Chapter Twenty
Corbin
Jules has been avoiding me for the past four days. Then again, Mom’s been here, and I doubt she wants to risk Mom overhearing us discuss the whole we kissed and felt each other up situation. Can’t say I blame her.
But Mom leaves this morning, and Jules will be over for family dinner tonight. She mentioned wanting to go out for pizza or something casual. Maybe dinner away from the house will ease some of the tension—or make it worse. Who knows?
“You have everything?” I ask Mom as she hugs Tate goodbye.
“I do,” she answers, squeezing him tighter. “And if I forgot anything, I’ll just get it next month when I come back for Thanksgiving.”
Tate clings to her. “I don’t want you to go!”
“Oh, Tater Tot,” she whispers, stroking his hair. “I don’t want to go either.”
“You should stay,” he begs.
“I have to get back to work,” she gently reminds him. “But you can send me lots of pictures and videos of Yuri, okay?”Yuri. The snake I bought. The one Jules quickly insisted had to live here instead of at her apartment.
“I promise,” Tate replies, still clinging to her side.
Mom finally lets him go and turns to hug me next, holding on tightly. “I love you, son.”
Those words still feel strange and comforting all at once. My dad’s never said them. Not once in my entire life. Sure, he gave me a decent job at his company, but a good salary doesn't replace the one thing every son craves from his father.
“I love you too, Mom.”
I pick up her suitcase and carry it down the walkway to her car, with Tate trailing behind, shoulders slumped and bottom lip sticking out. Guilt twists in my chest as I glance at him. He has exactly one good grandparent, and she lives four hours away. My dad barely even acknowledged Tate on his birthday. He spent the whole party parked at a table, glaring at Mom and ignoring the rest of us.
I still have no clue why he bothered showing up. He should have done all of us a favor and skipped the event entirely.
The house my father built for us was always on shaky ground. I grew up watching him charm clients, waitresses, and other people’s children. Always making time for everyone else. Always playing the hero for strangers. But me? I was nothing more than an afterthought. The one he criticized the most, the one he never had time for. He never asked how my day was, never cared if I needed him.
Then I met Jules.
She did the opposite. She treated me better than she treated anyone else. Not that Jules has ever treated anyone poorly. She just put me first. She gave me the best parts of herself, the kind of love that was unshakable, unwavering. And I wasted it. Too stuck in a past I refused to stop letting dictate my present. I tried. I really did. I wanted to give her the best of me, but maybe I was always too afraid she’d break it. That she’d take those parts and dismantle them like my father always did.
But Jules isn’t my dad. She never was. She’s better. Far better.
If I’m going to win her back—really win her back—I can’t do things the same way I did before. I have to put her first. I have to give her all of me, not just the pieces I was willing to share.
Mom’s car disappears down the road, her hand waving frantically out the window.
She never took me with her when she left. She would always come back for visits, then take off again. Said she was too afraid to fight my dad for custody.
But the truth is, I needed her just as much as I needed him.
I glance down at Tate, leaning against my leg, a forlorn look on his face.
He needs both Jules and me. Together. Under the same roof. The same way I did.
More than that, he deserves it. And that guilt? That’s mine to carry. This was my undoing, and it’s up to me to fix it.
“Come on, bud,” I say, resting a hand on his head. “Let’s get ready for dinner with Mom. We’re taking her out tonight.”
Tate peeks up at me, curiosity flickering in his eyes. “Where are we going?”
I smile, already knowing exactly where I want to take her. “You up for a little drive?”
