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“Dad,” Aaron whined, and I glanced over at my friend to find him on his cell, texting.He frowned, his face paler than normal.
“Hmm?”he questioned without looking up.
“You got me a dog, right?You promised!”
“Sure, sure,” he replied on autopilot.
“Alex,” Teresa hissed beneath her breath.
“It’s all good.”He set his cell face down on the table and picked back up his fork without looking at us.
I realized he hadn’t eaten more than two bites.He’d also lost a little weight since I’d seen him last.His cheeks were hollow, his shoulders bonier.
Concern flickered to life inside me.“Alex,” I stated his name, and he blinked toward me.
The lights in the dining room were on, but his pupils seemed too small.“You okay?”I asked quietly.
He flashed a fake assed grin.“Of course I am.Why wouldn’t I be?”
A forkful of lasagna went into his mouth, giving him an out from conversation, and he diverted his gaze.
I glanced across the table at Teresa.She watched her husband with clear worry lining her face.Empathy for her—for Alex—welled in my chest.
But I wasn’t about to let shit build and ruin Aaron’s birthday.
“So your mom told me you’re going to be Jack Skellington for Halloween next month,” I said to the boy, needing to direct our attention elsewhere until the cake was inhaled and presents unwrapped.
The boys got all excited, their voices raising about the parade their school was having on Halloween morning that year, and I promised to be there.Even if work kept me busy, I would somehow make it happen.
Alex’s phone pinged a few times, pulling his focus off his family time and again.
Aaron hadn’t yet finished his cake when his dad pushed back from the table the second his cell rang.“Gotta take this,” he muttered and shuffled away.
Teresa’s gaze followed after him.
“Teresa.”
She turned toward me, her brow deeply furrowed.
“What’s going on?”I whispered.
Glancing at her sons, she held up her finger, asking me to wait a second.“Boys—go clean up the icing off your faces then we’ll open presents when Dad’s done, okay?”
They hopped up and scooted down the hallway, their excited chatter about a dog fading a bit once they entered the half-bath.
“He’s been acting really strange lately,” Teresa murmured, her gaze flitting toward the stairs Alex had taken to the bedrooms.“If we didn’t already have an open relationship, I would think he was cheating on me.He’s dodging questions, lying about where he’s been.Twice since Wyatt broke his arm, Alex claims to have forgotten his cell when I couldn’t reach him.”
Fuck.
Teresa was aware he’d been addicted to drugs before they’d met, but I wasn’t sure she knew what signs to watch out for that indicated he might be using again.
“His pupils look a little pinned.”
Her head snapped my way at my statement, her face losing its color.
I leaned forward.“I’m not saying that’s a sure sign he’s popping pills, but it’s possible.I can confront him if you want.”
Teresa swallowed hard, wetness glazing her blue eyes and causing my own to sting.“N-no.I’ll do it.”
