Page 34 of 23 Hours

Staring at his lap, Adam bobs his head along as if he heard everything but can’t speak.

“There is no you and your mom anymore. There’s us… Me, you, and your mom.”

More bobbing and a tug at the hem of his sweatshirt.

“You gonna let that happen?”

A single-shoulder half-shrug.

“Mom says you got about a month left.”

A firm nod.

“I gotta leave on a run with my club this week, but I’ll be back by the time you get out. Can we agree you won’t kick me outta your life ‘til you’ve gotten to know me enough to decide that?”

Truth? I wouldn’t let him do that anyhow. I can be a stubborn asshole when provoked.

Adam’s head snaps up in panic, redness rimming his eyes, his bottom lip chewed half raw. “I’m not… That’s not…”

I infuse gentleness into my tone to calm him down. “It’s cool. We’re good. Everything’s good, Adam. We’ll grab a beer and hang wherever you want.”

“Sure.”

A loud buzzer signals we’ve got a minute to wrap up goodbyes and my stomach turns over at the thought of leaving him. We didn’t get enough time. No wonder Kit hates coming here.

I tap on the glass a second time. “Keep your nose clean in the meantime, yeah?”

A round of absentminded nodding ensues. “I will.”

“Good man.” Flattening my palm against the glass, I get up from the stool, unable to handle saying bye to my kid, not like this. Without a backward glance, I hand the phone to Kit and exit the area. There’s no way I can watch him walk back into jail.

Needing the space to process shit, I weave through the benches and people waiting to see their family and hightail it outside where I can breathe easier. I cross the road, open the tailgate of my truck, and sit on it with my legs hanging over the edge.

I can’t believe I’m a father.

A real father.

I have a kid who looks like me.

And I just fucking met him.

Not five minutes later, Kit joins me. She lays my keys, phone, and suckers beside my hip. Greedy for a fix, I rip open a Dum Dum and practically inhale it.

“That was a lot, wasn’t it?” she prompts, swaying back and forth, hands clasped behind her back.

I shrug, not wanting to put my crap on her. “Yes and no.”

“Well… what did you… You know?” She rocks back on her heels, a nervous gesture.

“He’s mine. I’m gonna be there for him. He doesn’t think I should be. I don’t think he thinks he deserves it. It pisses me off that your ex did that to him. Parents have a way of doing numbers on us whether they mean to or not. Your ex, he screwed with Adam’s head.”

Kit blinks in surprise. “He talked about that?”

“He was trying to convince me to walk away.”

“And you’re not,” Kit tests, as if she’s got something to worry about.

“Not a chance.” I’d have to be good and dead before anyone could keep me from my kid, or Bink, or Leech, or my brothers. Even her.

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