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“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she tells me. “Lane and I went to The Lighthouse on the Friday before the party. Colton was there, but he was just hanging out with my brother, and he left at like, ten.” She pauses, sneaking a strawberry from the bowl and popping it into her mouth. “When I asked, August said Colton was heading home to relieve you from duty.”
My face scrunches up. “That’s not true. That’s not true at all. Colton got home at like, two in the morning.”
“Seriously?”
I nod.
Leighton shrugs again. “Well, all I know is August made it seem like he was always trying to get Colton to stay out later, meet women, have a good time, and that the boy is just not interested. He seemed kind of cranky about it, too.”
“Who, August?”
“Yeah.” Then her lips pout. “Somebody misses his boyfriend.”
I giggle at that but tuck Leighton’s comments away to think about some more, which I definitely do a while later when Teddy conks out in the stroller on our walk back to the house.
It doesn’t make sense that Colton would be leaving at ten o’clock to come home to ‘relieve me’ when our agreement is for me to be working all night. And he definitely didn’t leave that early last weekend. He came home hours later.
I play her comments over and over in my mind, but nothing about it really fits into the puzzle until that next Friday evening.
Colton leaves around six to head out for the night, and I put Teddy down a little after seven. And then I wait. I read a bit, play some games on my phone until about ten thirty. For whatever reason, I decide to take a peek outside.
We might live in a beach town, but the ocean breeze really cools things down in the evening, so I tug on a loose sweater, slip my feet into a pair of old off-brand Ugg boots, and step out the front door, walking the path that hugs the garage.
And that’s when I see it.
Colton’s familiar black SUV parked halfway down the street.
I walk down the sidewalk, expecting him to get out as I come closer, but he doesn’t. Instead he stays almost motionless. And I find out why once I’m finally standing next to his car.
He’s asleep.
He’s sleeping in his car, parked halfway down the street, instead of just parking in his driveway and coming inside.
I stand there for a long moment trying to figure out what to do. Part of me wants to just leave him here. Is he getting poor sleep and this is his idea of a jammin’ Friday night?
But then I have a thought.
Just a glimmer of a thing.
What if he’s staying out here to make me think he’s out having fun?
That idea irritates me enough that I actually tap on his window, though I still do it lightly so I don’t terrify the guy out of his slumber.
Colton’s eyes fly open, and I see his surprised and slightly sheepish expression. Sitting up, he reaches forward and turns off his car then seems to gather himself before he opens the door.
“What are you doing?” I ask him, confusion likely spray-painted all over my face.
He lets out a sigh but doesn’t answer me immediately. Instead he tilts his neck slightly, glances away down the street, and then looks back at me before answering.
“I was just…taking a nap.”
“And you thought napping out here would be better than your bed?”
“Why does it matter, Emily? Sure. Yeah. It’s better than my bed.”
Gritting my teeth at the fact that this really is just about getting away for the night, I wave my hand in the air.
“Forget I asked.”
