Page 67 of Second First Kiss

“No way, kiddo. Cutting things off has been one of the hardest things in my life.”

“Then why?”

Nolan patted the patch of step next to him and let out a breath when Tommy claimed it. “It’s complicated.”

“That’s what adults say when they don’t want to admit that they screwed up.”

“You’re right. I screwed up. When you mom met your dad?—”

“Stepdad.”

“When your mom met your stepdad, she thought it would be better if I disappeared so that it could give you and your stepdad time to bond.”

Tommy looked at the toes of his Converse. “Well, she isn’t the boss of you. You could have told her no.”

“No. I couldn’t. Legally, I have no rights to demand anything from your mom. What she says goes and I need to respect that.”

“How about your promise to me that you’d be my navigation partner for my Search and Rescue badge? You didn’t respect that.”

Nolan ran a hand down his face. “No. I didn’t. You’re right. I figured that you’d want to partner with your stepdad.”

Tommy mumbled, “Like that would happen.” And Nolan started to form a picture of what his homelife must be like and it rubbed him wrong.

“I heard you have a new sister.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. But babies are a lot of work,” he added in a mature way that had to come from repeating what he’d overheard or been told by an adult.

“I was the middle kid in my family, which meant that my parents had their hands full with my other two siblings. Then Jax and Lucas came along and there was nowhere for me. Or so I thought. But deep down I knew my parents loved me just as much, they were just putting their limited energy into who needed it most. I was so self-sufficient I didn’t get much of the attention.”

And even though he understood, it still hurt. He’d never told anyone in the family how he’d felt. That would go against his lone wolf method of living. It reminded him of another lone wolf and how stubborn she was to accept help. The difference between them was that Nolan’s family was constantly offering to help and Kat was really in it alone.

Was this how she’d felt as a kid? Like Tommy? With a family who was too busy to meet her needs? No, he thought. Kat’s life had been a hell of a lot worse than a neglectful stepdad and tired mother. From the sounds of it, she’d had her grandpa for some of the time, then she was on her own. Now she was still on her own, but with Tessa depending on her.

“But that changed when I got older.”

Tommy side-eyed him. “How?”

“I finally started asking for help.”

“But what if you ask and they still don’t listen?”

Nolan nudged Tommy’s shoulder with his own. “Then you keep asking until you find someone who will.”

Tommy took a gulp of air and let it out in a rush. Still looking at the ground, he said, “What if I asked you for help?”

Nolan’s chest cracked in two. He hadn’t meant himself, but if he didn’t step in and try to do something for Tommy, he’d just be another person in the kid’s life who ignored him when he was crying out to be seen.

Nolan had a way with words. Could talk a man with a gun into surrendering. There was no reason he couldn’t convince Nina to let him back into Tommy’s life. And he wouldn’t stop asking and pushing until she did.

“What do you need?”

Tommy’s head flew up. “Seriously?”

“Will it stop you from vandalizing my property?” he joked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Will you be my navigation partner?”

Nolan yanked the kid’s hoodie off his head and smiled. “As long as I get a hug out of it.”

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