Page 61 of Surviving the Break
“Like you like me.”
I chuckled. “Because I do.” And because he was worth more than that, I gave him more. “I was thinking you deserve to have someone tell you sweet nothings. I was thinking you deserve true love.”
“So, give it to me,” he whispered.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life trying,” I promised.
WE STOPPEDat the strip mall a couple miles from the farm. Ash needed some essentials to get him through the next however many days we would be there. “This is our only option, huh?” He circled in place, nauseated from the sparse choices on the racks.
“I’m sorry,” I said, coughing to cover my laugh, “but you won’t find Hugo Boss jeans here.” I held up a pair of acid-wash denims. “These Wranglers look about your size, though.”
“I’m going to make you regret poking fun at me.”
“I’m counting on it.”
“All right, let’s split up. I’m in charge of the clothing”—he snatched the jeans from me and threw them back on top of the pile— “and you gather some underwear, a toothbrush, things of that nature. I need to get out of here. This place is making me itch.”
I grabbed a buggy and went to the other side of the bargain-style store.
I’d just settled into the toiletries aisle when my name was called, and I nearly fumbled the bottle of shaving cream in my hand.
“Max?” Hayden said disbelievingly. “Is that really you?”
I braced myself, taking several controlled breaths before pivoting in his direction. While hearing Hayden’s voice raised gooseflesh along my arms, and caused dark spots to float across my vision, and made my gut feel like it’d hit the basement floor, his face wasn’t the one that caused time to freeze.Jeremiah.
Hayden held him in his arms as he walked farther into the aisle. Closer to me. I stalled by placing the can of shaving cream neatly onto the shelf. Label forward. “Hayden.” That was all I’d managed. Jeremiah was an exact replica of his father. Blond hair and hazel eyes framed by light lashes.
I grew weaker the closer they got as the blood rushed through my body to pool at my feet. I thought they’d never stop, like they planned to walk right through me.
“When did you get here?” He looked happy to see me. Too happy.
Get your shit together, Max.“Ah...a...couple weeks—I mean, days. A couple days ago.” I didn’t even have on my good jeans.
“Well, you look good,” he said, bouncing a fussy Jeremiah.
“Thank you.”
“Max!” Ash yelled from the next row over. Shit.
“Yeah,” I shouted back, keeping my eyes on Hayden’s curious ones.
“I found a super-sized bottle of lube—” Ash trailed off as he came around the corner. At first embarrassed that his outburst had been overheard by a stranger, until he saw Jeremiah and put two and two together.
“Ash.” I searched for my words. “Ash, this is Hayden. Hayden, this is Ashton.” Belatedly, I added, “My boyfriend.”
Hayden shifted Jeremiah to his other hip, then reached out a hand to Ash. “Nice to meet you, Ash, or do you prefer Ashton?”
Ash let Hayden’s hand hang there. “Dr. Jackson works just fine.”
Hayden dropped his hand. “Okay.” The moment was fraught with tension and unsaid things on everyone’s part.
“Dad-dy, dad-dy.” Jeremiah leaned in my direction with his arms extended, his cherubic fingers pulsing in and out. Hayden pulled him back; his own face reddened in embarrassment, and my soul cried. I placed a hand on the shelf next to me, the one with the shaving creams, and no one made a move when a few of the cans went tumbling to the ground. Then the whole shelf tipped back, knocking into the one in the aisle adjacent to ours. A domino effect started, and every single shelving unit went toppling down. People were crushed. Red alarms began flashing and wailing. Glass shattered in the distance. An employee shouted for help on the overhead speaker system.
I lurched back to reality at the sound of Ash calling my name. The shelves were all in place; a happy couple perused the body lotion at the end of our aisle. Elevator music played through the store. And Ash watched me.
“Sorry,” Hayden said, with a nervous laugh. “It’s one of the only words he knows. He calls everyone Daddy.”
I cleared my throat. “We should get going. Do you have everything you need?” I asked Ash.
