Page 148 of The Single Dad

“I need you to keep an eye on Dino,” I say seriously. “He’s a really good friend of mine, and I’ve known him for a long time, and he has a bad habit of getting himself into trouble. Can you make sure to watch out for him?”

He’s silent for a few seconds, but then he nods, even though tears are streaming down his face.

“Thank you, Archie,” I say, giving him a hug. He leans into me, and when I stand up, he starts crying again, harder than ever.

“Don’t leave,” he pleads.

“I have something for you,” I say, trying to stop the flood of tears. “Here, look—” I pull out my phone, swiping through my pictures until I get to the snapshot I took of my betta fish painting. I show him the screen, and he blinks rapidly, wiping his eyes.

“What is it?”

“This is downstairs,” I tell him. “A little piece of art, from me to you. It’s Swimmy. What do you think?”

Archie sniffles, then says, “It looks just like Swimmy.”

“Glad you like it.” I ruffle his hair. “That’ll always be there, for you to remember me by. Okay?”

I straighten, and Archie burrows his head into the blankets, still crying. Before the pang in my chest can get any worse, I leave the room in a hurry.

Saying goodbye to Archie was harder than I thought it would be, and the worst part is that I don’t even think I did a good job.

In fact, it might have been impossible to do a good job. What could I say to him that would make this okay? He’s just a little kid. He’ll never understand why this happened.

I stop in my bedroom, throwing enough supplies for a few days into a backpack and slinging it over my shoulder. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be packing up the entire room, but I figure that Cole will tell me when I go back downstairs.

If I go back downstairs. I hesitate at the top step, wondering if I’m strong enough to face him again.

Unfortunately, I have no choice. I descend, and Cole is waiting for me in the foyer when I appear. His gaze scans me, taking in the red-rimmed eyes and the backpack over my shoulder. His jaw is tight, his expression impossible to read.

He gives me a short nod. “I’ll have your belongings brought back to your apartment.”

I can’t bring myself to speak to him, or even look him in the eye. For the first time, I let myself be a little bit unprofessional—a little bit petty.

Without acknowledging him further, I leave the house.

* * *

“I don’t know why you’re being so reasonable about this. If it was me, I’d have gone back over there and keyed his fucking car by now—my god!”

Olivia and I sit on the floor in the center of my mostly-empty apartment. All of my belongings have been returned, as Cole promised they would be, but we haven’t unpacked anything yet.

As soon as she was free from the confines of her work day, Olivia rushed over here to comfort me with a bottle of wine. She offered to help me unpack, but I haven’t been able to stomach the task yet. It’s all I can do just to keep myself together.

I don’t touch the wine, either. The last thing I need is to get drunk and, god forbid, text him. I need to heal a little bit before I let myself relax, because right now, I’m on the precipice of making a mistake.

I sniff, shaking my head. “That was our agreement,” I explain thickly. “We agreed it wouldn’t interfere with my work, and…”

“And it didn’t,” Olivia interrupts, scandalized. “Are you kidding me? We both know it didn’t. He’s overreacting to a regular situation and being a complete dick.”

“Maybe.” I swallow hard. “Or maybe I was too distracted.”

“No way,” Olivia insists. “Accidents happen, and it wasn’t anyone’s fault that Archie fell. It’s wrong of him to blame it entirely on you.” She folds her arms with a huff. “If you ask me, he’s just using it as an excuse.”

I bite my lip, staring at the bare floor. We’ve been allegedly unpacking these boxes for hours, and we’ve just barely broken the tape seal on one of them. This is going to take ages at this rate.

“The thing is, it doesn’t matter,” I mutter. “This was what we agreed to. We said it wouldn’t be anything serious, and that either of us could end it at any time. So… he ended it.” I shrug listlessly, as if I can’t muster the energy to care.

Olivia’s eyes widen. “Okay, well, that’s bullshit.”

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