Fighting Silence (On the Ropes #1)(28)

“Are you kidding me? You love them, and sometimes, that’s the hardest thing to get as a kid.”

His eyes grew warm with understanding.

“You would never leave them, so that security alone is better than whatever they had with her.”

“So, what do I do? I share a two-bedroom apartment. Scott’s cool when the boys stay on the weekends, but moving them in is a little different.”

“Till, he’s never there anymore. He spends every single night with Anna. If you didn’t have to help your mom with rent, you could afford to carry the whole apartment by yourself. Maybe bring it up to Scott. Who knows? He might be happy to get out from under the lease and move in with his girlfriend.”

He stared at me, nervously toying with his bottom lip. “Keep going,” he urged.

“Let Flint get a job.”

“No,” he answered firmly.

“Till, he could help out with some of the bills.”

“No,” he repeated.

“We were both working almost thirty hours a week when we were fifteen.”

“Yeah and I also didn’t graduate high school because of it. He makes straight A’s and actually enjoys it. He’s not getting a job. That’s the end of it.”

Suddenly, Flint’s voice came through the ceiling, joining the conversation. “What if I only work a few days a week or on the weekends? I promise I won’t let it mess with school.”

Till’s chin fell to his chest in defeat. “What if you stop eavesdropping and butt out of our conversation? Go watch TV or something.”

Then Quarry spoke up, making me bite my lip to restrain my laugh. “Can I just say, I like Eliza’s idea too. I’d way rather live with you than go back to Mom’s. I can’t believe she took my damn Xbox.”

“Quarry!” Till and I yelled in unison.

“Sorry. It slipped.”

“Go!” Till barked at the ceiling before looking back at me with exaggerated frustration.

“You can do this. I know you can.”

“Fuck,” he mumbled. “Won’t I have to do all kinds of custody stuff? I don’t have money for an attorney.”

“I wouldn’t even bother right now. She took off. Do you really think she’s going to show up tomorrow and fight for them? If, by some miracle, she suddenly decided to get her shit together and be a mom, that’s when we can worry about it. Just keep the boys in school and out of trouble and no one has to know they live with you. It won’t be long before Flint can move out if he wants to, and we’ll worry about Quarry if the time comes.”

He stared at me blankly and started rolling his bottom lip. “I’m really nervous about basically being a parent at twenty-one.”

“Well, would it help if I made twice-baked potatoes for dinner to help ease you into your new role?”

His eyes snapped to mine. “Don’t tease me, woman.”

“I just bought a whole bag of potatoes,” I playfully sing-songed.

“Damn it! Say yes!” Quarry yelled from upstairs.

Which was followed by Flint scolding him. “Really freaking smooth, Q.”

“What? I want those potatoes!” Quarry retorted, making me burst out laughing.

Till let out a huff and shook his head, but he stepped forward, pulling me into a hug. “Okay. You get the potatoes, and I’ll call Scott.”

“Score!” Quarry celebrated upstairs.

I understood, because wrapped in Till’s arms, I was celebrating too.

“Ehm.” He cleared his throat as I snuggled in even closer.

“Oh, right. Potatoes.”

“Just so you know, I’m going to need two. You know . . . fuel for my added duties and all.”

“Right. Of course.” I played along. “How about I just make all of them?”

“I like the way you think, Doodle. That is one sexy brain you are working with.”

My cheeks heated at his compliment. After one last squeeze, Till let me go and headed for the window.

“I’ll make burgers. Bring the potatoes up and make them at my place. Quarry would love to help,” He announced over his shoulder, causing Quarry to groan and stomp from Till’s room upstairs.





SCOTT WAS THRILLED WHEN I told him that I wanted to take over the apartment. His lease wasn’t up for another nine months, but he was planning to propose to Anna, so the timing really worked out for everyone. After hearing why I needed the apartment, he made me a killer deal on his bed and furniture. So by the end of the phone call, I had not only a room but also a bed for the boys and a dresser for them to store the trash bag full of clothes I had been able to recover from my mom’s.

Finally, something was going my way.

Two weeks later, everything was going as smoothly as possible. The boys were in school, Quarry seemed to be getting his shit together, and Eliza came over every night when she got off work to help with their homework. We were still counting pennies to pay the bills, but we were together. It had been well worth the sacrifice.

Flint was pissed when I put my foot down about him getting a job. So he decided to take it into his own hands and tattled to Slate, who, thankfully, took my back on the issue—kind of. He agreed that Flint needed to focus on school, but he also thought that it was Flint’s right to be able to contribute to our household. So Slate did what he always did for us—he fixed it.