Page 3 of Only You
Finally, the meeting wraps up, and I climb off the creaking plastic chair and head out to my truck, not really feeling all that great but somewhat settled. It’ll get me through for a couple of more days.
What does make me feel fantastic, though, is pulling up to the house where my best friend lives with his four younger siblings and his social worker. Kellan and I saved every penny we had to buy this house—he thought it would be both of ours, but I knew it would end up this way. Had planned on it from the very beginning. Although, I didn’t really see him falling in love with the social worker assigned to his case—but it all worked out for the best.
I don’t live here anymore, but it’s the closest thing to home I’ve ever experienced. I do, however, still ring the doorbell when I reach the front door, even though Kellan looks at me with annoyance when he pulls that door open. “Use your key.”
“Not my house,” I respond, and I receive a roll of his eyes in return. It only makes me chuckle as I step inside and close the door behind me. Kellan is already off to the kitchen, probably burning dinner if Phillip isn’t in there helping him, and I’m greeted by the youngest of the brood, Braylen, who runs up and jumps into my arms.
“Tatum!”
God, I love this kid. I didn’t really see that coming, but I swear, the day I met the Rhodes children, they felt like mine. A part of me. Family.
Maybe it was because I’d heard so much about them from Kellan, I’m not really sure. I never really wasted any time on the why. It didn’t matter. They were just my family, and I was there to do everything I could to make sure they were safe. Always.
“Hey, kiddo.” I give him a little squeeze as he pulls back to look at me, his big blue eyes wide. “Climb any trees today?”
“Only two,” he says, laughing, and then wiggles out of my arms and drops down on the floor. “Wanna see?”
“Maybe later,” I laugh, sort of a little over the trauma of seeing him fall out of the tree when I was watching him last year. His shrill cry still haunts my dreams sometimes—though he was fine after a couple of stitches. You can’t hold Braylen down. That kid is a ball of energy.
He rushes off, and I find the two oldest, Raegan and Cason, sitting on the couch, messing around on their phones and ignoring the blaring television right in front of them.Teenagers.
“Where’s Kieran? Reading?” I answer my own question, but Cason supplies a quick affirmative grunt, not even looking up from his phone.
Raegan is lost in her own world and doesn’t really acknowledge me. It all feels very... normal. Which makes me smile because never in my younger years did I think I’d have this sort of normalcy in my life.
Phillip walks out of the kitchen, his hands on his hips, looking like he really wants to be perturbed, but he’s looking at the kids with way too much fondness to pull it off. “I thought I asked you two to set the table.”
I wait to see what they’re going to do. They are by far the moodiest of the family at the moment—both easy to set off, but the respect they have for Phillip is pretty clear when they only grumble a little bit and both get up to do what was asked of them.
Phillip’s warms smile falls on me, and it’s only mildly unsettling nowadays. “Hey, Tatum. Hungry?”
“Fucking starving,” I answer, standing from my seat.
“Good. You can help make the salad.” He turns and heads into the kitchen, not expecting an argument, and he doesn’t get one.Fucker.
I’m six foot six, heavily muscled, and covered in tattoos. When most people look at me, there’s at least a little flicker of fear—but not with Phillip. Not even one ounce of terror in his much smaller body. I have to admire that.
I follow him into the kitchen and get to work on the rabbit food he insists on including with every meal—and we all choke it down because there’s just something about Phillip. It’s like none of us want to disappoint him.
We finish dinner and all gather at the table, the kids talking about their first day of school. Kieran is thrilled to have a teacher who in her intro-spiel stated she’s an avid bookworm. Cason mostly just grunts when asked about his day. Braylen talks for a really long time—mostly about recess.
“I have art class for fifth period, so I’m happy,” Raegan says as she takes a small bite of lasagna. I’m still keeping an eye on how much the kid eats—despite the warning from both Phillip and Kellan not to say anything. But the kid is scrawny—though she has put on a little bit of weight. They both assure me nothing good can come from pointing that out.
“That’s great, Raegan,” Phillip says with a smile. “Are you still going to do art club this year?”
“Yes?” It sounds like a question, her eyes on Phillip and Kellan, who are sitting right next to each other at the table as usual.
Kellan grins and then nudges his boyfriend. “I’m guessing you’re going to be scheduling around them?”
Philip doesn’t even take a second to nod, proudly holding his head high. He was the one who picked Raegan up from art club all last year, when he was just the social worker. It wasn’t part of his job description, but it was clear from the start—just like me—that these kids had him in a chokehold. He’d do anything for them. And that’s why I knew I could trust him pretty early on, despite his occupation. “Of course I will. I like seeing that smile on Raegan’s cute little face when I pick her up.”
Her darkly outlined eyes roll, but she can’t hide the smirk when she takes another bite. Art has been really good for her, and if Phillip couldn’t pick her up this year, you can bet your ass either Kellan or I would have worked it out with our own work schedules to make sure she could attend.
But something seems off with Cason tonight. It’s not really that he’s quiet—he’s normally fairly quiet—but there’re no snotty quips or sarcastic comments during any of the conversation. There’s no playful banter coming from the oldest kid at all, and that’s just not like him. I swear sarcasm and cattiness are Cason’s love language, and the fact that he’s been silent at dinner has my hackles raised.
I nudge him with my elbow, keeping my voice low. “You wanna go to the gym after dinner? I was thinking about going to the batting cages, but it’s still hot as balls, and no, thank you.”
That finally gets a little reaction from him in the form of a smirk. “Sure.”
