Page 25 of My Darling Mayhem

Another female voice joined in. “It doesn’t look fine; it’s swollen as fuck. Where’s the meds the doc gave you?”

She sounded like the woman with Wren at the doctor’s office. Liza…or Laurel was her name.

“I can’t take them. I have Cruz, the beauty of single parenting. I never get to be off-duty for any reason.”

There was a silence that stretched, and then the other girl started up again. “If I could stay, I would, but I promised mysister I’d meet her for a drink. Are you sure you don’t remember which house he moved into?”

The woman with her laughed, but Wren didn’t. I rolled my eyes because they acted like I was a brainless animal; they could just toss a bag over and take it home. The only woman who had snagged my attention in the past few years was Wren, and she wanted nothing to do with me.

Still didn’t mean I’d be open to fucking or doing anything else with someone right now. I had way too much going on.

“Maybe you can take it once Cruz goes to sleep?” The girl from the office asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“What if he needs something, or someone breaks into the house? I can’t just check out. I wish I could, but Tylenol and Ibuprofen will do.”

“Okay, girl. Well, is there anything else I can do before I head out?”

I heard Wren sigh and then say, “Actually, could you take my garbage bin to the curb for me?”

I had no way of knowing what the woman said, but I decided I’d make sure she helped her friend. It was a few more minutes before she exited Wren’s house, and as she walked toward her car, her phone was up to her ear.

I couldn’t hear her conversation, but I caught a small tidbit before she completely ignored Wren’s request and got into her car to leave.

“No, she didn’t introduce me, and I looked through her phone for his number when she wasn’t looking. When I asked if it was the new house he moved into, she didn’t confirm it. I tried; see you in a few.”

Wren hadn’t said which house was mine?

Something strange tried to find room in my chest. Something like appreciation and gratitude.

Her hot and cold routine was still pissing me off, but…that didn’t stop me from crossing over to her driveway and pulling the two bins that sat on the side of her house all the way to the curb.

SEVEN

WREN

"Can'twe ride to school with Archer and Kane?" Cruz whined for the second morning in a row.

My irritation flared over the Archer topic again. The man had moved in only two weeks ago, and already my life seemed upturned entirely by him. Cruz couldn't stop talking about him at dinner or how Archer had tried to teach my son how to ride his bike. I had tried working on it with him over the summer, but neither of us had gotten the hang of it. Not him with pedaling or me with how to better explain it.

After three skinned knees and a forehead cut, I called it quits. But Cruz had come home without cuts, bruises, or scrapes when he'd tried with Archer. I had watched from the front porch, my computer in my lap while I wasn't paying attention to anything on my screen, and instead couldn't stop watching my neighbor.

He was gentle and cautious with the boys. He laughed like a kid, but he was safe with them, holding the back of their seats and not letting them fall. Kane loved every second of it, bragging about his older brother so loud that I heard it from where I was. His ability to inspire young boys only infuriated me more. Then, an entire day passed, and it was as if Archer had never beenhere. We didn't see him, which only made my son ask a million questions and be moody over dinner.

Zipping up my son's jacket, I cleared my throat. "Not today, but if he's around after school, you're welcome to see if you can join Kane again."

Cruz stomped his foot. "But I know he'll give us a ride, and you need a ride to work. You can't drive yet, and Lydia said she couldn't help you today."

"Mommy is getting a ride to work from a coworker."

"I hate riding the bus." Cruz stomped his foot again.

I clicked my tongue. "Since when do you stomp your feet? You can't whine like this whenever you don't get your way. Now, I'd hate to take away hang-out time after school. I suggest you act like a big kid and ride the bus without throwing a fit."

My son's face fell, and his eyes found the ground. Guilt slashed at that parental pride, where I assumed I was creating character in my kid. Instead, I pulled my son forward into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, bud. If you're mad, then be mad. I get it. Just know I'm trying my best, okay? We can't just invite ourselves to get rides from people. That's not the polite thing to do."

Cruz pulled back and gave me a small half-smile. "But what if Archer offers?"

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