Page 61 of Rent Free

Forest was coming home to my house, with his father.

His father that he liked but was still kind of wary of.

He loved Pepper, though.

Not that I’d seen that in real life.

I’d seen it in videos that Maven had shared with me.

She’d gone out of her way to avoid me this last week.

Not that I blamed her.

I’d used her.

I’d been so caught up with wanting to feel anything but rage, pain, and frustration that I’d taken advantage of Pepper, and I owed her an apology.

The only problem was I couldn’t get her to stop long enough for me to do that.

“Where ya goin’ first?” the social worker, Nancy, asked.

I looked from the sandals I was putting on my little boy to Nancy.

“Well,” I said, “I need to run to the store and get some necessities. I got the diapers, and wipes, and big stuff like a car seat and a bed. My family helped me out with the clothes. But I need some snacks and stuff like that. Groceries. Or we’re gonna be heading to the closest fast-food joint for dinner.”

Nancy grinned. “Just sayin’, but chicken nuggets are a hit with my grandson.”

“I think chicken nuggets are a hit with anyone,” I pointed out, offering her my hand.

She took it, shook it softly, then said, “If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.”

I got down on my haunches and spoke to Forest.

“Are you ready to go home?” I asked.

His eyes widened, and the beautiful brown eyes so much like my own started to well with tears.

“No go home.” He shook his head furiously.

I patted his leg. “Not your old home, buddy. Your new home. My place.”

He tilted his head.

“I can stop by the bakery, too. We can go see Pepper.”

His eyes lit up. “Peppa?”

God, this kid was fucking cute.

I hated that I’d had help making him with the woman who was now trying to turn my life into a living hell.

In the past week, Emory had been released from jail.

What she had not gotten back was custody of Forest.

She’d tried.

She’d tried hella hard, actually. Much harder than I’d expected considering she’d left her own kid in the car… on purpose.

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