Remembering why his place was a mess and the reminder that he was a dad to two teenagers, she scurried off the couch. Not wanting to face him, she pulled her skirt down to her thighs and slipped out of the apartment.
Outside, she speed-walked to her car. She drove down to the next apartment unit and parked in her regular spot. Looking toward his place, she hurried to the door and shut herself inside.
He probably wouldn't even remember having sex with her in the morning.
Chapter 5Wyatt
MUSIC BLARED IN THE apartment. Wyatt stormed down the hallway, kicking the kids' belongings out of his way. He'd told Jess and Travis to stay inside and put all their stuff in their rooms, and he saw no progress.
Scooping up a pile of dirty towels, he said, "Where's your brother?"
"I don't know." Jess sat on the floor in front of the television, turning the knob.
"Was he on the bus after school?" He tossed the towels in the hamper.
"I think so."
"Jess..." He growled. "He's your brother. You're supposed to keep an eye on him."
"He's thirteen, Dad. I'm not his keeper." Jess scooted backward and pulled herself up on the couch.
"It's a new school—"
"We've been going for two weeks. He knows his way around, and if he misses the bus, it's only a mile walk to the apartment." Jess sighed loudly. "What's for dinner?"
"Pizza." He walked into the kitchen, took the change jar off the shelf, and not taking the time to count the quarters, slipped a handful of coins in his pocket. "It's on the counter. If it's cold when Travis gets home, it'll need to go in the oven. Only five minutes. You want to warm it, not burn it."
Jess lifted her head off the arm of the couch. "Where are you going? You're not leaving me, are you?"
"I'll be at the rec center, doing laundry. It's starting to stink in here." He met her gaze, waiting for her to offer to go wash the clothes or help out. "Since you don't want to help, go look around for your brother. Maybe he's hanging with some of the kids who live in the complex."
"Whatever." She hung her feet over the couch and awkwardly scooped up her shoes, using her toes.
"You need to stop giving lip." He softened his voice. "We're all doing this together. Let's act like a family and give each other a break, yeah?"
Jess hobbled toward him, pushing her feet into the shoes, and hugged his waist. "Sorry, Daddy."
He kissed the top of her head. "I'll tell you what. Find your brother while I go put a load of laundry in the machine, and then I'll come back and put the pizza in the oven. Sound good?"
"Yes." Jess opened the door.
He followed his daughter outside. She went one way. He went the other.
The three apartment units took up two blocks with a parking lot on the south side and vacant wooded land on the north. A rec center in Unit A took up half the ground floor. Besides the laundry facilities, there was a large room with a pool table, ping pong table, and fold-up chairs where the renters could reserve the room for family get-togethers, birthday parties, and where the older crowd gathered during the day to play bingo and pinochle.
He always tried to do the laundry around dinner because that was the time with the least amount of people around. With the kids living with him, he'd need to split up chores soon. There would be more laundry, more dirty dishes, more mess.
And he couldn't expect the kids to eat pizza every fucking night.
Inside the rec center, he ignored the elderly congregated in groups and slipped into the laundry room. There were only three washers, not enough for everyone in the complex if they all chose to do laundry on the same day.
Finding one machine empty, he dumped in the detergent, then the clothes, and put the right amount of money in the coin slot. He left the empty hamper and walked out.
His kids needed rules. They couldn't expect to run wild around the apartments whenever they wanted. Jess was the oldest and more mature than Travis. His son still acted on emotions and often failed to grasp reality, and that worried him.
Since their mom had died, Travis had shut down. It was okay to be angry and sad, and Travis could take the circumstances out on him if he wanted, but when his son purposely disobeyed him, and he had no way to find his son when he ran off, that was a problem.
Where would a thirteen-year-old boy go?
He walked around the apartment building and looked out in the woods. Hell, he could be anywhere.
Travis wasn't a baby. He had the right to do his own thing on his own time. But right now, he wanted his kids close. Having been on his own as a teenager while his mom worked, he'd raised hell. Along the way, there wasn't a drink or drug he hadn't tried and plenty of girls at his disposal.
He'd survived, but he wanted better for his kids.
Not seeing Travis, he walked around the building, looking on other people's balconies, behind their cars, under the bushes. Any place a kid could hide.
Ahead of him, Jess walked backward out of someone else's apartment. "I'll go ask and be right back."
Unable to see who his daughter was talking to, he continued walking toward her. Jess darted in the opposite direction without seeing him. He whistled, stopping her.
Jess whirled around. Her face lit up in surprise, and she jogged to him. He softened her landing when she flung herself at him.
"Did you find your brother?" he
