Page 107 of Limbo

“I’ll be back next weekend after finals,” I say. “The rest we’ll just have to figure out as we go.”

He rolls his eyes. “Wow, Cal, you sure we can manage? We’ve never had to deal with any of their bullshit before.”

I blow out a breath, not in the mood for his sarcasm. “Things were going to change anyway. We only have a few weeks until the summer schedule starts.”

As soon as I mention the upcoming switch in the custody agreement, his shoulders tense. “Oh, joy. Can’t fucking wait.” He kicks through a pile of rocks in the driveway hard enough that they batter against the side of the house.

What the hell?

Before I can stop him, he does it again, the gravel nearly breaking the living room window.

“Connor, knock it off!” I grab his arm, but he rips away from me.

“What do you care?” he shouts. “It’s not like you live here.”

He storms into the house and slams the door. I look up, groaning at the sky. Jordan steps beside me, and I hide my face in his chest. He strokes my hair and gives me the moment of calm I need after yet another blowup.

“He’s becoming impossible,” I say, straightening up. “They just keep pushing him. And he has all this anger now.”

“I can take your stuff to Trey’s if you want to stick around for a while.”

I bite my lips together, worried confronting him right now will only make things worse. “No, he needs his space.”

“Are you sure?” Jordan stares down at me, and I force a smile.

“It’s fine,” I say, only half-convinced. “Let’s go find the monster.”

Cate’s chasing a squirrel around the neighbor’s yard. I catch her as she sprints past, but I only get a short hug because her sights set on Jordan. She scrambles into his arms to kiss him on the forehead. When she accidentally knocks her teeth into his head, he grimaces, and I choke back a laugh. He only has himself to blame.

After I drop off the clothes at the church, we go back to Sutterville. Trey’s dog, Zeus, barks from the backyard when our car doors shut. I meet Jordan at the back of the Jeep and load him up with boxes. He doesn’t tell me to stop, so I stack four in his arms and follow him up the sidewalk.

“What’s the summer schedule?” he asks.

I drag my attention away from his flexing biceps and open the front door for him. “We spend a week at Lauren’s and then a week at Graham’s. Well, they’ll spend a week at Lauren’s. I guess I’ll spend a week here.”

A few steps in the door, Jordan drops the boxes to the floor. “You could spend a week with me and then a week at Graham’s.”

“I could if I didn’t need to work this summer and save money.”

He tilts his head to the side, a concerned look on his face. “What about us?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“When do we see each other? Weekends you aren’t at Graham’s?”

With all the fighting and whatnot, I never told him about my job at the bar. And who am I to pass up an opportunity to screw with him? “It’s hard enough to get a summer job around here.” I turn around to pick up a box, fighting off a smile. “Finding one that doesn’t require working every weekend is almost impossible.”

“Then when am I going to see you?”

I shrug and try to pass him, but he stops me. “Callie, when?”

“What do you want me to say, Jordan? That we won’t see each other all summer?”

His eyebrows knit together. “I can’t go all summer without you, beautiful.”

I start to tell him I’m kidding when Trey stomps down the stairs and cuts me off, “Just let yourself in, Cal.” He slaps Jordan on the chest on his way by. “Jordan, you look like she told you she’s pregnant.”

Jordan doesn’t respond, gaze locked on me while Trey chuckles and grabs the box out of my hands. His eyes glaze over, his mind working for a solution to the problem as Trey disappears up the stairs.

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