Page 10 of Wait For You

For a split second, I wanted to ask him what he knew about Tessa. I knew Tessa, but she’d always been on the edges of my life. Quinn was one of her closest friends, so I had no doubt Kenan encountered her often since he’d gotten married.

“What is it?” he prompted.

Kenan wasn’t an actual mind reader. He didn’t know I wanted to ask about Tessa. He just knew I wanted to ask about something.

“Nothing.”

A sly gleam entered his gaze. “You’ll ask me at some point, so you might as well cut to the chase.”

A dry laugh rustled in my throat. “True enough. When the time is right.”

“Fine.” He stood from his chair, tapping his knuckles on my desk. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re cut out to be alone for the rest of your life.”

This wasn’t the first time he’d made that observation. Until that brief encounter with Tessa, I would’ve dismissed it. Now, I was busy trying to tell myself I could keep the boundaries in my heart delineated.

After Kenan left my office, my eyes slid to my cell phone where it sat silently on my desk. I wasn’t a guy who waited for texts. Yet with Tessa, I was. I had lobbed the ball into her court, and now I waited.

Chapter Seven

Tessa

Rich kept his eyes pinned on me. I resisted the urge to curl my arms around my waist to shield myself.

“Hurry up,” he barked at Eric.

Rich didn’t even look at Eric. This was how it went when I dropped my son off for visits with his father. Rich had visits every other weekend, and he often cut them short. I resisted the urge to ask what his plans were.

If I said a word about it, he would change his plans. The man was mercurial about everything. If he knew I expected him to give up any time with our son, he wouldn’t do it. I remained still and quiet, willing away the urge to nervously chew the insides of my cheeks. Because he would notice that too.

Eric scrambled out of the car. I knew he was reluctant to go with his dad. He always was, yet I couldn't do anything about it. We were still locked in a custody battle. Rich was fighting for fifty percent when he couldn’t even be bothered to do an entire weekend.

Rich finally looked away from me when he heard the door to his car close. I waited. “I’m gonna have to cut the weekend short. Just tonight. If you could pick him up tomorrow at my place at two, that would be great,” he said.

“I’ll meet you here at two.” I tried to keep my tone level.

“Fuck this stupid drop-off location. Just come to the fucking house. You used to live there,” Rich muttered.

I’d recited responses to him to keep myself from spiraling inside. “You know this is the court-ordered drop-off location. This is where we’re meeting.”

“Well, then I won’t drop him off early.” My ex’s tone was laced with a hint of “fuck you.”

Every time he played these games with me, I knew I had to keep my cool. “It’s your weekend, so it’s up to you. Please text me if you’d like to meet me here at two tomorrow.”

My level, flat tone belied the spinning anxiety, the dread, and the constant sickening anticipation rising inside me.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’ll drop him off at two tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

Rich spun on his heel, stalking away. I stood right where I was, waiting until he’d climbed into his car before I turned and took the three steps to mine. Only after I had closed and locked my car doors did I let out the breath I’d been holding.

Still, I waited, not even looking in the direction of Rich’s car. His tires squealed as he left the parking lot. Only after his car was out of sight did I feel the hot tears roll down my cheeks.

I only let myself cry for a minute. Maybe it didn’t make sense, but if I let the pain take over, I feared it would drown me. “We got out,” I said to myself in the car.

I glanced at the clock on my dashboard before reaching for my phone and typing out a quick text to Eric. I managed so many details of my life as a result of the years with my ex.

The part that hurt the worst, that I hated the most, was that our son carried the same habits as I did. I had told him that he didn’t have to do these things, but he said it was easier for all of us. When I was with Rich, I’d always kept my phone notifications turned off. Eric did the same. That way, if his dad demanded to check his phone, he wouldn’t have to look for too long. You’d think it wouldn’t bother Eric’s father for me to text Eric to tell him I loved him. But that’s not ever how it went with Rich.

I typed out the text and pasted it into the app Eric and I used to communicate. I read all about how parents should be careful having their kids use chat apps because they could take advantage of each other. I understood those concerns. In my case, I didn’t want the message to last long. I wanted Eric to see it and have it disappear in case his father ever paid enough attention to notice the app. I hated that this was what we did. However, my attorney said it was fine, and Eric’s therapist also said it was okay.