Page 16 of Crave Thy Neighbor

“Good grief. Is everyone getting laid except me?”

“Afraid so. I’d be more than happy to help find you someone to date. Or hook up with. Dating isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, you know.”

“Says the woman with the perfect boyfriend.”

She doesn’t bother hiding the lovesick smile on her face.

I glare at her. “Stop rubbing it in.”

“Sorry, not sorry.” She tosses her long, deep red hair over her shoulder. “Anyway, how’s my nephew doing?”

“Oddly enough, I’d just gotten off the phone with him when you arrived.”

“Oh crap. What’d the little shit do now? Burn the mac and cheese again?”

“No, thank god.” I shudder, still able to recall the smell of the burnt noodles. “But guess who didn’t show up again?”

She pulls a face. “Ugh, seriously?”

Patrick’s parenting style is similar to how he handled our marriage. He’s not a bad father, but he’s not the most attentive one either. Oftentimes his work gets priority over Sam, which is what happened tonight. He got a last-minute project from a client, has to fly out in the morning, and won’t be back until Wednesday.

I tell River this and she tsks. “Of course. Work first, offspring second.”

Part of me wants to laugh because River is as bad as Patrick when it comes to work sometimes.

Then again, she doesn’t have a child at home who needs her love and attention.

“Anyway, to make up for it, Patrick got some suite tickets to a hockey game. It’s Thursday and he wanted to check with me before he told his dadyesso my feelings weren’t hurt about him spending a day with his dad during my week.”

“Aww.” River clutches her chest. “Sometimes he can be so sweet.”

I grin, proud of the young man I’m raising.

I remember when I found out I was pregnant at sixteen. I still remember the way my hands shook as I held the pregnancy test, terrified of what the future held for me and my unborn baby.

Now, here I am thirteen years later, and I’m just as scared, just as worried about the future, only for different reasons.

“He can be. But I worry he’s going to think his dad is cooler than me because he can afford all the fun extra stuff.”

Although Patrick pays his fair share of child support, bills still stack up sometimes and I don’t always have the extra cash to throw into savings for those expenses that pop up out of nowhere…like being forced to move out of my apartment.

Plus, I’m more conservative with my money than Patrick is.

His family didn’t disown him when he got me pregnant. Mine did. I know what it’s like to lose that security blanket, and I don’t want that to ever happen again.

“Sam thinks you hung the moon,” she assures me. “You don’t have to worry about that at all.”

“Hehasto love me. I’m his mom and provide a roof over his head.”

“Speaking of…did you ever hear back on the apartment you had the lead on?”

I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, reminded of the email I got today.

My non-answer is answer enough, and the pity is back in River’s eyes. It’s the one thing I can’t stand, especially from her.

“Oh, Maya.” She blows out a heavy breath. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’ll figure it out.” I wave her off. “If I need to, I’ll call Patrick and he’ll help us out. I—”

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