Authors: Clare James
“Meet me at the diner at 3:00.”
***
It’s 2:50 when I arrive. I’ve been
doing this almost every day now. Aria is usually done with the lunch rush and
up in the apartment or library studying until Cade gets home.
She has no idea that when Serena
takes the twins to speech class, Cade hangs out with Amelia and me.
“Teeee,” Cade calls out when I see
him.
I hurry over, anxious about what
Aria is going to think about all of this.
“Hey Buddy,” I greet him. “How’s it
hanging?”
I look around for Amelia to tell
her I can take it from here. Personally, I think she’s been waiting for it.
Always talking to me about Aria. Her hints and thoughts have never exactly been
subtle.
She’s a beautiful woman and I’d be
lying if I said I didn’t think about Aria growing older to look like Amelia. I
wonder if she’ll get the same streak of white around her face or the tiny lines
around her eyes. I find myself hoping it’s something I’ll get to witness.
And now that she’s finally back in
my life, I can’t imagine going back to that place of unknown. I’m confident
even if we have to part now, we’ll part as friends. And that means almost as
much to me as all the rest.
I search behind Cade to see if I
can spot Amelia.
She’s not with him.
Shit.
It’s Serena.
“What the,” she says as she covers
Cade’s ears, “fuck are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to hang out with my
buddy like I always do this time of day.”
“Christ, you are so transparent.”
“What?”
She sends Cade to go see Jimmy in
the kitchen.
“Trying to get back into Aria’s
good graces by working over the kid. God, you’re pathetic.”
“I’m already in her good graces, if
you must know, and it has nothing to do with Cade. I hang out with him because
he’s a cool little person and I enjoy spending time with him.”
“Right.”
“Look, Serena,” I tell her, trying
to keep my temper. “I’m sorry about that night at the bar. I didn’t mean to
embarrass you, but I just don’t think of you that way.”
“That’s not how you were acting in
the beginning. Don’t lie, Tristan. I know you wanted in my pants.”
“That’s before I knew who you were.”
I fumble for a second.
“I knew it,” she says.
“Look, nothing was going to happen.
I was just playing along. You were so drunk. It’s not like I would’ve brought
you home whether I knew who you were or not. I don’t take advantage of women.”
“Whatever. I’ve grown up in case
you haven’t noticed. I’m not her scrawny sister anymore and most guys would
love to be with me.”
“I don’t doubt that at all, Serena.
I’m just not one of them.”
“One of them what?” Aria joins us
and the bottom of my stomach drops out. Why does this shit keep happening at
the worst possible moments?
“Nothing.” Serena blows it off.
I almost want to kiss her for that.
Gritting my teeth, I try to calm
down and tell myself that Aria didn’t hear the whole conversation. It’s going
to be okay.
“So Tris,” Aria says with a smile
that tells me I’m right. “Why’d you bring me down here?”
“So what, you guys are friends
again?” Serena rolls her eyes.
“I guess you could say we’re a little
more than that.” Aria leans into me.
My heart swells, and damn, I know
I’m falling all over again. But this time, it’s for Aria and her kid.
“So, what did you
want to show me?” I ask as we walk past the diner.
Cade comes barreling out and stands
on the sidewalk bench. “Let’s go T,” he says before noticing me. “Are you
coming, Mom?” he asks.
Hey, that’s Mommy to you.
Tris flashes his eyes my way. They’re
still intense, watchful as they always are, but also full of light. He backs up
to the bench toward Cade, who in turn, jumps on his back. The movement is
smooth, as if rehearsed. This is not the first time they’ve done this routine.
“She is, buddy,” Tris says when I
can’t find my words.
With my son on his back, Tris
reaches for my hand. “As I was saying, I wanted to show you that there’s more
to me, and us, than what we have at the beach house.”
“Do you guys do this often?” I ask.
“Every day.” Cade narks him out.
His answer has me pulling my hand
from Tris’s grip.
“Every day?” I question, waiting
for Tris to answer this time.
Was this part of his plan? And did
my mother fall for it too?
It had to take some work to keep
this from me, and while I know I’m on the verge of overreacting, I can’t help
but feel betrayed.
Tris reads my mind. “That’s not the
reason why,” he says. “I was hanging with this dude, before I ever
got in
your pants
.”
He whispers the last part. “It was by accident,
actually. Amelia needed my help one day.”
“Amelia?”
Oh, that woman was clearly up to
something.
“Now, let’s race to the park,”
Tristan says, taking off before I can ask another question.
As they run, I’ve never heard Caden
laugh so much, and the image of those two melts away the anger. How can I be
upset when I finally might be getting everything I ever wanted?
The mood is contagious and I pick
up my speed to stay neck and neck with them all the way.
***
I’m high the rest of the day. It’s
a dangerous situation because I’m beginning to see this
thing
between
Tris and me working. Mom has made herself scarce, so he stays with us for
dinner and Cade’s bedtime.
“I want T to read me a story,” Cade
says once he changes into his pjs.
“Sure,” Tris says so easily. “But
only if it’s a superhero story, like one of the guys on your pajamas.”
“Okay,” Cade says, pumping his fist
in the air like a game show contestant who’s just won a new car. This is the
best prize to him.
To me as well. Tonight has felt
more like the family life I’ve always wanted. More than it ever did with Alex.
Tris helps me with anatomy and then
does a bit of his own work as I finish up. And though I want to haul him in my
room and get him naked once we finish, I’m fine making out on the couch. More
than fine.
Too soon, he’s saying his goodbyes.
“I’ll quiz you tomorrow night too
if you want,” he says.
“I don’t know about that, I think
we did more kissing than studying. You’re not the best influence on me,
Professor Green.”
“But it’s Wednesday tomorrow.” He
smirks.
“Fine.” I pretend to be put out.
“But only if you’re on your best behavior.”
Tris traces an X over his heart. “Oh,
and bring that ancient paper planner you’re so fond of.”
“Don’t knock the planner. It
doesn’t fail me when my phone isn’t charged. Sometimes paper is just better.”
“Whatever, just bring it.”
“Why?” I ask. It’s a strange
request.
“Because I need you to make more
time for me. I’m dying to spend time with you on Mondays and Fridays and
Sundays. Actually, I’d rather not even think about what day it is, I just want
more time.”
“How much more?” I ask, nerves in
my belly jumping. This is a major next step.
“As many as you’ll give me,” he
says.
In the next breath, his lips are crushing
mine in the most sinful of goodnight kisses. His tongue glides over my top
teeth and the roof of my mouth before tangling with my own in a seductive
dance. Taking and giving until I’m out of breath.
“See you tomorrow.”
***
The next morning, I’m reliving the
night, especially the goodnight kiss, when a call rings on my cell. And though
we’ve never exchanged numbers, I get the sneaking suspicion that it’s Tris.
“Miss me already?” I answer.
“Not you so much as my son.” The
answer comes back rough… and all wrong.
It’s Alex.
“What do you want, Alex?”
“Hey, no need to be short with me.
I’m actually calling out of courtesy. I didn’t want to surprise you tomorrow.”
Dread washes over me. “Tomorrow?”
“I’m in town and we thought it’d be
a good idea to have a visit with Cade before training camp starts.”
“We?”
“Yeah, my team. Roe and Steve and
the guys.”
“Ah, so your agent and publicist are
trying to work some PR magic. Coming for appearances, then?”
“No. I miss my kid, Aria.”
“That’s new. I didn’t hear any of
those concerns when I signed the papers. Which, by the way, I never received
the final document.”
“Yeah, about that.” He lowers his
voice. “There’s something I have to tell you. Let’s meet for breakfast, the
three of us, and then we can talk.”
“Are you high?” Rage claws its way
up my throat. I have to keep it close because panic is not far behind. “You
can’t just come in here and disrupt our lives. Cade is with Serena tomorrow
while I have classes and work. I can’t take the day off.”
“Look Ari, I will clear it with
your mom and your teacher, whatever. But I am going to see my son tomorrow and
I think it’d be wise for you to show up as well.”
“You look, Alex,” I demand. “I have
full custody.”
“It’s not quite that simple,” he
says, cracking his neck like he does whenever he’s irritated or bored.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
His words don’t make sense. I know
the divorce agreement is concrete. I couldn’t afford an attorney, but since it
was an amicable break up, we used the same guy. Though I did go to the law
school at the university and had one of the advisors look it over for me to be
sure Alex wasn’t trying to pull a fast one. I’m not an idiot. It was pretty
straightforward because we both agreed to the terms. Alex gave me sole custody
of Cade and, in exchange, I didn’t demand any financial support.
“We don’t have an agreement yet,
Aria,” he says. “ Because I never filed the papers.”
Suddenly, I can’t breathe.
I’m so distracted
the next day that I’m not really paying attention to Dad. I go through the
motions, but my mind is on Aria and the cryptic message she left for me.
Dad’s fine, though. He eats and
does his exercises. Then he asks for his program like he always does. Or so I
thought. But if I’d been paying attention, truthfully, I would’ve seen the slight
changes in his skin coloring and his speech.
I didn’t know he was coming
.
It’s all the message said, but of course, I know she meant Alex. We haven’t
talked much about it, but I know she has custody of Cade. She did share that
much with me. Though she’s never gone into detail about what ended the marriage.
I didn’t want to know. Our original deal was about sex only.
Tell him to fuck off,
I
write back. Hell if I’m giving up Wednesday for that jerk-off.
He’s asking to see Cade.
The fucking clincher. How could I
compete with that?
I couldn’t, something that was
alarmingly clear when Alex arrived with the media in tow. On my way to Dad’s
shop, the news crews were everywhere.
“Alex Anders returns home to see
his son,” blared through my car speakers. Fucking local radio.
At the shop, the gossip continued.
Why couldn’t anyone get over this
fucking guy?
And then the topic turns to Aria.
In the small breakroom, I overhear two younger women talking.
“It’s so sweet he’s here to see his
son. I can’t believe Aria would keep them apart.”
“It’s probably the only thing she
has to keep the power. I heard she’s going to get millions once the divorce is
final.”
Final? They’re not divorced yet?
“I heard she would’ve gotten half
if she didn’t cheat on him.”
I clench my teeth and go back to
the office.
Then I pick up my phone.
I get Cade dressed
and we meet at the bagel shop. I insist on a place other than the diner. That’s
the last thing we need, to air our family business in front of all my co-workers.
If I was smart, I’d just have him
out to the house, but I don’t want that either. I don’t want to be alone with
him. I don’t want to infect our home, as crazy as it sounds.
Cade and I get there first, which
is no surprise. We always had to wait on the precious Alex Anders.
He strolls in and the place lights
up.
“Hey, Alex,” the greasy-faced kid
behind the counter says. “Can’t wait to see you play with the Pack.”
“Thanks, dude,” he says, tipping
his head. “Maybe someday, I’ll be playing a little closer to home.”
“Awesome,” the kid mumbles, pulling
out his phone. I’m sure this interaction will fill his Tumblr feed, or Snapchat
site, or wherever the hell.
Just keep us out of it.
Cade cuddles further under my
protective arm. He remembers.
I had to be the strong one. Alex was
always a mess. Temperamental and cruel. He couldn’t handle the stress the coach
put on him, or another player second-guessing his plays during the game. After
so many years of being treated like he could do no wrong, he began to believe
it. And as high as this beast of a man got on the power and success, he sank
low with the same intensity. Sometimes in the off-season, he’d sit in front of
the TV for days, never changing from his sweatpants – eating cereal and
drinking soda nonstop.
“Hey Big C,” Alex picks Cade up in
one scoop. He doesn’t waver as Cade reaches for me. Instead, he uses his other
hand to take a selfie of the two of them.
Cade’s always been just a prop to
him.
“Hi, Dad,” Cade says.
Alex sits him down and really looks
at him. “Man, you’re getting big.”
“That’s what kids do, Alex,” I say.
“They grow up.”
He ignores me and says to Cade,
“Tell me what you’ve been up to.”