Jade
Chapter eight
Mateo's brand new SUV is parked in the driveway when Coop and I pull in.
I'm nervous.
There, I admit it.
He made me laugh.
Coop and I grab the bags of Chinese food out of the backseat and make our way into the house.
Addie paid for the food and likely will refuse to let me pay her back.
There's more food than normal, though. Does that mean Mateo's joining us?
Lately it seems like he's all my son talks about, and I'm still not sure how I feel about all the time he's spending with him.
"Where are your parents tonight?" I ask Addie as Coop and I put the bags of food on the island.
"Some charity thing," she says. She gets a few plates out of the cabinet and stacks them in front of her.
Addie and I grew up vastly different, and it's in these small moments I see it the most. Paper plates aren't a thing in this house.
After my dad left, I don't have a single memory of eating off a glass plate at home, even on holidays.
Not that holidays felt different from any other day of the year.
Addie points at Coop. "Get forks, dude."
"Where's Mateo?" he asks as he opens the drawer and counts out four forks.
I cringe. Mateo's presence bothers me, and the time he's spending with Coop isn't the only reason.
But I can't seem to put my finger on the other reason, and it makes me even more frustrated every time he shows up or Cooper brings him up because, let's face it, he's obsessed with him.
"He had physical therapy today, so he's in the shower. He'll eat when he's done, and the dude can eat, so make sure you get what you want before he does."
"What's his deal, anyway?" I ask and immediately regret it. Why do I want to know? I shouldn't care, but if he's going to be Coop's new best friend, I suppose I should. "Why isn't he recovering at home? In…Boston?"
"Baltimore," Addie corrects before sucking in a breath and letting it out slow.
"Mom convinced him to recover here. I think she thought we'd be able to help him get around and shit because he doesn't have anybody else, and don't get me wrong, like don't misconstrue what I'm saying.
He has friends, but he's never had anyone serious.
Nobody at home to take care of him, and I get he's a grown-ass man, but recovering from surgery isn't fun.
I imagine it's really lonely. And he wasn't supposed to be here at home, remember? He was supposed to be in a rental."
A door creaks down the hall, and moments later the man in question joins us.
He's fresh out of the shower, shorts slung low on his hips.
He's not wearing a shirt, and I'm shocked to see the intricate tattoo that climbs up his back continues over his shoulder to his pec.
It's not what I was expecting. I knew he had tattoos, several if we're counting the butterfly, but I don't think I was expecting him to be covered in art.
He flexes a pec and I lift my gaze to his face where he's flashing me a crooked smile with that damn crooked tooth.
Is he flirting with me? Oh God, please don't be flirting with me. I can't handle a fucking man. It's bad enough that I have to deal with boys. Men are not on my resume.
Thankfully, Coop saves me.
"Hey, no nipples at dinner," he says, pointing at the man with the dancing pecs across the island.
I choke on the Red Bull I'm drinking, and Coop throws his arms in the air. "Arms up, Mom."
"Yeah, no nipples," Addie agrees, opening a container of rice.
Mateo licks orange sauce off his fingers, his eyes trained on me.
"You specifically said dinner table, and as far as I can tell, this is an island," he says to his sister and then winks.
Okay, he's most definitely flirting with me.
"Oh my God, new rule," Addie says, pointing at her brother and then at me. "No flirting at the island, and definitely no flirting with my best friend."
Warmth creeps up my cheeks. I'm fucking blushing.
Okay, so I'm lying to myself.
I know why his presence bothers me.
It's because my libido hates me.
I roll my eyes at him and grab a teriyaki stick from the bag.
"Only being friendly," Mateo says.
"Friendly, my ass," Addie groans and hands me a plate.
After dinner, we sit around a fire Addie and Coop built.
The cool night air makes me look forward to more nights like this.
Stars light the sky, and I bite back a smile—a memory of a night like this with my dad floating to the surface.
We were camping and spent the whole day playing games, all three of us.
Both my parents and me. Mom burnt the steaks and cried.
Dad told her they were perfect. Then he built a fire, and Mom brought out s'mores supplies.
We were so happy. It's one of my core childhood memories, and yet it's tainted by the days that followed.
"So, tell me what the fuck happened at work last night," Addie says, cutting off the memory before the darkness swallows me.
"The short version or the long version?" I ask.
"Whatever version involves you kicking Kevin in the balls."
"Unfortunately, neither."
Mateo lumbers out of the house, surprisingly quick compared to the last time.
"What are we talking about?" he asks as he lowers himself into the chair beside me.
"Jade got fired this morning," Addie tells him as if it's her news to share.
"Dude," I say.
"It's Mateo," she says with a flip of her hand. "And besides, if anyone is going to love a good Kevin story, it's him."
I narrow my eyes at her, and she only shrugs.
"Share the tea, Jade, and I'll share mine," he says conspiratorially.
Cooper groans. "Dude, no."
"What?" Mateo asks. He turns his attention from me to Coop and then to Addie, before settling back on Coop. "What did I do?"
"It's 'spill' the tea, Grandpa."
I bite my lip to hold back a smile. My fucking kid, God, he's the best.
Addie doesn't hold back, though. She doubles over in laughter, then high-fives Coop.
"The tea, Mom. Spill it."
"Kevin—" I start.
"Fucking Kevin," Addie and Cooper say in unison, and then they high five again.
"I can't with you two," I say, pointing my finger at them. "You are a bad influence on him," I tell Addie through a laugh.
She waggles her eyebrows at me, and I can only shake my head. There's a reason she's my best friend, even though sometimes it seems as if we're polar opposites. She gets me, even if she doesn't always understand. Somehow she tends to know exactly what the moment needs, like now.
"As I was saying, Kevin…" I pause, waiting for the inevitable interruption, but it doesn't come. "He was in rare form last night. Hitting the hard stuff and hitting it hard."
"That's not like him," Addie says, for Mateo's benefit, I assume.
"Right, like normally it's only beer, and he's a dick, but nothing I can't handle. So he was hitting it hard, and I told Janessa to cut him off, but she never fucking listens."
"So how did you get fired? If she was the one not doing her job?" Cooper asks.
"Janessa is Gus' niece," Addie answers for me.
"That's all beside the point," I say. "It's what happened next. I wasn't behind the bar."
Addie and Coop both groan.
"Right? I should've known where the night would go. It was a sign, and I didn't listen." I pause and take a breath. "So anyway, I was working tables last night, and the asshole thought it'd be a great idea to grab my ass."
"Oh, that's really not like him," Addie says, taking a swig of her beer.
"Right? He always talks a big game, but he's always been pretty harmless. Albeit annoying as fuck."
"If he touched you, why are you the one getting fired?" Mateo asks. He leans forward in his chair, his lips pulled into a grim line. The look doesn't sit right with his normal demeanor.
"Well, that's the thing, I'm a 'touch me and I swing' person. So he touched me, I swung. He got a steak for his eye, and I got an escort out the door."
"Dude," Addie says, jumping out of her chair. "Was it worth it?" Her eyes are wide in the fire's light, and I can't help but wonder how many drinks she had before we got here tonight. Do I need to be concerned? Or am I reading too much into it?
She stares at me, eyebrows raised.
Was it worth it? I've been asking myself the same question and still don't know the answer. I protected myself the only way I knew how, but I also jeopardized providing for my son and myself.
"Well, I don't have a job anymore. So there's that," I say.
Mateo leans back and holds his hands in the air. "Not making an excuse for him, but um, his Ex-Step-Wife had her baby yesterday."
Laughter bubbles out of me. I shouldn't be laughing at someone else's misfortune, but my God.
"I'm sorry," Addie says. "Ex-stepwife?"
"Ex-stepwife?" Cooper repeats, a crinkle in his forehead. I can see the wheels turning in that too-smart brain of his, trying to solve the conundrum laid out before him.
"Explain, before my kid combusts, please," I tell Mateo.
He sips from a bottle of water and then pulls out his phone, tapping at the screen.
"His ex-wife is also his stepmom," he says, passing his phone around to show us all a wedding picture.
The woman is young, maybe in her mid-thirties.
She's prettier than I expected, considering Kevin.
Light blonde hair, slight frame. Reminds me a bit of Addie.
Except Addie's beauty is classic, and this woman is manufactured pretty.
The man is significantly older, sports a potbelly, and a blotchy, sagging face.
See? Dating older men isn't all it's cracked up to be.
"That's Kevin's dad," Mateo continues when Coop hands him his phone back. He swipes through it again. "And this," he passes me his phone, "is his new baby brother."
"Is it bad that I'm happy he's adorable?" I ask, tossing the phone to Addie.
"Damn," Addie says.
"Ouch, that hurts," says Coop.
I sip my beer. "While that sucks for him, I'm now the one without a job," I say.
"Work for Mateo." Coop shrugs. "He needs an assistant."
Mateo fidgets in his seat, looking every bit a child in an overgrown body.
"None of those other people were any good," Coop adds, nudging Mateo in the leg. "My mom's smart. She could totally do it."
"It's not the worst idea," Addie says, offering a small smile. "But don't blame me when he has you writing corny social media captions."
Mateo stays silent, but like with Coop, I can see the gears turning. He flexes his left hand again, an odd habit I'm not sure if he's aware he has. Finally, he looks at me.
"Flexible hours and the kid is always invited to tag along. For right now, I need someone to drive me to appointments. I also need help with social media, booking travel, and keeping my calendar organized."
"How flexible is flexible?" I ask.
Mateo's phone dings in his hand. "What's this?" he asks Coop.
"Her class schedule."
"I can work around this," Mateo tells me. "We'll need to reschedule a few PT appointments, but it shouldn't be a big deal."
Depending on another member of the Hayes family terrifies me.
If I take him up on this, I'm putting all my eggs in one basket, and that's scary as fuck.
I've spent most of my life not having anyone I could depend on.
Standing on my own, without a stable base.
And now, after only a few months, I'm leaning on an entire family.
I don't like it. I'm about to turn it down, but then I consider what he said.
Coop can come with me to work whenever I need him to, and he can work around my schedule, which means leaning on Charlie, Liam, and my mother a little less.
"My last assistant started at sixty thousand a year."
I choke on the night air. Sixty thousand?
"Hours will vary, though. Some weeks will only be a few hours, but others will be more like thirty. Kind of depends on my schedule. Oh, and there's a two-thousand-dollar signing bonus. Also, when we travel, all expenses are on me."
"Travel? I don't think I—"
"She'll take it," Coop and Addie both answer for me.
"Don't you want to know if I'm even qualified?" I turn to face him, and our eyes meet. Reflecting in his blue eyes, the flames from the fire rise. I avert my gaze but am immediately drawn back to him like a moth to a fucking flame.
He tilts his head and licks his lower lip. "I trust Coop."
Ashes to ashes.
Clapping drags my attention away.
"Does this mean we can go out on your birthday now?" Addie asks.
I groan. Addie loves birthdays. Me? Not so much. I used to wonder why my dad chose that day to leave, but the older I get, the more I doubt he knew what day it was.
"Come on," she says. "You're turning twenty-five, not forty."
"But Coop, I would have to get my mom to—"
"I already texted my mom. Just waiting to hear back from her."
"When is this?" Mateo asks.
"Thursday," Coop answers.
"They leave Thursday afternoon for Montana. That golf tournament with Uncle Frank," Mateo tells us. "I'll take the punk."
I grit my teeth. "Stop calling him that."
"But I like it," Coop says. "It's a nickname that isn't my name."
Mateo lifts one side of his mouth up in a smile.
"So, Thursday?" he asks.
Every fiber of my being tells me to say no. It's on the tip of my tongue.
"Please?" Addie asks, jutting out her bottom lip.
"Yeah, Mom, please?" Coop copies Addie, his bottom lip in a pout.
"Yea, please?" I don't need to look at Mateo to know his lip is out too.
If the saying is two peas in a pod, what's three?
And why am I the odd woman out?