Itโs been twenty-eight days since Owen was sentenced to ninety days in jail. A lot can happen in twenty-eight days.
I tuck the blanket tighter around his body and lean in to kiss AJ on the
forehead. โIโll see you after school tomorrow, okay?โ
AJ smiles at me, and like every time he does, my heart melts. He looks just like Adam. Other than having a red tint to his mostly brown hair, everything about him is Adam, right down to his mannerisms. โAre you coming over to eat with us?โ
I nod and give him another hug. Saying good-bye to him, knowing heโs not sleeping in a bed in my home, is the hardest part for me. I should be tucking him into bed in a home we share together.
However, whatever Trey said to Lydia worked, because Iโve been coming over more nights during the week and she hasnโt said a single negative thing to me.
โReady?โ Trey says from behind me. โGood night, AJ. Iโll love you forever.โ
He smiles. โGood night, Mom. Iโll love you forever.โ
Iย ip the light switch o๏ฌย as I exit the room and pull the door shut. Trey reaches for my hand and slides hisย ngers through mine as we walk toward the living room. I look down at our hands, linked together, and feel nothing but guilt. Iโve tried for the past few weeks to reciprocate the feelings he has for me, but so far it hasnโt worked out like Iโd hoped.
We make our way through the living room, and Lydia is seated on the sofa. Her eyes immediately fall to our hands. She smiles brieย y, and Iโm not sure what that smile means. Trey said she didnโt really have a reaction when
he told her he was taking me on ourย rst o๏ฌcial date last week, but I know she has to have an opinion about it. Iโd almost think she would be happy, because having me linked to her through Trey in a positive way means thereโs less of a threat of me taking my son and moving back to Portland.
โDo you work tonight?โ she asks Trey.
He nods as he releases my hand and reaches for the key that unlocks the entryway closet. โIโm on night shift for the next three weeks,โ he says. He inserts the key into the door and retrieves his gun from the case.
My attention moves from Trey to a picture of Adam hanging on the living room wall. He canโt be more than fourteen in the picture. Every time I come here I do my best to avoid looking at it, but Iโm shocked at how much AJ looks like his father.ย e older AJ gets, the more of Adamโs features I see in him. But knowing that Adam never made it beyond the age of sixteen makes me wonder what he would have looked like as an adult. If he were alive now, would he look like Trey? Will AJ look like Trey?
โAuburn.โ
Treyโs voice is so close, it makes me jump. When I look at him, he cuts his eyes brieย y to the picture of Adam and then turns toward the front door. He looks disappointed that I was standing here staring at the picture, and it makes me feel somewhat guilty. It has to be hard for him, knowing I felt so much for his brother. I know it would be even harder for him if he knew how much Iย stillย felt for his brother.
โGood night, Lydia,โ I say as I make my way toward the front door.
She smiles, but thereโs something about her smile thatโs always been a bit o๏ฌย to me. Almost as if thereโs blame behind it.ย at could be my own conscience, but Iโve never gotten over the fact that I feel she resents me for the time I spent with Adam before he passed away. I donโt think she liked how Adam felt about me, and I certainly know she didnโt like the amount of time he wanted to spend with me.
And that worries me to an extent, because as much as she seems in support of Trey and me being in a relationship, I worry about what will happen if things donโt work out between us. Which is exactly why I havenโt made things o๏ฌcial, because once I do, I need to be prepared for what could happen with AJ if Trey and I donโt last as a couple.
 |
Trey walks me to my front door, like heโs done almost every night for the past week. I know heโs still waiting for me to invite him in, but Iโm just not there yet. Iโm not sure when I will be, but I didย nally allow him to kiss me last night, which wasnโt exactly what I had in mind. He just sort of did it. I had unlocked my door and turned to face him and his lips were on mine before I could agree or object. And I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but I mostly felt uncomfortable, for a number of reasons.
I still feel uneasy about the fact that I used to be in love with his brother. I might still be in love with his brother, and that may never go away. Iโm also uneasy about the fact that his brother is the only person Iโve ever had s*x with. Iโm also disturbed that AJ has known Trey as his uncle his whole life, and I donโt want it to confuse him if it gets serious between us.
ereโs also the whole attraction thing. Trey is deย nitely a good-looking guy. Heโs conย dent and has a great career. But thereโs something about him that goes deeper than his muscular build or his perfectly groomed, dark hair. Something that is completely opposite from Adam. Something that actually turns me o๏ฌ.
ere was a goodness about Adam. A calmness. When I was with him, I felt safe.
I got the same sense from Owen, which I think is why I was drawn to him. He had a lot of the same qualities that Adam had.
So far, I donโt get that from Trey. I try not to think about the fact that I could be making a commitment to someone Iโm afraid may not be a good person. But Iโve associated Trey with Lydia for as long as Iโve known him, so it may not be a question of Treyโs character. I may have judged him unfairly, simply because I feel that his mother isnโt a good person.
Because of that, Iโm trying to open myself up to the idea of him. Which is why I allowed him to kiss me last night, because sometimes intimacy can give people a certain connection they wouldnโt otherwise have.
I unlock my door and inhale a slow breath before turning around. I try to get in the mind-set that I want him to kiss me, that his kiss could feel good and exciting, but I know for a fact I wonโt feel even a fraction of what I felt when Owen kissed me.
at was a kiss.
I close my eyes and try to wipe the thoughts of Owen out of my head, but itโs hard. When you connect with someone that fast and feel that much
from their kiss, itโs not so easy to just forget them when they do something to hurt you. And even though Owen turned out to have issues far beyond what I want to get immersed in, I still canโt stop thinking about him. Maybe itโs because the person I got to know and the person he turned out to be donโt seem like they could be the same people. And as much as I try to forget about him, I canโt help but worry. I worry about how heโs doing. I worry about how long heโll be in jail. I worry about his studio. I worry about Owen-Cat, because I still have her and I know that as soon as Owen is released, Iโll have to see him again in order to give him his cat back.
I worry about how Iโm going to be able to hide that from Trey, because right now Trey thinks Owen-Cat belongs to Emory.
He also thinks the catโs name is Sparkles. โDo you work tomorrow?โ Trey asks.
I turn around and look up at him. Heโs a lot taller than me, and it sometimes intimidates me. I nod. โNine to four.โ
He lifts his hand to my neck and leans in for a kiss. I close my eyes and do my best to enjoy his mouth when it comes to rest against mine. I imagine Iโm kissing Owen for a second, and I hate that I do that.
is kiss is a short one. Heโs already late for work, so Iโm spared the awkwardness of not inviting him inside.
Trey smiles down at me. โย atโs twice youโve let me kiss you.โ I smile.
โCall me when you get o๏ฌย work tomorrow,โ he says. โWeโll make it three.โ
I nod again, and he turns to leave. I open my apartment door, but he calls my name before I close it behind me. He walks back to the door and looks at me with a serious expression. โMake sure your doors are locked tonight. I heard Gentry was released early, and I wouldnโt put it past him to try and get revenge on me by coming here.โ
e air in my lungs depletes, and I have to hide my struggle for breath. I donโt want him to see how his words have a๏ฌected me, so I nod quickly. โWhy would he want revenge on you?โ
โBecause, Auburn. I have what he canโt have.โ
at makes me uneasy, because I donโt like that Trey thinks he โhas me.โ And thatโs another di๏ฌerence between Trey and Owen. I get the feeling Owen would never say he โhas me.โ
it.
โIโll keep it locked. Promise.โ
Trey nods and heads down the hall. I close the door behind me and lock
I stare at the lock. I unlock it.
I donโt know why.
Owen-Cat purrs at my feet, so I bend down and pick her up, then walk
into my bedroom.ย eย rst thing I do, which is theย rst thing I did last night after kissing Trey, is brush my teeth. I know itโs an absurd thought, but kissing Trey makes me feel like Iโm cheating on Owen.
When Iย nish brushing my teeth, I walk back into my bedroom and see Owen-Cat make her way inside the tent. I didnโt have the heart to take it down, mostly because I know as soon as AJ is allowed to stay the night here, heโll love it. I crawl inside the tent and lie on my back. I pull Owen- Cat onto my stomach and begin petting her.
My emotions are all over the place right now. I feel a rush of adrenaline, knowing Owen is no longer in jail and may very well be coming for his cat sometime this week. But Iโm alsoย lled with a nervous energy, because I donโt know what will happen when I see him again. And I hate that the thought of possibly seeing him againย lls me with more anticipation than Treyโs kiss does.
Owen-Cat jumps o๏ฌย my chest when my phone receives a text message. I pull it out of my pocket and unlock the screen.
My heart tries to escape from my chest when I read the text from Owen.
Meat Dress.
Iโm immediately o๏ฌย my feet and into the living room and swinging the front door open. As soon as our eyes meet, my heart feels like aย st is squeezing the life right out of it.
God, I missed him.
He takes a very hesitant step forward. He doesnโt want to make me uncomfortable by being here, but I can see in his expression that heโs feeling that same tight grip around his heart that Iโm feeling.
I take a step back into my apartment, and I open the door further, silently inviting him inside. A small twitch of a smile plays on the corner of his lips, and he walks slowly toward my apartment door. Once he makes his way over the threshold, I step aside until heโs all the way inside. He places
his hand on the door and closes it, then turns around and locks it. When he faces me again, his expression is pained, like he doesnโt know whether to turn and leave or take me in his arms.
I kind of want him to do both.
