Page 30 of Can't Get Over You
He nodded, a little overwhelmed. Because a whole human was being buckled into the back seat, and he didn’t have a clue how to make this turn of events easier for the boy. Well, for either of them, frankly.
“You know how they say kids are adaptable?” she asked. “Well, Cody’s had way more than his share of upheaval. But this is good. He’ll get to be around your family. He’ll have his first real Christmas.” She raised her voice. “You two are going to have so much fun together.”
When she turned to smile at the boy, Jude noticed her arm was stretched behind her.
They were holding hands. Her natural instinct was to comfort the boy, while he was thinking about himself. Not that Cody was an inconvenience, but more that he wouldn’t know what he was doing.
He had to stop that.If you do this, you have to think of what’s best for him. All the damn time.
“But what about your job?” she asked. “Can you take this much time off?”
He shrugged. “I mean, it sucks. They’re not going to be happy with me for bailing during a busy season, but they’ll function without me. Like you said, he’s the priority.” He glanced in the rearview mirror to see Cody watching out the window and talking to himself.
“What if you get fired?”
“I’m a bartender. I can get a job anywhere.”
“Like Wild Billy’s?” She smiled. “Your dad’ll love that.”
“Yeah. His bar’s crazy any time of year, but during ski season, it’s out of control. He can always use the help.” He lowered his voice even more. “You mentioned kids being ready for kindergarten. How’s he doing?”
“Why?” She arched a brow. “Are you going to be with him more than six weeks?”
The idea sent a jolt through him because the possibility seemed both inevitable and impossible at the same time. “Just curious. Seems like the more I know, the better I can help.”
“See? A guy who’s not cut out for this role wouldn’t have asked that question.” She leaned a little closer. “To be honest, he’s behind with literacy and numeracy, but that’s not a problem at this age. It’s easy for them to catch up. Really, he just needs someone to talk to him. Like, you know, count jellybeans, point out colors, read books…talk about animals. Just expose him to things and use it all as a learning experience.”
“I can do that. And what about his behavior?”
“I’m not his teacher, but from what I understand, he mostly keeps to himself. He’s quiet. I don’t think he’s suited for the, uh, unstructured environment of a bike club.”
“I was like that.” He kept his focus on the road. Probably shouldn’t have brought it up.
“What do you mean?” She leaned in again, and this time, he glanced over and couldn’t miss the swell of her breasts in that tight T-shirt. “I thought you loved it there.”
“Not even a little. Why would you think that?”
“Because you only hung out with your biker friends. You pretty much ignored everyone else.”
“No one else wanted to be my friend.” He’d never talked to anyone about his childhood, so hearing it out loud made him anxious. Why change her view of him?
“Huh. That’s not how it looked from my perspective. I mean, the guys tried to copy you, and the girls wanted to date you. It seemed like you were living your best life and couldn’t be bothered with kids your own age.”
“Not the case at all. I was constantly getting into trouble, letting my dad down. I couldn’t pull my head out of my ass.”
“That’s so funny to hear because you had so much attitude. You’d laugh when you got in trouble in class.”
“I’m sure I did. But honestly, it was embarrassing to be tagged as the pothead or the loser. It didn’t feel good.”
“I had no idea. Couldn’t you have changed all that if you’d played football or run for class president or something? You know what I mean? If you’d joined a club or a sport, maybe you’d have made friends that way.”
His fingers clenched the wheel. “Those weren’t possibilities for me.”
“You’re blowing my mind right now. I thought you hated the jocks and student council geeks.”
“I hated them for the way they treated me when I was a kid. Like in third grade, when Joey Gillespie invited the whole class to his party—except me.”
“Jude.” Her voice got all soft.
