Page 14 of Where You Belong

“Okay.” I smile, resting my head against the back of the booth. I soak in the few minutes, just the two of us, before they get here.

“I know you don’t know me, or any of us well, but I hope you know you’re not alone now. Not anymore. If you need anything, even if it’s a hand around the house or someone to spend time with when Huxton is away, I’ll always be here.”

My heart squeezes in my chest. As much as I want to believe him, I can’t shake the feeling that once he realizes the depth of my pain, it will be too much for him, and he’ll be long gone.

“You shouldn’t make promises you may not be able to keep.”

He narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head. “You’ve been let down in the past. I can see it, and I get it. Even if this never goes any further between us, I mean what I say. Give it time, though, and I’ll prove I’m not going anywhere.”

Chapter Five

Haelynn

As I sit on the front porch step, thinking about Corbin and our time together tonight, I spot Atlas’s Audi turning onto our street.

It dawns on me how this is only the second time I’ve been with Corbin, and I already have this giddy, excited flutter in my stomach. I never felt this way when I first started seeing Atlas.

Atlas opens the door and steps out, dressed in his black suit from his day in the office. It’s such a stark contrast between him and Corbin, making it hard to remember what I ever saw in him in the first place.

Despite all we’ve been through, I’d never take back the gift he gave me in Huxton. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

I jog down the steps and cut across the lawn as Atlas opens the back passenger door and Huxton climbs out.

“Hey, sweetie,” I grin. His eyes light up. “Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah, Dad took me to his work.”

I force a smile as agitation creeps up my neck.

“That’s good. I’m glad you had fun. Why don’t you go inside and get cleaned up. Your jammies are laid out for you on your bed. Get changed and I’ll be in to read to you, okay?”

The heat of Atlas’s stare burns into my skin. My anger simmers beneath the surface, causing my blood to boil.

He only had him for three hours tonight, and he couldn’t manage to stay away from the office for even one night. Did he honestly think this was spending time with his son?

Huxton takes off toward the house. Just when I turn back toward Atlas, Huxton stops in his tracks holding his stomach and says, “Can I have a bowl of cereal, Mom? I’m hungry.”

“Didn’t you feed him dinner?” I growl under my breath. Why is he asking for cereal at eight o’clock at night?

“We didn’t have time. It was only going to be a short stop, but I got held up.”

I shake my head, holding my hand up to stop him. I didn’t want to get into this with him right now in front of Huxton.

“Of course, sweetie. Go get your jammies on, and I’ll be inside in a few minutes to make you something to eat.”

Huxton nods. He spins around and runs up the front steps into the house.

“Are you kidding me?” I grit out.

His brows shoot up, and his lip curls in annoyance, glancing around him. I know he hates when I make a scene in a public place and not where he could properly put me in my place the way he’d like.

“Excuse me?” he spits out.

“You heard me. You haven’t seen him in almost two weeks. You take him for a few hours and can’t even manage to spend that time with him? Let me guess, you took him to your office and shoved him in one of those board rooms, gave him a bucket of toys you’ve had since he was two years old, and told him to play for a bit? I’m sorry being a father got in the way. You’ll have to save your trip to the strip club for tomorrow night.”

The words are out of my mouth before I have a chance to stop them.

We both know it’s the truth, although by the time I figured out what kept him out all night, I had lost all the energy to bother arguing with him.

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