It’s three people, all looking like circles with stick limbs coming out of them. Two of them are larger than the third. He’s even labeled us in his chicken scratch handwriting.
“Dats you, dats Pwincess Mia, and dats me.” He hands it to me with a smile before he runs his finger down my nose.
I repeat the gesture and hold the picture against my chest. “Thanks, buddy.” I rustle his hair before I walk toward the doorway.
Angie avoids my eyes, looking down at her feet instead. I don’t have anything else to say to her so I walk out of her apartment and close the door behind me.
I had a feeling she wouldn’t take meeting Mia very well. Angie still held on to the idea that we were going to wind up together. And considering that I’ve never introduced her to anyone before, I’m sure that only added to her delusion. But pining after me didn’t excuse her behavior toward Mia. And I’ll never let her treat my girl like that again.
I climb into my truck after folding up Nolan’s drawing and slipping it into my back pocket. “I’m sorry about that. She won’t talk to you like that again. I promise.” I reach for Mia’s hand and she places it in mine with a smile. She seems completely unaffected by the hate she just had directed at her.
“It’s okay, I get it.” She links her fingers through mine as I pull out of the apartment complex. “She loves you, and she’s hurt that the two of you aren’t together. I’m sure it isn’t easy for her.”
Jesus. She doesn’t even have a negative thing to say about Angie after that bitchy encounter. She actually feels sorry for her.
“I don’t think Angie loves me. I think she’s just desperate for attention. We had one night together and neither one of us remembers any of it.”
She shakes her head in disagreement. “She definitely loves you. I can tell.” Her head rests back on the seat and she turns it toward me. Our eyes meet briefly before I have to put them back on the road. “Did you ever try to make it work with her?”
“Yeah, after Nolan was born. I knew Angie wanted us to be a family and I owed it to Nolan to at least try. They moved in with me after the two of them were released from the hospital. But it only lasted two weeks.” Her hand tightens in mine. “We fought constantly about everything and I was fucking miserable all the time. Having a baby at twenty-three was stressful enough, and then throw in the fact that I couldn’t stand my son’s mother. It wasn’t good. When I told her it wasn’t going to work, she freaked out, threatening to keep Nolan away from me. I took her to court to make sure I’d at least get my time with him and that only pissed her off even more.”
I park the truck in my usual spot at my parents’ house. I help Mia out on her side, keeping her hand in mine as we walk toward the pool.
“Sometimes I wish I would’ve never slept with her that night, but then I wouldn’t have Nolan. And I can’t imagine not having that little maniac.”
She laughs softly against my shoulder as we round the pool. “I can’t imagine you not having him either.”
I slide the door open, placing my hand on her back and moving her ahead of me into the house. Tessa is sitting on the couch, her lap completely covered in used tissues and her face in her hands.
“Tessa? What’s wrong?” Mia goes straight to my sister, sitting down next to her.
“Are you all right?” I ask, moving in front of her. I haven’t seen Tessa cry since we were younger, and back then, I was usually the cause of it. The older she gets, the less she lets things get to her.
If she had balls, they’d be made of steel.
She looks up at me and then back to Mia. “Oh, my God. Are you guys together now?” Mia nods and Tessa begins to cry harder. Not the reaction I had been expecting. Tessa was my biggest supporter when it came to winning over Mia. “That makes me so happy. You have no idea.” She sobs, prompting Mia to wrap her arms around her.
“Do you need a girls’ night?” Mia asks, giving me a knowing look over Tessa’s shoulder.
I pick up on the message loud and clear. The two of them don’t need me here for this. Nor do I really want to be here for whatever the fuck happens at a girls’ night.
I lean down and kiss Mia’s forehead. “I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you after work tomorrow.” She winks at me and nods against Tessa. I place my hand on my sister’s shoulder. “If you say this is because of Luke, I’ll go find him right now and beat his ass.” She whimpers against Mia, and I would’ve taken that as a yes until she begins shaking her head.
Fucking women and their mixed signals. A simple yes or no would’ve been nice.
I exhale loudly in annoyance. “Just call me if you need me.” I smile once more at Mia and get the hell out of there before I get any more cryptic responses.
Mia
“See, it’s a good thing I stocked up like I did yesterday,” I say, carrying over two bags of chips and the box of cookies that Nolan and I had made a dent in yesterday.
Girls’ night can’t exist without some sort of junk food.
I drop them onto the coffee table and settle in next to Tessa, turning my body toward her. She isn’t crying anymore, but she looks emotionally drained. I tuck my legs underneath me and place my hand on her knee. “What happened with Luke?”
She sniffs, leaning her head so it rests on the back of the couch. Her eyes are puffy
