Page 13 of The Hang Up
Cooking relaxed me, so I decided to make spaghetti for supper. It was one of Sean’s favorites. I needed to have a serious talk with him. I grabbed the ingredients, but before I could start, I heard Sean come in. After a few minutes, I heard the bathroom door close.
He didn’t come out right away, and I suspected he was taking a shower.
No sense in starting anything now. I slumped in a seat at the island and put my head in my hands. When the door to the kitchen opened, I glanced up. Sean was not wearing his comfortable staying-at-home sweats.
“Hey,” he said carefully as if stepping over land mines. Could he sense I was in a bad mood? Probably.
I jumped up, feeling restless. Angry. “Are you going out?”
“Yeah.”
“You could have told me you wouldn’t be home for dinner.” I slammed the cabinet door and opened another. I shut that one with just as much force.
“What are you looking for?” Sean was dressed in nice jeans and a sweater that accented his green eyes. His messy blond hair was still a little damp.
“Spaghetti noodles. Not that I need them now. I might as well have a bowl of cereal.”
He handed me the package of spaghetti I’d left on the island. “Dude, it was last minute. You’re the one who told me I needed to make friends. Go out. Make connections.”
“I didn’t mean fuck your boss.”
Sean narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t yell. Was that what I wanted? A yelling match? “Is this about the call you got from your mom?”
I threw the spaghetti back in the cabinet and pulled out a bowl. “No. It’s about you risking your job—”
“This has nothing to do with Ben.” He leaned against the island and crossed his arms. “What’s going on?”
I left the bowl and headed for the living room. Sean followed, sitting next to me on the couch but still far enough away in case I decided to take a swing. Not that I would.
“It’s too much. Even after the insurance pays its part—what if Mom loses the house? And I can’t fucking help her.”
“You are helping. And,” he said, sounding hesitant, “I’m not risking my job. I’ll be able to help. I promise.”
I snorted at that.
“I need this, Brock. A night out. Work has been shit lately. But if you want me to stay, I can.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I’ll just call Matthew and let him know.”
I had assumed, for some reason, that he was meeting Ben. “The cutie who sat with us at the barbecue? The one with the girlfriend?”
He huffed a breath, sounding irritated. “Do you want me to stay or not?”
“I’m good,” I said, trying to shake off my bad mood. I headed toward the kitchen for a bowl of Cocoa Puffs but stopped at the doorway. “Thanks, Sean. Have fun. Just…God, please don’t come home smashed in the middle of the night. I need my sleep.”
Once he was gone, I sat on the kitchen floor and ate cereal. Leaving the empty bowl on the floor, I rested my head against the cabinet, trying to keep it together. Sean deserved a night out. I just felt so…tired. And alone. I needed to talk to someone. But who could I call? Sean was at the bar. Nevaeh was working.
So I did the one thing I told myself I would never do. I texted Joshua.
Brock
Hey.
It took a bit for him to respond. I could see the bubbles like he was texting and then erasing it. For some reason that made me smile. His message finally came through.
Joshua
