AllFreeNovel
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“Wait, you’re moving in together?” I ask. Kat blocks my view, but I move around until I just shove her up and off my lap. She can sit on the damn couch and I’ll stand.
Allie watches Kat fall back into my spot while I separate myself. She glances up at me, but not at my face. Her eyes don’t meet mine. Fine, she can stare at my sternum or whatever is more appealing.
“We’ve talked about it. Is that an issue for you?”
Yes. It is. I don’t like it. “No. I mean,” I cross my arms over my chest before I sound like a hypocrite, considering my own living situation. “Where does he live?”
Her brows pinch together. “In town. He’s not too far from my house.”
“Anyway,” Kat starts in. This is a new territorial behavior coming from her. What in the hell is she doing? She turns her body to face Allie completely, resting her chin in her hand. “So you’re going to marry this Ted guy, and then Lucas and I will be married soon. Going to be one big happy family, now, isn’t it?”
God, I need to stop her. Is it legal to lock a woman out of your house if she lives here half of the time? “We are in agreement that one day we will get married,” I say slowly so everyone, particularly Allie, knows. I need to make it clear I wasn’t lying to her earlier.
On second thought, maybe I’m overthinking what’s happening in the room.
“It’s all the same,” Kat dismisses me.
“Well,” Allie stands up. “Where is the restroom?” Jen offers to take her and I stop that in its tracks.
“Jen, you keep playing with Jadon. I’ll show Allie,” I say, and lead her to the restroom in the hallway. Allie walks slowly, studying the pictures on the walls. She stops at a family portrait of my mom, dad, and me when I was a baby.
“Wow, your mom was beautiful,” she says while staring at the picture. “You and Jadon really have her eyes. I didn’t realize it was so dominant. I mean, I don’t really know about traits and stuff, but the doctors said it was rare.”
My instinct is a dirty comment about the winning sperm inside her being the special one with the nice eyes, but she probably wouldn’t appreciate that. “Yeah, as far as I know, my mom and I were the only ones to get them until I saw Jadon. I didn’t have any related issues growing up with my sight.”
“It’s unique,” she says, “and pretty. I’ve always liked them. They’re pretty on Jadon, and that was the first thing I noticed about you.” Funny how her eyes draw me in, yet she’s complimenting mine.
“I figured the kids in school would tease me about them, but maybe being on the football team helped.”
Allie snorts at my joke, and I can’t help but admire the way she looks when she laughs. It’s like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “I don’t see why anyone would tease you, Lucas Kennedy.”
We stand quietly for seconds that pass too quickly, but long enough that our toes tap against one another. She glances over my shoulder and down the hall where Jadon’s high-pitched laughter carries this way. The reminder knocks me out of whatever haze I’m in, and reality sets back in.
“The bathroom is the one on the left,” I point in the direction and she nods.
“I just needed to get away for a minute. It was getting a little intense having those eyes piercing through me.” She eats at her bottom lip and shakes her head. “I’m pretty sure she plotted my death for any situation she finds suitable according to the weather,” Allie jokes.
I don’t find it funny. Katrina is a lot of things, but she isn’t violent. I don’t need Allie thinking that. We all need to get along for the sake of Jadon.
“Honestly, she wouldn’t do it, because she’d probably be afraid to break a nail,” I tell her, and she giggles. The fact that she laughs about it eases the tension in my shoulders.
“Hey, I was wondering,” she breaks the silence, “if you wanted to do something for the holidays, we can put a calendar together. I don’t like the idea of court stuff and I know we can be flexible.”
“That would be amazing.” Okay, so Kat didn’t completely ruin everything. But I still need to clear the air. “About Kat, I—”
“Don’t worry. I get it. You didn’t lie to me, Lucas, and she’s letting me know my place with you.” With that, she leaves me standing alone while she returns to the living room. “So, where is Jadon’s room going to be? We can leave all of this for when he stays here.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Kat rises to her feet with pity in her eyes and pouting lips. “We actually don’t have space for him here since I take up a lot of room with my things and I’ll be using the spare bedroom for work until Lucas and I have a baby.”
Allie’s eyes slide over to me for clarification.
I’m pretty sure she didn’t just mention a baby seriously, so I’ll ignore that part. If anything, it’s another jab at me for having a kid, and not something Kat truly wants right now. “Actually, I moved your stuff into the garage and we can set that up later, so you still have the space. Jadon’s room is next to the bathroom.”
“You didwhat?” The change in her tone rings the alarms. Jen and my dad distract Jadon well enough that he doesn’t pay attention. “That ismystuff, Lucas. You can’t just throw it into the garage!”
“Katrina, let’s talk about this later, okay?”
“No.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “We’ll settle this now with everyone here. That ismycareer andmyequipment I had set up and you won’t fuck it up because you suddenly came across your fucking slut of a one-night stand and her bastard child!”
