one divorce and two kids later.
My whole young adult life I figured I’d end up married, in a good career and with the two-point-five kids. A “typical” American family. That was expected, right?
Then I met Ronan and everything I thought I was working toward unexpectedly changed. My hopes. My dreams. My future.
Even though I was confused and unsure, I had been excited about that new direction.
Until I wasn’t.
Because reality could be a nasty bitch.
And, worse, because I screwed everything up when my life smashed head-first into a brick wall. From there, it never recovered.
