Page 38 of Hoax and Kisses
James raises a six-pack. “Don’t worry. After that shit show, I stopped at Sue’s.”
“Thank god,” I mumble. “Okay, Daph. Go hop in the shower while I get the cocoa ready, please.”
My sister takes the stairs two at a time and slams the bathroom door shut.
“Someone’s excited.” With a chuckle, Lola sits at the kitchen table. “You don’t seem too out of your depth here, Matty.”
Side-eyeing her, I pull mugs and glasses from the cabinet. “Glad I make it look easy.”
“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. Daph told me earlier that she loves spending time with you.”
I open the fridge and grab the gallon of milk. “The feeling is mutual, but I don’t think I am. Itisa lot of pressure. I’m not a parent, and suddenly I’m in charge of her education and her well-being, and I also have to make sure I don’t fuck her up while she’s staying with me. And after tonight, I’m not off to a great start.”
Lola throws me a pointed look. “You mean the first week with you is worse than living with a mother who can’t even accept that she has an autistic daughter?”
Sighing, I place the saucepan half full of milk on the stove. “At least she has my dad.”
“And she has you.” James opens a beer and offers it to me, then sits next to Lola. “Tonight was nothing. Daphne probably didn’t even notice. She had her headphones on the whole time.”
“She notices everything.” Even if she didn’t say a word on the way back, I could see the wheels turning. Once James and Lola leave, the questions will come pouring in.
I dump two spoonfuls of cocoa into a mug, then take a swig of the beer. “What a shit show. People really went at her.”
“To be fair.” Lola drags out the words with the same careful tone she uses when she’s about to drop a truth bomb that nobody wants to hear. “You werekindaleading the charge.”
“The little she was able to say made sense,” James adds.
The muscles in my shoulders tense, and I turn away from the stove. “Okay, whoa. Did you guys consult before ganging up on me? I know I screwed up. I apologized to her afterward, but she was having none of it.”
“Youdidhumiliate her in front of the whole town not even an hour ago,” Lola says. “I think it’ll be a few days before she can entertain the idea of hearing you out.” With a shrug, she snags a beer for herself. “Why do you care anyway? It wasn’t your finest moment, but she’ll probably move on to something else. Saved her some time.”
“They slept together,” James whispers.
Lola’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “What?”
I breathe in through my nose, bracing myself, and nod. “We did.”
Lola whips her head back and forth, studying James, then me. “When?”
“The night she arrived.” I take a small sip of beer and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “It’s not a big deal. It was a one-night kind of thing, that’s all.”
Lola bursts out laughing. “You? A one-night stand? Please. Sincewhen?”
I pour the hot milk over the cocoa powder and stir. “Since I’m tired of being alone. Since I’ve officially realized that over-complicating everything has not brought me a lot of success.”
Lola’s face softens, but she doesn’t say anything else.
Next to her, James is quiet, scrolling his phone, as if he’s been mulling something over. I don’t like Analytical James. He makes me queasy. I’m not great with silence or thinking everything through. But when James gets super into his thoughts, he can stay like this for hours and not say a word about what’s going on in his brain.
As I add a generous amount of whipped cream to Daph’s cocoa, Lola moves behind me and clasps my shoulder. Before I can set the can down, she snatches it from my fingers.
“Hey, leave some for Daph,” I say. “She loves that shit.”
She gives me a thumbs-up with the bottle already turned upside down in the direction of her mouth, then presses on the plastic tip.
James finally glances up from his phone, his gaze hazy, like he just woke up from a fever dream. “Did you look Zoey up online?”
I frown. “No.” Should I have? The less time I spend on social media and company, the better. “Did you?”
