CHAPTER NINETEEN

Her heels clicked on the concrete steps as she walked two flights to her apartment. She slid the key into the latch, but there was no give. The door slipped open.

Alex appeared, a gotcha look in his brown eyes. He pointed at her. “The New Deal was a series of domestic programs started by President Franklin Roosevelt to help the United States recover from the Great Depression. Boom,” he said, raising his arm in triumph. “Now, where were you tonight?”

Heat spread across her cheeks. She’d only said she was going out when she’d left earlier. She hadn’t uttered the word date, and she certainly hadn’t said with who. But her attire said it all.

“Out,” she said sheepishly, slipping past him. He shut the door behind her, letting it close with a loud bang.

“Out. Is that his name? You were out with Out?”

She laughed as she headed to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. She took a long gulp then figured now was as good a time as any. Speaking the truth—at least the start of it—to Colin had been such a refreshing change from holding back. Perhaps telling her son would have a similar effect. Besides, it was the right way to handle this blossoming relationship.

She walked around to the stools at the counter and patted one. “Sit.”

“Uh-oh,” he said as he plopped down. “Am I in trouble?”

“No.” She took the other stool and crossed her legs. Nerves beat a path through her chest, but she glanced down at her tattoo. Be strong. “Alex, I made a promise when your father died that I would never put us in that situation again.”

He furrowed his brow. “What situation?”

“Me being involved with someone who’s addicted.”

“Is this the part where you tell me you met a hot meth head and you have bags of kitty litter in your car?”

She laughed softly and shook her head. “No. But major points for a good joke. Though you do know there is no such thing as a hot meth head, right?”

“Yeah. I know. Meth heads are nasty.”

She crinkled her nose. “So gross,” she said, then returned to the topic. “I’ve been seeing someone—”

“You’re dating a junkie?”

“God, no.”

“You said ‘being involved with someone addicted.’”

She nodded. “Right. I know. Because that’s the promise I made to you, and to myself, and to us. Our family. To not get involved with an addict. But, I want you to know I’ve been seeing someone who’s a recovering addict.”

“Oh,” he said, his voice flat. She didn’t know if that meant he didn’t care or he was disappointed.

“And I think he’s a really good guy,” she added.

He arched a skeptical eyebrow. “Like my dad was a good guy?”

“No. Good guy like the real deal.”

“Okay,” he said, his tone light and easy now. “So what’s the issue?”

“I want to know how you feel about that. He’s been in recovery for eight years. He’s a good, solid, strong man who hasn’t relapsed.”

He shot her a look as if she was nuts. “I don’t get it, Mom. What’s the problem? He sounds cool.”

“He is cool. You know him.”

She could see the gears turning in his head. They clicked, and he wagged his finger at her. “No way! You’re dating Colin.”

She couldn’t help but grin. “How did you guess it was him?”

“Duh.”

She jutted out her chin. “Duh, what?”

“I can’t believe you thought I wouldn’t guess him,” he said, laughing at her, clutching his belly and guffawing. Her son was actually guffawing.

She straightened her spine. “I’m sorry, but did you have radar installed?”

He stared at the ceiling as if he were deep in thought. “Hmm. Let’s see. Could it be the way you flirt with him at the center?”

“I don’t flirt with him.”

“Could it be the fact that he sent me a history app?”

“Oh, excuse me. Did it say ‘I like your mom’ on it?”

“No. But get real. What guy does that?” he scoffed.

“A nice guy,” she said insistently.

“Exactly. That’s my point. He’s a good guy. He volunteers. He helps Rex for free. And I’ve seen the goofy look you get when you’re texting.”

She was so busted. “Would you prefer that I don’t go out with him?” she asked gently, giving him the out that she felt she needed to. Alex was her top priority, and even though she prayed he’d say no, she’d have to honor his wishes if he said yes.

“No,” he said with a laugh. “It’s fine.”

“Do you mind if he comes to the match, and maybe we can all hang out and get a coffee or Coke or something?” she asked, with a cocktail of nerves and hope that she hadn’t felt since she herself was a teen asking out a boy. Such a strange feeling, to want her son’s approval so badly.

He shrugged happily. “Sure.”

“Does it bother you that he’s a recovered addict?”

He shook his head. “Mom, he’s not a thing like Dad. We’re cool.” His phone rattled, and he grabbed it. “Oh man, James just got a new cheat code.”

That was that. He’d moved on. She’d clung to fears of what their life might be like if she ventured down this path, but Alex was resilient. He’d taken his punches and gotten back up.

She was the one who’d been living in fear. He’d been living his life.

Time for her to do the same.

Fully. In every way. Not only as a mom, but as a woman, too. A woman who was falling hard for a man.

* * *

“I owe you, man. The Cristal’s on me,” Rex said, offering his hand to shake as Colin pulled up to the building at the community college where Rex and Marcus were slated to take the math test. “Wait. I meant the Shirley Temple’s on me.”

Colin waved him off. “Get out of here. Happy to do it.”

“What are you doing today? You gonna go find the next Google to buy, or go scale the side of a mountain with your Spidey hands?”

“Both,” he said. “Work. Some climbing, a run, then a swim.”

“You’re nuts.”

“You should go with me sometime.”

“Now you’re really crazy,” Rex said, laughing with his mouth wide open. “But I will cheer your badass ass on when the day comes.”

“Excellent,” Colin said, then looked into the backseat as Marcus grabbed his backpack. The kid had been quiet the whole ride. Then again, Rex tended to occupy the majority of the conversational space in any room. “Good luck, Marcus.”

“Thanks for the ride. I didn’t know ’til Rex told me this morning that you were the one picking us up.”

Colin furrowed his brow for a moment, wondering why it mattered that he was the one picking them up. But he figured Marcus had more important matters on his mind. “Happy to help. You guys will do great.”

He went to his office, where Larsen greeted him with a coffee and the sheer excitement of having found a kickass startup.

“Talk to me. Tell me why I want in,” Colin said as they walked down the hall. By the time the sun dipped low in the sky, he’d worked on a term sheet for the first round of funding, then headed for an evening trail run with Johnny Cash. The day was made perfect by the photo that landed on his phone that night. An image of Elle’s legs from the thighs down in her roller derby socks.

The message said, See you tomorrow.

* * *

The whistle blared loudly, and Janine took off around the track, hell-bent on scoring more points. Elle and the other blockers joined in, jostling and jockeying against the Resurrection Girls’ efforts to score on the Fishnet Brigade. Elle’s quads burned, and her heart beat furiously. Her focus narrowed, as it always did during matches, to her mission—protect the jammer and win the game.

On the next lap, Elle held out a hand for Janine, who gripped it for a few seconds, then let go as Elle sent her shooting faster around the curve. As Janine sped past a Resurrection Girl, an image of Colin popped into Elle’s head. She shook it off. She couldn’t think about him now. Couldn’t think about the fact that he wasn’t here. Hadn’t shown up. The match would be over in two minutes. Her team was ahead. The point Janine just scored from her assist was more padding on the total.

Maybe by the time they finished he’d be here. He’d show, right? He had to. He’d better fucking show.

A brief burst of frustration powered her around the track, her muscles cursing at her. She didn’t want to believe that the man would fail to show up for her and her kid.

The only thing that would hold him back would be—

Her wheels slipped out from under her, and she crashed hard onto the sleek wood.

* * *

As soon as he heard the rumble of Ryan’s truck, Johnny Cash whimpered and thumped his tail against Colin’s floor. “He’s back,” Colin said to the dog, who wagged harder. “C’mon, boy. Want to go see Ryan?”

The tail became a propeller, moving so fast it could power a motorboat. Colin opened his front door, and the Border Collie took off like a shot, tearing across the lawn to greet his master. Colin joined the two of them on the sidewalk. “Looks like someone missed you.”

Ryan stood up and gave Colin a quick hug. “Thanks for watching him. I appreciate it.”

“He’s easy. Welcome back. How was it?”

Ryan cocked his head and seemed to consider the question for a few seconds as he pet his dog. “I’m going to ask her to marry me next week.”

“Holy shit. Guess you had a great time.” He shook his brother’s hand in congratulations and proceeded to pepper him with more questions.

Ryan answered them all then capped it off with a simple truth. “Sophie’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Colin parked a hand on Ryan’s shoulder and looked him square in the eyes. “She is. And don’t ever forget it.”

“I won’t,” he said, then opened the door of his truck for the dog. An engine rattled down the street, as Colin patted Johnny Cash good-bye.

“He’s back,” Ryan said in a hiss. “He knows where we all live. Sophie told me he stopped by more than a week ago.”

Colin furrowed his brow and was about to ask “who’s back” when he heard a familiar-sounding “hey.”

“What’s the deal?” Ryan said, and Colin nearly stumbled when he turned and saw who his brother was addressing. “My fiancée told me you stopped by my house the other day. Just man up and tell us what you want.”

Shit. Colin had told Ryan about Marcus and the Protectors, but he’d had no idea that the kid had stopped by Ryan’s house before. What the hell?

“Marcus?” Colin asked, trying to figure out why he was here, and how he knew where he lived. Was he here to share his math results? But then why had he gone to Ryan’s house a week ago?

Ryan turned to Colin. “You know him?”

He simply nodded. He tried to form words, but he wasn’t even sure what to say. He was used to assessing situations, but this one had him perplexed.

Marcus cut in. “I want to talk to both of you,” he said, a touch of nervousness in his voice. “We all have something in common.”

“Why are you here?” Ryan demanded of Marcus, then to Colin, he said, “Who is he?”

Colin was about to say what he knew—I drove him to his math test, he’s friends with Rex, Elle knows him, he’s a member of the Protectors—but all those words crumbled to dust when Marcus spoke next.

“My name is Marcus. I was born seventeen years ago at the Stella McLaren Federal Women’s Correctional Center. My mother is Dora Prince. I’m your brother.”

All the sound in the universe was vacuumed up. His heart stopped, his brain short circuited, and the ground began to sway.