Page 107 of Sweat

“Is it really Monday?” He asks with his eyes on my shoulder.

Sweeping my palm along his spine, I tell him not to worry about a thing.

I take him to bed and unfurl his blankets so I can pull them up to his chin. After toeing off my shoes and pulling off my jeans, I slip under the blankets with him and draw his back to my front. Spooning him and kissing the back of his oily head, I tell him everything’s going to be alright, that I won’t leave him, and that I love him.

Inside, my mind tries desperately to work a puzzle I barely have any pieces to.

His mom showed up in Davis. Hisrealmom…and somehow, she did this to him.

Two hours pass since Rowan drifted off, and I’m on my back reading PDFs for school when there’s a light knocking on the door. It’s gotten dark enough outside that not much light passes through the window, so I switch the lamp on after standing, and I put my pants back on for the benefit of whoever’s knocking.

I open the door and find Xia there, looking just like a worried mom would.

“How is he? Is he alright?” she asks.

“Sleeping now, but he’s in bad shape. Feels like he hasn’t eaten in days.”

“I’m about to start on dinner. I’ll make plenty for the both of you. You two can eat with us, or wherever you’d like. Does he need anything right now? Do you need anything?”

I glance back at the bed, where Rowan hasn’t moved a muscle. “This might be a weird request, but do you have a bathtub we could use?”

“Of course, honey. You can use ours. Come inside when you’re ready, and I’ll show you where it is.”

“Thanks.” Before she leaves, I step halfway out of the room and whisper, “He thought it was you. In Davis, when Coach told him his mom was there to get him, Rowan thought it was you. Do you know who his real mom is?”

The same heartache I feel seeps through Xia’s dark eyes. “I only know what Matt told me.”

Back in Rowan’s room, I find him a pair of basketball shorts for now and a change of clothes for him and myself.

Second thing I do is put a knee on the mattress and a hand on his shoulder to nudge him awake. “Hey, sleepyhead? Time to get up.”

A groan clears his throat while a fist scrubs his eyes. “Tommy?” he asks in the same way he did two hours ago, while still wedged under the bed.

“C’mon, sweetheart. Gotta get you cleaned up.”

Another groan, and he turns onto his back, blinking up at me with his face scrunched oddly. “Am I what that smell is?”

Being an athlete for half my life, I’ve been around some funky smelling dudes, and Rowan is about as ripe as they come right now, but it’s nothing I can’t handle, and it’s one thing I know I can fix. It might be the only thing.

I lean down and press my lips to his, even though I’m pretty sure he hasn’t brushed his teeth in as many days as he hasn’t showered or eaten.

“Is it morning?” he asks.

“It’s about six in the evening. Monday.”

“Shit.” He brings a hand over his eyes like he could cry, but I just press kisses to his salty forehead and tell him again that everything’s going to be alright. “I missed practice. I missed my classes. You have class.”

“None of that matters right now. All that matters is that we get you washed up and fed, okay?”

I get him up and into his basketball shorts and slides. I put my own shoes back on, gather our changes of clothes under an arm, and put my other around Rowan’s shoulders to walk him to the house.

“Where’re we going?” he asks when I take him outside the garage.

“Gonna give you a bath for real.” I kiss the side of his head before taking him up the back porch steps. I only let go of him to open the back door for us.

Xia is starting on dinner in the kitchen but drops everything to show me the way through the house. She takes us past the kids’ bathroom and through her and Matt’s room to their en suite.

“Towels are in the cabinet. Products are in the shower. Check the vanity drawers for anything extra you might need.” She wrinkles her nose, giving Rowan a once over, then cups his whiskery face in her hands. “We love you, alright? This is your home. Don’t forget that.”

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