AllFreeNovel
Share Us
None of what I want to say to Sinclair is child-appropriate. The silence goes on for far too long. Sin lifts his eyebrows.
“That would be…great.”
He claps his hands. “I knew you’d think so. What time does school start?”
“Eight-fifteen,” Ben says.
“But we have to be there early so Bristol can go to work,” Mia adds. Another split-second frown. “Do we have to go early if she’s not going to work?”
“No.” I don’t know why they’d need to. The only reason I showed up early to school every day was because they had free breakfast, and because Sin would eat it with me. Emerson was almost always late, his face pale and distant. He wouldn’t eat the food they had even if he got there early. “You’ll just be on time.”
“Okay,” Mia says. “Watch out, Ben. It’s almost sunset.”
They look happy, facing each other behind the laptops, playing a game. The day hasn’t turned out to be a total shitshow after all.
I don’t feel Sin watching me until it’s too late. This time, I can’t read his expression. He climbs out of the chair, and I follow him out to the living room. Sunset in the game. Headed toward five in the real world.
There’s really only one thing to say to him.
“What do you think, Sin? You want to stay for dinner?”
He does, because Sinclair Leblanc almost never turns down food. He’s back the next morning when I leave to take the twins to school, bringing a bag of tropical Jolly Ranchers from the corner store. I put them in a dish on my bedside table, since cough drops are garbage and my doctor-for-hire said sucking on hard candy can help with Bristol’s throat. The sound of Sinclair typing on his laptop follows us out of the apartment.
I’ve unceremoniously announced that I’ll be taking sick days and working from home the rest of the week. Greg doesn’t fight me on it, which is nice, since I don’t want to have to go all the way to headquarters just to punch him. I have more important things to do.
I spend the long, quiet day next to Bristol’s bed, answering emails on my phone. And a couple of texts.
Christa: What happened? Did you get taken out in a fight? Did you quit?
Will: I took sick days, Hong. I know you’ve heard of them.
Christa: This is twice in one quarter, Leblanc!!
I send her a shrugging emoji.
Sinclair comes back when I leave to pick up the twins.
By evening, Bristol’s sitting up in bed, her voice hoarse but not strained.
After the twins have gone to sleep, I go into the bedroom and strip off my pants. They land in the hamper just inside the walk-in closet.
“Will?” Bristol’s cocooned in the blankets. Her green eyes are beautiful and tired, but more alert than they have been.
“I thought you’d be asleep.” I go to the side of the bed and sit, feeling slightly awkward about running my fingers through her hair. It was different before. I do it anyway. “You don’t have to get up for me.”
She clears her throat. “Do you mind if I borrow your bathtub?”
“Sure, as long as you can carry it.”
My stomach collapses during the beat of silence. What the fuck kind of joke was that? I want to disappear. I want to never have been born.
And then Bristol bursts out laughing.
It’s a near-soundless laugh, but it shakes her whole body. Tears cling to her eyelashes.Oh my God.The words are only in the shape of her mouth.Oh my God.
Don’t laugh at me,I want to say. And:Laugh at me forever. Nobody’s ever laughed at me like this.
“Wait here.” I pat her hair and start to pull away, but Bristol grabs my hand. She presses a kiss to my palm, then falls back to the pillows, still laughing.
