AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He helplessly looked between Jack and Andrew and then stared at something down the street. “The only way this thing works is if we’re on the same page. We agreed from the beginning that we would stick together.”
I laughed. “Bros before hoes. Gotcha.”
“Olive.” Andrew tried to grab my hand but I pulled away from him. “Fuck. You’re killing me. I’m trying to do what’s right. I’m trying to protect you.”
“How come your two responses to me facing ridicule and trauma are to let it happen while you turn your head and to break up with mefor my own good?” I held up my hands. “Fine. You guys know what’s best for me. I should consider myself lucky to have men in my life who are willing to make the hard choice to leave me when I need them most.”
“This is fucked.” Caleb tugged at his hair. “Why don’t we just fake it? We can be together without everyone knowing.”
The silence that met his bargaining told me everything I needed to know. I licked my bone-dry lips and squared my shoulders. “Could you drive us to my apartment?”
Andrew nodded. “Of course.”
I walked around the truck and steeled myself to face Jesse. Forcing a happy smile, I opened the back door and climbed in. I buckled myself in and squeezed my hands between my thighs.
“Look, Mom! I found a big boy word!” Jesse held Caleb’s phone up to my face and I saw a screen full of messages, most of them from other women. The word he was pointing to was fuck. It was posed as a question in the message. Simple and sweet.
I gently pulled the phone from him and passed it to my other side without looking at Caleb. “How’d you get so smart that you can already spell big boy words? Huh?”
Caleb swore under his breath. “Those are old, Olive. I would never-”
In the lightest voice I could manage, I replied. “It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
The tension in the truck climbed higher and I just needed to be away from them. I couldn’t be near them with them looking at me like they cared about me and touching me like they wanted me while they told me they couldn’t be with me. The reason didn’t make it feel any better. I loved them and they were leaving me.
I shook my head as I remembered thinking about being in love with them that morning. My cup ranneth over and all that bullshit. Oh, how a couple of hours could change everything.
“Can we play Mario when we get home?”
I dug my nails into my thighs. “Actually, it’s just going to be me and you at home tonight, kid. You’re stuck with your lame mom.”
He frowned. “No, Jack said we’d play catch. Remember?”
Silence from the men removing themselves from my son’s life. I felt my nails break skin and took a deep breath. “I remember, Jesse, but plans change. Tonight it’s you and me.”
Of course, he’d been in the sun all day so he was worn out and he’d just eaten a ton of sugar so he was crashing. It was a great time to tell him he couldn’t play with his favorite people. “I want Jack.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Jack, we can play ball, right? Tell Mom we can play ball.”
Jack cleared his throat. “Um… I’m really sorry, little dude.”
“But you promised!” Jesse was heading straight for one of his rare tantrums. “You promised! You don’t promise unless you mean it! I don’t want to go home with Mom. I want you guys to come with us and play ball and tuck me in!”
“Jesse.” I reached over and put my hand over his leg. “It’s okay, buddy. Just breathe like we practiced. Remember?”
He screamed when he looked at my hand and then dissolved into sobs. I looked down and saw that I had blood coating the tips of my fingers. I yanked my hand back into my lap and squeezed my eyes shut. I was seconds from sobbing right alongside him.
“What the fuck happened?” Caleb grabbed at my hand and yanked it closer to him when I struggled. “What did you do?”
I wiped my hands on my shirt and shoved the bottom of the shirt between my legs. “Nothing.”
He gripped my knees and his fingers bit into my skin as he pushed them apart. “Jesus, Olive. What the fuck? Fuck. Sweetheart, no. You can’t do that.”
I pushed his hands away and choked back tears. “Don’t. Don’t call me that and don’t care.”
Jesse’s sobbing grew louder as Caleb grabbed my knees and pried them open again. “Fucking look at what we’re doing to her, goddammit!”
