Page 112 of No Place Like Home

“No reason,” I said, not feeling like telling them the whole story over the phone.

“I mean, we all do it, don’t we?” she said. “It’s easier to keep going than to stop and analyze the things that hurt us.”

But I didn’t hurt her.

I also didn’t say this.

“I’ll catch you later,” I told them.

“That’s it, bro?” Gav asked. “How’s the production going? Are you ready for when practices start?”

Of course they knew. Thanks to Scarlett’s brother, I had a new job. If you had asked me this before stepping foot into Sunny Pines, I would have told you I was excited, but now I had a shit ton to do, and more than ever, I regretted leaving.

I knew this was my hometown and I always ended up here, but shit, each time I came, the dread of leaving got more intense.

“Yeah, I guess,” I replied, still thinking of everything else.

There was silence on the other end, then what sounded like a door closing.

“What the hell is going on, Q? You can count on me.”

I knew that.

“Come on, bro, after all, we've been through?” he continued.

“She lied to me,” I admitted.

He didn’t question the she in this scenario. Even if there had been countless faceless women in my life, there was only one who made a difference at the end of the day, and he knew it.

“Maybe she had a good reason?”

“Arent you supposed to be on my side?” I sat on the edge of the bed.

“You aren’t looking for someone to be on your side. You’re looking for someone to see the bigger picture because right now, you can't fucking do that.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t agree with him aloud.

“Look, man. Listen first, judge later,” he told me.

Before he could say more, his child called him “Daddy.”

It hit me harder than I realized. And no matter how much listening I was supposed to be doing, I knew that I would hate her for this. Did she not think I would make a good father?

“Later, man,” I said and hung up before he could reply.

I’d left this house after she walked away because I could see her everywhere. I went to my room, and I could fucking smell her. I wanted to get away and forget everything.

She didn’t want me, and I wanted to forget this feeling ever existed.

Throwing my phone to the side, I lay on the bed. All I could think about was the last time I was here with her and how I’d felt at peace for the first time ever. It had just felt…right.

* * *

I was up earlyin the morning. I needed to get out of the house to do something. Because otherwise, I would end up right at her house, and it wasn’t what that little girl needed.

Simba was the first one out of the room when I opened the door. I walked out of the house before Leo could tell me shit. Simba peed and happily followed me. I walked the path that the neighbors had agreed on.

This section was full of private residences. And rich people loved exclusivity, so this walkway worked for us all.

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