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“Fuck, Kyla. You’ve been raising him by yourself?” I nod my head.
“Yeah. I’ve had a little help from friends, but mostly I stuck to myself.”
“You wanted a life, Kyla. That wasn’t a life if you were stuck alone anyway,” he tells me. I shrug my shoulders. It was the best I could do. It was the best I had at the time. I was always looking over my shoulder to make sure they didn’t find me, but I trusted Mystic to do what he said he would do. Maybe that was my fault.
“You want a drink?”
“I don’t drink anymore,” I tell him. “Not after Axel.”
“Makes sense. You’re safe here, Kyla.”
“I feel safe here, but that doesn’t mean much, considering Jeremy found me.”
“What did he say?”
“I didn’t give him time to say anything. I had friends in the bar who got me out quickly, and here I am.”
“Here you are.” He eyes me up and down like he’s never seen me before, and it sends a chill down my spine.
“I didn’t know where else to go.”
“You did the right thing,” he confirms.
“Did I? I feel like I fucked up,” I tell him.
“You didn’t. You did the right thing.”
“I don’t know what to say to you right now, Jake. I didn’t want to lie to you, but …”
“I get it. I do. I wouldn’t have known had it been me, so I understand,” Jake assures me. “God, it’s good to see you.” I smile now, and he pulls me back into another hug. I let him hold me because I think he needs it too. I think he needs someone, and maybe that someone is me.
When he finally pulls away, he leads me to the couch and sits me down before sitting next to me. He grabs a beer off the table and brings it to his lips before swallowing and looking over at me.
“I fucked up. I know I did. The drinking got out of control. I let it get out of control,” Jake confesses as I glance around at the mess in the house. It wasn’t like this. He wasn’t like this. There are bottles everywhere and trash. This is not what I expected of him.
“So now what? What do we do? I can’t stay here forever.” Those words must hit something inside of him because Jake is on his feet, pacing the floor in front of me with his hand tugging at his hair.
“You can’t take him and run.”
“I’ve been gone for five years, Jake.”
“I don’t care. You think I’d let you take Axel after knowing he’s mine?” Jake’s eyes meet mine, and I see how he looks at me. The stern way he’s looking at me like he dares me to challenge him. That’s not what I came here for, but if he wants a fight, I’ll give him one. I’m on my feet next, my hands on my hips.
“I’ve raised him by myself. We don’t need any help!”
“Don’t you dare. You hid him from me!”
“Like I had a choice, Jake! You were a fucking mess back then, and you aren’t much better now,” I scream at him as I motion around the room to the mess.
“Oh, is that how this is going to go? I’m good enough to help you hide but not good enough to take care of my child?” I shake my head, scrubbing my hand over my face. I’m exhausted and don’t want to do this right now.
“I’m tired, Jake. It was a long ride here.”
“Fuck. I know it was. Come on,” he says. I follow behind him, although I don’t know why. He stops at the same room he took Axel, and I find him fast asleep on the bed. He was exhausted too. I walk over and pull the blanket over him and sigh.
“I don’t know how to do this. I’ve never had anyone have my back, Jake.”
“But you do now. And we’ll figure it all out, Kyla. I promise.” I nod my head, unsure what else to say to him. It’s not like I wanted to keep Axel away from him purposely. I feel Jake would have been a great dad.
