Page 58 of Never After Us
“I like her,” Eddie declares.“We should bring them to Santa Barbara the next time we fly down.”
“Where’s Santa Barbara?”Mila fires back—and then unleashes another barrage of questions I can’t even track.Eddie takes them like a man entering battle, nodding and answering and already regretting every life choice that led him here.
They drift into my apartment, Mila dragging him along with wide-eyed fascination like he’s her next interview subject.
Alec stops me with a soft tug at my sleeve.
“We could run away,” he murmurs.“Be free from them for a few hours.”
I glance at him.He looks ...lighter.More amused than I’ve ever seen him.“I’ve never seen you so happy about something.You really think my child is that bad?”
He shakes his head.“She’s not bad.She just has more energy than any human I’ve ever met.Eddie could use the challenge.”
“I don’t need help with a lawyer,” I say, crossing my arms even though I can already feel my stance weakening.
“You need someone on your side,” he counters quietly, “not someone dragging you to places where Mila isn’t allowed inside.”His eyes flick toward my door.“You should look into activities she can do in the evenings.Somewhere she can meet other kids.”
“You’re not suggesting school, are you?”
He shakes his head.“No.It’s too close to the end of the year and it sucks to be the new kid.”
My breath stills.“How many times were you the new kid?”
He hesitates, then shrugs, eyes dropping in that familiar way he does when the truth scrapes at old bruises.“Too many to remember.That’s what happens when you’re in the foster system.You jump from place to place.”
Something inside me shifts.This man who hides behind sarcasm and scowls says it like he’s talking about the weather, but I can feel the hurt threaded through the edges of the words.
Before I can think better of it, I touch his forearm—light, brief, almost hesitant.Just enough to let him know I heard him.
His eyes lift to mine.
For a second, everything slows.The hallway, the noise.
The questions spilling from Mila as she enters the apartment with Eddie.
All of it fades.
It’s just him and me, standing close enough that I can see the guarded surprise in his expression—like he’s not used to anyone reaching toward him without wanting something back.
“I’m sorry you went through that,” I say softly.“But for what it’s worth ...you don’t seem like someone who got lost along the way.”
“I got too fucking lost.”He shrugs.“I’m just finally finding myself slowly.”
His gaze holds mine for one long second and I see a thread connecting us and it’s scary and familiar and Alec clears his throat first, stepping back like the moment startled him.“You should ...uh ...go make sure Mila hasn’t recruited Eddie into a cult.”
I smile, even as something warm lingers beneath my ribs.“You coming in?”
He hesitates.
Just long enough to tell me he’s thinking about it.
Just long enough to show me he doesn’t want to.
Just long enough to show me he does.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” he murmurs.
“Promise?”
