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CHAPTER 7
Cassie
Be careful! I’m not coming up there if you get stuck.”
Sophie laughs from the top of the jungle gym. “Scaredy-cat.”
“You’ll change your tune when you want me to come help you down,” I call back from the bench beside the playground.
She’s been playing for nearly an hour now while I work on an assignment on my laptop, making sure to check on her every few seconds to ensure she’s still okay.
She’s going to hate hearing that we’ll need to go find lunch in a bit; I can already hear her groaning about not wanting to leave. I make a mental note to bring her back here soon. I think it’s good that she’s been able to play with some kids her age as well, knowing by her own admission that she is still struggling to find friends at her school.
When I’m done with my assignment, I take a second to check my emails, grimacing when I notice I have a new one from OnlyFans nudging me about some special they have going on. I still get them regularly, and I know I should unsubscribe from their mailing list, but I haven’t yet. It’s not like I have any plans to return, and I don’t even have any need to, with what Aiden is paying me now, but even a year after deactivating everything, I can’t bring myself to put it fully behind me. It’s silly, I know that; it isn’t like there’s even a possibility anymore for anyone to contact me through the site, but even knowing that, here I am still wistfully deleting emails that serve no purpose.
I pack my laptop away in my carrying case after I delete the message, because I do, as always—disregarding my brief dip into bad memories and walking over to the swing set where Sophie has migrated. She is a better object of my attention, anyway. I set my case nearby on the ground where I can see it, taking the empty swing beside Sophie and settling into it.
“Bet you can’t go as high as me,” she challenges.
“Oh, I have no doubts,” I tell her. “You seem way more advanced at swinging than me.”
She grins. “Yep.”
“Are you having fun?”
“Yes! Can we come back after school tomorrow?”
“I’d be willing to bet we could,” I tell her with a grin. “Maybe we can invite your dad?”
Her expression immediately falters. “He’ll be too busy.”
“Maybe not,” I try. “He can’t be this busy forever.”
“I guess,” she grumbles.
I straighten the swing, starting to sway backward and forward slightly. “Have you tried talking to your dad about this? I’m sure he’d want to know how you feel.”
“I don’t want to make him mad,” she admits quietly.
“I don’t think he’d get mad. Your dad doesn’t seem like the type to be mad about something like that. He loves you, you know?”
She gives me another slow nod. “I know. He’s just busy.”
Again there’s that pang in my chest as I’m thrust back into buried memories of putting myself to bed, and it takes everything I have not to let my feelings sway my conversation with Sophie, knowing my bias isn’t fair to her or Aiden. I know Aiden is different from my parents, that his absence is an oversight, not a conscious choice.
“Why don’t we go find some lunch,” I say, wanting to pull her out of her darkening mood. “You’ve gotta be hungry after all that climbing.”
“I am kinda hungry,” she admits.
“All right then.” I push up from the swing to retrieve my laptop case. “We still need to stop by the bookstore, too, but after that, we’d better get you some food. Have to protect my ankles and all.”
“Idon’tbite,” she giggles.
I cluck my tongue. “Says you.”
“Can we have pizza?”
“We had pizza yesterday.”
