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Once he was in bed reading, I headed downstairs and settled on the couch. As much as I loved living with Brody, it was my favorite time of the day. I could just be by myself. It was quiet.
My phone buzzed. I reluctantly looked at it, hoping it wasn’t a collect call from the jail. It was a message from Abby.
Abby: Are you okay?
How should I answer her? Tell her the truth? Remembering Ben’s warning, that was the best course of action.
Nick: I’m no good for you.
The phone rang. I answered and walked outside so I wouldn’t keep Brody up if he wanted to go to sleep. “Yeah?”
“You don’t mean that.” Her voice was soft and eased the ache in my chest.
“It’s the truth and you know it.” I purposely kept my voice gruff.
“Did Ben say something else to you?” The cool tone of her voice told me she knew how he was.
“He’s protective of you. It’s a good thing.” She didn’t have anyone looking out for her except her sister.
“He goes overboard. He’s just my sister’s fiancé.”
“Soon to be your brother-in-law, and I like that someone’s looking out for you.”
“Tonight reminded me that I’ve been alone for a while, and I miss that connection with someone.”
I missed it too. I liked it with her.
“Can we still be friends?” Abby asked. Her tone was vulnerable.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I didn’t want to deny her anything. Even with my best intentions, if she wanted me in her bed, I wouldn’t be able to resist her.
“Hunter likes Brody.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
“It would be nice if they could be friends. There are only so many kids who can play sports for hours and not get bored.”
“Tell me about it.” Brody got so annoyed with kids who would rather play made-up games in the backyard.
“Then it’s settled. The kids can hang out.”
“If you think our reputation is hurting your business, we can back off.”
She sucked in a breath, which told me she’d thought about it. I shouldn’t have been surprised or disappointed, but I was.
“I’ll understand,” I said.
“I wouldn’t do that to Brody and Hunter.”
“We’ll see how it goes.” I hated that it was our inevitable ending. No one stuck around. We might need to relocate if it became too much. I didn’t like it, but it might be the best solution.
“I had fun tonight,” she finally said.
“I did too.”
“I kind of want to see this arcade you have. The one with thousands of games. Hunter was talking nonstop about it. Brody must have mentioned it.”
“You can come see it.” I wished it was just her I was inviting over. But we’d just vowed for our kids to be friends, not us.
