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We make it to the quad facing the football field in an awkward silence. Katrina probably doesn’t know who I am, and I know Lucas hasn’t told her yet about Jadon. How do I make small talk?
So, are you ready to be a stepmom?Wait, what would she be to Jadon?
When she sees the field, I let her know how to get in, and turn to leave.
“Wait!” she yanks my arm, digging into the skin with her long fake nails. “I’ll get lost on the way down. Do you think you can get me down there?”
“Oh, alright.” Is she stupid or something? She just has to open the gate I pointed out to her. We get to the fence and she stands by it, waiting for me to open it for her like I’m some sort of maid or something. We walk up toward the coaches—well, she struts like it’s a runway while I walk like a normal human being—and I notice all the players slowly stopping to stare at the goddess stepping on the field.
Decidedly, I’m going to leave, but I just have this curiosity. I wonder what they look like together. Separately, they look perfect, like the pictures inside frames when you buy them.
I catch my dad watching them, too. I don’t know if Lucas told him or not, but I think Dad’s issue is more with Katrina’s father than Katrina. He won’t say anything to Lucas, though. He won’t ruin whatever Lucas has going on. Not with that woman.
Seriously, is she an aspiring actress or something?
Lucas turns around after Katrina pokes a nail into his shoulder and his brows shoot up when he sees her. Looks like she got the surprise reaction she was going for. Lucas gives her a quick hug and a kiss and strings some words together into sentences, and there’s a souring in my gut watching them. This is too intrusive.
I make my way back toward the gate to leave when Katrina’s voice carries across the field with an unpleasant tone. Looks like the beginnings of an adult tantrum. I guess she needed a flaw—though it’s not my business.
“It’s literally just a week, Lucas, you can take a week. It’s not like your games started already.”
Nope, this isn’t my business, so I leave them to… that.
A few minutes after I make it back and settle into my desk, Lucas walks into the office with his bag like he’s ready to go. “Hey, do you think you can get off a little early today since John’s out?” And as if the outside display didn’t just happen, he helps himself to the cookies on my desk. “Damn, these are good.”
“Sure. Do you need to be somewhere?” Like an afternoon date with the gorgeous adult toddler.
“No,” he sets down his bag while I subconsciously lick the corner of my mouth where he thumbs a crumb from his. “I was going to see if you wanted to go get a smoothie. It’s hot outside and I figure we can get something for Jadon, too.”
What the hell is wrong with me? He’s asking me an innocent question, and I’m licking myself like some wild animal.
“Ah, you want to butter him up with sugar before you break the news to him,” I say while packing up my textbook and closing my laptop.
“Kinda, yeah,” he scratches the back of his head. I’ve noticed he does that when he’s nervous.
“Okay, that’s fine. I need to pack, so I wouldn’t mind getting home early.”
“I was hoping that we might talk before we get Jadon?”
“Talk?”
“It’s nothing bad. I was just hoping we could get to know one another without anyone else around, you know? I mean, we barely know one another and are going to be raising a kid. I mean, I like you, Allie, and we could at least be friends.”
He wants to be my friend? That sour feeling from earlier, I realize, is gone. “Yeah, I guess that would be fine.”
“Great,” he looks relieved. That’s weird. Maybe there’s something on my face. I’m a touch self-conscious after that supermodel girlfriend of his walked through the doors. “Let’s go.”
Chapter19
Lucas
I learned something about Allie today. She gets jittery, but in a good mood if you give her sugar. She’s also easy to talk to when she’s not flinging insults I fight not to laugh at.
For the hour we sat inside, I drank as slow as possible to keep this from ending. She told me about becoming a vegan, why Jadon sticks to the same diet and more about that car accident. It’s amazing to witness the difference in her demeanor now compared to the mother that snapped at me outside of her car.
She was almost the same girl I met at that party. Sweet, funny, engaging in conversation.
Driving to get Jadon, I realized something. I never asked her real questions about herself that night, but I was afraid to. I had no intention of getting to know the person whose life was about to change until it was too late.
