“I’mnot,” I insisted with my best I-don’t-give-a-shit shrug. “I’m just coming outhere to make it look like I’m talking to you, because your aunt asked sort ofnicely. Whether you come back inside or not is entirely up to you. I don’treally give a fuck either way.”
“Ifyou didn’t give a fuck, you wouldn’t have called,” the kid replied with thebeginnings of a smug grin tugging at his lips.
Noddingslowly, the corners of my mouth tipped downward. “Touché. But if you’ve alreadyfigured out that much, then you must be smart enough to know your mom was nowhore.”
Thecomment got to him and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “I know that already.”
“Thenwhy’d you let that kid get to you? You could’ve walked away, ignored him orwhatever.”
“Becauseshe was my mom!” he shouted, pushing away from the glass.
Hetook two steps away from me, crossing his arms and standing at the edge of thesidewalk. He waited there, eyeing the line between sidewalk and street, asthough he was making the decision to stay or run. When he finally turnedaround, I saw his expression etched in stone with only the tears brimming inhis eyes giving away any emotion.
“Ihad enough of hearing it,” he added. “They’ve been saying shit most of my life,about her or me not having a dad, and I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Nodding,I looked him in the eye. “Never said I blamed you, kid. I would’ve done the samething.”And you do have a dad. The words nagged at the tip of my tongue,but I choked them down with a fervent swallow and let myself grin as I asked, “Youwanna eat? Because, I don’t know about you, but I’m fucking starving.”
***
I’m apeople person, a peoplepleaser, and there are very few times in my lifewhere I recall the silence being awkward.
Well,it was awkward now.
Tabbysilently prodded at her chicken parmesan with the tips of her fork. Greysonscrolled through his phone in between lifting his gaze to me, making sure I wasstill there. Making sure I was stillme. I wished there had been aninstantaneous comfort between us. You see it sometimes, on those TV shows wherethe long-lost parent is reunited with their child. They hug, they cry, and theysit down and talk like they never missed a beat. Why couldn’t that havehappened for us? Why did it feel so unfair that it hadn’t?
Sweepingmy gaze around the restaurant, I huffed with a weighted breath. If I wanted anysemblance of a relationship to form, I needed to connect with these people, andI knew there was no way that was happening with Tabby. Not yet. The woman was sexyin an off-limits kind of way, and we had nothing to talk about. Nothing to bondover.
Besides,I wasn’t there forher.
So,I clung to the only thing I knew I had with the kid.
“Okay.”I hit my hand to the surface of the table, drawing both of their attentions tome. “Favorite drummers. And … go!”
Greysonhesitated, glancing from me and back to his phone, before licking his lips. “Uh…”
“Okay,I’ll go first,” I offered, steepling my hands and tapping my fingers together.“Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Chad Smith, and Carter Beauford.”
“NoTravis Barker?” Tabby chimed in with a challenging squint of her eyes.
Well,this is interesting.
Ismirked. “Barker’s cool. Fast. Not a favorite though.”
“Himor his style?” She folded her arms over her chest, tipping her head.
“Hisstyle isn’t one I try to channel myself into, no,” I countered. “You’re a Blinkfan?”
Shrugginga shoulder, she tipped her mouth into a questionable smirk. “They’re okay. Iwas just asking. A guy I used to date back in the day was a huge fan of Blink182 and Travis Barker. He said he was the best drummer on the planet.”
“Nobodyis the best drummer on the planet.” I leaned back in my chair. “Greyson, man,I’m still waiting.”
Swallowing,he shrugged and shook his head as though he was clueless, but then he said,“Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Tony Royster Jr., and, um …” His eyes lifted,settled on mine, and dropped with embarrassment. “You.”
“Shit.”I grinned, pushing a hand into the length of my hair. “That’s quite a list tobe included in. Tony Royster? I mean,shit, I don’t hold a candle tothat kid.”
“Uh,you come pretty close,” Greyson disputed, quirking his lips into a disapprovingfrown. “I mean,Ithink so anyway.”
“Well,thank you.” I bowed my head, lifting my mouth into a lopsided smile. “You’re aGrohl and Hawkins fan, too. See, I knew I liked you, kid. Didn’t know we had thesame taste in music, though. You like the Foo Fighters?”
