Chapter 11 #2
“Nerd?” Spencer supplies, pulling his hand back and sinking another perfect shot before he glances up at me with those pretty eyes.
He’s wearing contacts tonight—so no glasses—and I kind of wish he had his glasses on.
Not to block his beautiful orbs or anything, but it just feels more like him.
“He did. Kind of. I got the sense the word doesn’t really mean the same to him as it does to me. ”
He sinks another ball, and I just settle my ass into a seat at the bar, taking a swig of beer as I watch him clean the table. “It really doesn’t. He’s just an idiot.”
He snorts and then hits the eight ball into the corner pocket and lays his pool cue down on the table, walking over to grab his own beer. “I’m picking up on that.”
We got here at almost the same time tonight. My heart beat like a motherfucker the entire way here because I was going to get to spend some time with him—alone.
I had a great day with Bowen and Elijah.
We went to the park and then to an arcade, where we grabbed a shitty—really delicious dinner—and then headed home.
After I tucked Elijah in, I tried my best to act casual about going out for a couple of hours.
My brother just waved me off and out of the house.
I thought it would be awkward with Spencer, but it wasn’t. We’ve kind of easily fallen into this friendship. I ordered us some drinks, and he suggested we play a round of pool, and I told him about how my morning started and that I should feel sorry for being such a dick but wasn’t at all.
I start to overthink a little bit though as I finish my beer, remembering that he’s Elijah’s teacher. “Um, you know about the stranger in the house...”
“The half-naked one?” he asks playfully, so he apparently doesn’t seem bothered, but I do have to think about him being Elijah’s teacher. I can’t really think of him as only a friend.
“Yeah, uh...” I grip the back of my neck, and I notice his eyes going to my bicep.
I can’t be sure he’s checking me out. And though I do now know he’s attracted to men, it doesn’t mean he’s attracted to me.
It makes me stop talking for far too long before he must notice and pulls his eyes away from me, awkwardly sipping at his beer.
I grin but force myself to focus. “Elijah was asleep when they were uh...” Jesus, Kade. Be more ridiculous.
He laughs now, finishing off his beer and putting the glass on the bar. “Yeah, I’m sure he was. I know Elijah is well taken care of.”
“He is,” I say fiercely.
He puts his hand on my shoulder, and a zap like nothing I’ve ever felt before shoots through my entire body. His eyes widen, and I wonder if he felt it too or if he’s just reacting to my sudden jolt. “I know, Kade,” he says softly and then drops his hand. “I should probably get home.”
“What?” I ask, panic coursing through me. “Already?”
He looks surprised, quirking an eyebrow at me, and yeah... Be cool, Kade. “You wanna walk me home again?”
I’m off the stool in a hurry and nodding my head as we wave goodbye to Judy and then head outside.
I’m far too eager to actually be alone with him.
He starts toward his house, and I’m right by his side.
“So how was this week? You didn’t seem stressed at any of the pickups.
How the hell do you do that?” I have to ask because I love the hell out of my kid—but twenty of hims in the same room for seven hours? No, thank you.
He chuckles. “It was a fun week. Not as good as fire safety week but not bad. They’re doing skating in gym, so we did have a couple of injuries.”
I shake my head. “I can’t believe they let them skate on the slick gym floor.”
He cackles. “We survived.”
I smile at him as we walk along the sidewalk. It’s so strange being back here in the town I grew up in. We walk past the park, and I smile, seeing that it’s lit up but totally empty. “Race you to the swings,” I say suddenly and then take off down the hill toward the playground.
If Spencer was caught off guard, he recovers quickly and shocks me when he passes me effortlessly, making it to the swings a hair ahead of me. “I win!”
I laugh and plop down into a swing as he does the same. “How the fuck are you so fast?”
“I chase seven-year-olds daily.” He grins and then starts to swing, letting his long legs kick out in front of him and picking up momentum.
“True.”
We swing quietly for a while, but I can tell he has something on his mind.
Normally, I’d avoid conversation like the plague, but I find myself wanting to know exactly what he’s thinking about.
“What?” I ask him, catching myself in time to not ask what are you thinking about right now because do friends ask that? I don’t really know.
He slows the swing down, his eyes on me, and I can see the hesitance there. “What happened to Megan?”
It’s like a jolt right to the heart as a new panic starts to race up my spine. It’s not something I ever talk about.
It’s too painful.
He looks like he’s about to let me off the hook and brush it off, but for once, I don’t actually want that.
So I close my eyes for one moment and then look over at him... doing something I haven’t done for a long time...
I embrace the pain.