Chapter 11
ELEVEN
olivia
I tried to wait up for Jason to drop Cooper off, but ended up falling asleep on the couch in front of reality television.
When the front door opened, Cooper stumbled in. He’d clearly fallen asleep on the drive back home, and Jason stood at the door, nudging him forward like a zombie. I caught the eyes of a woman in the passenger seat, and another head bobbing in the back of the car.
Jealousy bit my heart, not because Jason found someone, but because in that car, Jason had something I knew Cooper wanted. A family that was more than just the two of us. My boy had been asking for a sibling since he knew the word “brother.”
“Thanks for taking him there,” I said. Doing my best to keep my interaction with Jason as cordial as possible. I haven’t always succeeded in that, but to be fair, he’d delivered more than his fair share of barbs over the years.
There was a huge difference between being a deadbeat dad and an active, involved dad.
While I worried that this trip to the park was a stunt to make Jason look good in front of the new woman in his life, I swallowed that back and hoped this meant he’d show up more regularly for his son.
I hoped to God that Cooper wasn’t a prop for him, because that boy was my fucking world. He should only ever feel loved.
“What do you mean by that?” Jason automatically went into defense mode. Yeah, even thanking him could end up in a battle.
“Just that it’s my least favorite place in the world.” Please don’t take offense. Please let this go. Fuck, the bickering was exhausting. Why did this man need to take offense at everything I said?
Cooper had already made it upstairs and was thankfully out of earshot when Jason sprung his final blow on me. “I heard you have some hotshot rookie living here with you. Just remember you’re a mother. I know it’s hard for you to keep your legs closed, and all.”
I slammed the door in his face and leaned against it, my fists clenched, gaze towards the ceiling, begging the universe for the strength not to punch Jason in the face. After a few deep breaths, I caught some movement at the top of the stairs.
“My question to your brother still stands. How does he not punch him in the face?” Nate’s jaw ticked, and his eyes didn’t budge as he searched my face for a reaction.
“You heard that, huh?”
“Yeah. Cooper didn’t, though. He stumbled past me and is already passed out in bed.”
“Thank God. Though who’s saying he doesn’t make comments like that when he’s alone with him.”
“From experience, he probably does.”
“God, I’ve done nothing to earn those accusations. Nothing.”
“It wouldn’t matter if you did. You have a right to privacy, and to be someone other than Cooper’s mom.”
“Do I, though? Didn’t I forfeit the right to that when I failed with birth control?”
“Jason failed, too. It’s not just on you.”
I walked past where Nate stood at the top of the stairs. This man was wise beyond his years, and the words he said, fuck if they weren’t the ones I’d been dying for someone to say to me for years.