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“I respect that you probably had no intention of seeing me—not this soon anyway—but how was I supposed to know you’d end up teaching my ten-year-old this year?” Zayn gives an innocent shrug.
I hold my focus to the chair in the room, where my mom sat before. When it breaks, I decide to look directly at him, but he pretends not to notice.
I clear my throat. “OK, fine. I’ll admit that having your daughter in my class this school year is total coincidence, but you shouldn’t be here in a hospital bed next to me right now. Always having to steal my thunder . . .” I roll my eyes, knowing how much he used to hate that.
“I’m here because you were dancing carelessly on a bar top, fell, hit your head, and possibly broke some bones,” Zayn says.
I scoff. “And what are you some kind of . . . doctor now? Or a vet since you’re apparently rescuing cats.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Nope, I’m a firefighter.”
“Of courseyou are,” I snap.
We sit back in silence for a moment before I say, “I guess I do owe you a thank you.”
“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. It may not be the most meaningful apology I’ve received, but you know what? I’ll take it.” Zayn attempts to lift himself a bit more with the excitement of engaging in conversation with me. “You know, come to think of it, it’s more believable that you did this on purpose.”
“What—you’ve got to be kidding me,” I say, wishing I could cross my arms.
Zayn smirks.
“Okay, Mr. Mitchell, so let me get this new theory of yours straight. You think I fell from the bar on purpose?”
“You tell me, Miss Parker,” he says. I note the switch from Ms. to Miss.
“I think it’d be more likely I’d fake my death to get out of a conversation with you,” I respond.
“Ouch!” Zayn says as he playfully covers his heart with his hand. I can’t help but smile at such a dorky move.
“Oh please,” I say.
He flashes me a smile that makes me melt.Ugh, no! Do not fall for his stupid good looks again. I look over at my heart rate level on the monitor, saying a quick prayer it won’t increase so quickly, somehow possibly triggering an alarm for a nurse to come in right now. Physically, I’m beginning to feel fine. Emotionally, not so much.
“Autumn,” Zayn says with obvious hesitation.
“Yes?”
“Never mind,” he says, waving his hand in the air.
“Don’t back track now. Spit it out.”
He sighs heavily before saying, “I know it’s going to take a lot for you to forgive me, but I’d really like to try to be friends. I mean you’re back here, and Riley is in your class . . . it just seems like a good time to make amends.”
I briefly weigh the options in my mind. “I guess you have a point. I don’t know about friends . . . but we can at least try to get along for this school year. For Riley’s sake,” I offer.
He nods. “I promise to make things better between us.”
A part of me really wants to trust this is true, but I know he doesn’t usually follow through with his promises, which leads me to ask, “How come you never told me you had a daughter? And a ten-year-old one at that?”
“It’s not like I’ve had many chances to before now. You and I haven’t exactly kept in touch. But after graduation, when I . . . stayed behind, I got a bit reckless, I guess you could say.” He shrugs. “It all worked out, though, since my little Riley bug is honestly the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Reckless? Not sure if I’m jealous or angry at his admission. I decide to keep the focus on Riley.“I can tell,” I say genuinely. “You seem like you’re a good dad, Zayn.”
I debate asking who Riley’s mom is. I wonder if I know her. Instead, I reach for the cup of water the nurse left for me on the table, but my arms aren’t long enough.
“Sorry I can’t be of much assistance. Do you want me to call the nurse?” Zayn asks.
“I can do it myself,” I say. “I just need to scoot up a little bit more—ugh, screw it. I’ll just get up and get the damn cup myself.”
