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I gritted my teeth. It felt… strange at first for someone to know why I was the way I was. One time, I’d overheard one of the therapists giving a lecture at Blooms claim that our trauma response was the opposite of our love language. My love language was acts of service—doingfor others. The opposite of that? Solitude.
I wasn’t too proud to admit how true that rang. I was always there for everyone, yet for myself, I was alone. Until Kenzie.
Now, neither of us were alone.
And it was an arrangement that was both simple yet complicated at the same time. Simple because there were real feelings that existed. Desire. Admiration. Compassion. Friendship. But complicated for those exact same reasons.
“Let’s go, angel.”
We weren’t even ten feet onto the grassy green before a small figure started barreling toward us. Today, the tape that had been on his nose for the last two weeks was gone, a giant smile on his face.
Within seconds, Kenzie had him in her arms, holding him close before she started examining his face as though she hadn’t seen him every night on their video calls.
“Mom, I’m better,” Jake protested as she tipped and turned his face, carefully tracing her fingers along his nose like it was the first time she was seeing it.
“Just let me check, baby,” she pleaded, and he settled to let her. “Look at you.” She sighed. “So brave.”
Jake nodded, proud. “I even went back to practice on Monday.”
“Did you?” I caught her slight wince.
She thought it was too soon for him to be playing again… and she knew it was Stan who’d put Jake back out on the field as soon as he could.
“Yeah.” Jake nodded again. “Dad said I had to get back out there. That I had to be tough and show no weakness.”
Christ.
As Kenzie responded, I looked up, finding her ex and his lawyer chatting in the shade, a smug smile on Stan’s face.
“Zeke!” Jake grabbed my arm and brought my attention back. “Look at my nose! You can’t even tell it was broken.”
“Good as new.” I crouched and grinned.
“Did you have to go to the hospital when you got your concussion?”
I smiled. “Yeah.” I nodded. “But I don’t remember any of it. I didn’t take my hit so well. I got knocked out, and the first thing I remember afterward was being in the hospital.”
“Wow.” His eyes went wide.
“But look at you, back out on the field already.” I ruffled his hair.In the corner of my eye, I saw Stan approaching. “Why don’t you take your mom over to the swings?” I suggested, pointing to the swing set.
“Are you coming?”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “I just want to talk to your dad for a minute.”
I met Kenzie’s gaze, her lips parting slightly. I didn’t really want to talk to Stan, but I wanted to give her a chance to talk to Jake alone. She was worried enough that he’d be upset—that he’d been programmed to think she was coming home to be with him and Stan again. I didn’t want her to have to bear that worry while Stan was watching.
“Okay.” He grinned. “Come on, Mom.”
She stood, following Jake as he took her hand and pulled her away, but the look she shot me over her shoulder made my chest tighten. One look from this woman was all it took to make me weak.
“Zeke,” Stan greeted with a smile and extended his hand like we were best buds.
I shook it because I wasn’t a dick… but I wasn’t happy about it.
There was something about Kenzie’s ex that grated more than his ego, and I realized in that moment what it was: it was the way he disguised his narcissism as altruism… and got the whole world to fall for it.
“Jake said he went back to practice this week,” I said, my insinuation obvious.
