Page 17 of I Knead You Tonight

“Drew Amanda Woods!”

“Your middle name is Amanda too?” Winston pipes in.

“No. Your sister is just insane and uses her middle name for mine because I refuse to tell her mine.”

“That embarrassing, huh?”

“I cannot fucking believe you, Drew!” Wren seethes, ignoring the side conversation Winston and I are having. “You’ve been living there without heat?”

“No. The electric company is a bag of dicks. They shut it off on me yesterday when I was at workafterI arranged to pay the bill late. But, whatever. It’s notthatcold outside, and they would have turned it back on for me. We would have been okay for a night or two with some extra blankets.”

“It’s cold for a baby!”

“He would have been fine. I’d have made sure,” I argue. “And I have space heaters I could have used. We’d have made it work until I got them to turn it back on.”

“Dude. No.” Wren frowns. “What if it drops ten degrees overnight? What then? The space heater isn’t going to touch that. You need help, withanything”—she stresses the word and I know she means money—“call me.”

“I get it, I’m a fuckup.”

“No, you’re just stubborn as hell. Why didn’t you say anything to any of us? We wouldn’t have judged.”

“I’m paying the bill next week. It was only temporary.”

“Temporary,” Wren repeats, shaking her head. “And staying with anyone else would have been only temporary too.”

“You know I don’t like asking for handouts,” I mutter, embarrassed.

“Well, you better get fucking used to it!” Her voice rises two octaves. “You’re not asking for you anymore—you’re asking for Riker. Stop being stubborn for him.”

She’s right. I know she’s right.

Which is why I accepted Winston’s offer to let us stay with him last night. He’s the last person on the face of the planet I’d want to stay with, but I’m doing it.

For Riker.

“I accepted Winston’s help,” I tell her.

Wren looks to Winston and I swear they have one of their weird twin moments or something, because Wren’s lips slowly tilt into a grin and she calms down.

“Look, I’m sorry, Drew. I just love you and Riker so much, and I don’t want you two to go without anything, especially not the basics like heat.”

“We’re okay, Wren. I had everything handled. If it was that bad, I would have said something.”

“Just don’t wait at all next time, okay? I’m here. Always.”

“I won’t,” I promise her.

“What are you doing about her car?” she asks Winston.

“Harvey Schwartz is picking it up this morning. He’s gonna try to fit it in whenever he can around his other work. I told him no rush on it.”

“No rush?” I interject. “There is definitely a rush. I can’t go without a car for an indefinite amount of time.”

“Yes, you can.”

I point to my son, who is now cradled in Wren’s arms. “No, I can’t.”

Winston slumps into the booth, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You’re staying with me as long as it takes. A week, a month, a year—I don’t care. Just shut the fuck up and accept it already.”

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