27. Katie

CHAPTER 27

Katie

“ A re you ready to go?” I yell up the stairs.

“Almost!” Cody’s muffled voice calls back. We’re going to be late to meet Bryce, but I don’t particularly care at this point. The past few weeks since my birthday have flown by in a whirl of activities and general life busyness.

Nolan found a science club at Westlake’s library that he thought Cody would be interested in attending. Since it’s an after-school program, Nolan has been able to take Cody before he has to be at O’Malley’s for the evening.

The first night the group met, the two of them came back with bright expressions on their faces, talking a mile a minute about what they learned.

It was the cutest thing to see Nolan as lit up as Cody. After we put Cody to bed, Nolan told me more about the club. They teach the kids about different subjects using interactive experiments to help them grasp the more difficult concepts. Nolan said he’d wished they had something like that when he was a kid because it would’ve made learning a whole lot easier for him. I think Nolan gets more excited to go than Cody, which is saying something because Cody loves it .

It was weird being at home by myself for a couple of hours, but after the first night, I’ve come to enjoy the time alone. I thought it would be weird letting Nolan take Cody somewhere by themselves, but it feels like a natural thing now. They’ve become two peas in a pod. They tease and joke together, usually at my expense. Nolan has also brought out a silly side of Cody I’ve never seen before. A part of me feels guilty because I was never able to give that to Cody, but the rest of me is just happy he’s getting a chance to learn more about himself. Nolan’s been good for both of us, which is something I never expected.

“Okay, I think I’m ready.” Cody trudges into the kitchen. He’s gotten more and more resigned about having to spend time with Bryce. I don’t know what to do about it either. I’m frightened that if I say no, Bryce will make good on his threats. On the flip side, I can’t see how this is good for Cody anymore. Bryce and Cody have nothing in common. Every single visit has only gotten more awkward. This one might be the worst.

Bryce asked to play football with Cody today. We’re meeting him at the rec center in town, where there are a couple of public parks to use. I have no idea what it will entail exactly, but if it’s anything aggressive, I’ll be putting my foot down.

We load up in the car. Cody is abnormally quiet, and my stomach just continues to knot. My phone rings through the Bluetooth speaker with Nolan’s name on the screen.

“Hey, there,” I answer.

“Hi, mama. You guys in the car?”

“Yeah, we’re going to meet Bryce,” Cody pipes up. He still hasn’t called Bryce ‘dad,’ and I can tell that it’s bothering Bryce. He’s told Cody multiple times now that he can.

“I wish I could be there. Working on Saturdays is for the birds,” Nolan whines. Cody’s giggles fill the car. Love for Nolan pulses through me. I’m not surprised he called. He knew Cody wasn’t super excited about spending time with Bryce today. Nolan made it clear how much he dislikes Bryce and doesn’t trust him. I agree with him, but I still have no clue what to do about it.

I still haven’t told Nolan I love him. I’m too chicken to say the words out loud. I’m scared that the second I do, the other shoe is going to drop, and everything will fall apart. Things just feel too good to be true right now. I wish I could get over my anxious thoughts, but that’s easier said than done.

“What else are you guys going to do today?” Nolan asks.

“I was thinking we might take a trip to the hardware store to get some materials to work on the rec room.”

Cody gasps. “Really? What are we going to get?”

“I don’t know. We’ll need to pick out some paint colors first. Then we’ll have to make some plans.”

“I love picking paint chips!” Cody exclaims.

“Maybe I could meet you guys over there. I won’t be home for a while tonight, but I could take a little break this afternoon,” Nolan offers.

“Yes!” Cody answers for us.

“That would be great. I can let you know when we head that way,” I say.

“Perfect. Can’t wait to see you both.”

I hang up the phone as I pull into the parking lot of the park. Bryce is waiting at the entrance of the park, a black duffle bag sitting at his feet.

I turn in my seat to face the back. “I’ll give you the look after an hour. If you’re ready to go, I’ll make our excuses, okay?”

Cody nods, and we get out of the car. I take a fortifying breath as we walk up to Bryce. His smile is wide, but for the first time since we’ve started seeing each other again, it doesn’t meet his eyes. His body is tight with tension, and he scans the park three different times as we walk to the field.

Something is up with him. I’ve thought that from the beginning, but that look was proof I’m not blinded by my history with him. Now I just have to figure out what it is.

I laugh under my breath at Cody’s acting. He pretends to die at the hand of the boy he just met at the playground. They both fall into a fit of giggles before switching sides. I have no idea what version of good guy versus bad guy they’re imagining, but they seem to be having a blast doing it.

“He’s a dramatic little thing, isn’t he?” Bryce’s condescension makes me grit my teeth.

“It’s pretty normal for kids his age,” I respond, trying to keep my voice even. Bryce and Cody only made it half an hour of throwing the football around. No matter how hard Bryce tried to teach him, Cody just could not grasp the concept. As his mom, I knew he wasn’t paying a lick of attention to the things Bryce was saying. Cody couldn’t have cared less about learning to throw a ball.

Granted, if Nolan had been the one teaching him, I guarantee Cody would’ve put his full effort into learning.

Bryce finally gave up after he started to get frustrated. Cody just looked up at him with the most innocent expression, and Bryce folded. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. It got worse when Bryce turned his back on Cody to put away the equipment he brought, and Cody gave me a cocky smirk. He knew exactly what he was doing by giving Bryce that expression.

“Hmm,” Bryce hums. He turns his body to face me. “You look gorgeous today, Katherine. It’s a little hard to believe you’ve had a baby. You look exactly the same as you did in college.”

My eyes strain with the effort of holding back an eye roll. Instead, I just raise an eyebrow at Bryce.

He laughs. “Still a ball buster, I see. I always liked that about you. What do you say we go out tonight? I’m sure there’s someone who could take Cody off your hands for the night.”

I frown at Bryce. Is he serious? Jesus Christ… Yes. He is serious. “Look, I’m letting you see Cody because I want him to know who his dad is. Not to mention the threats you seemed to enjoy throwing my way if I refused. There’s no chance in hell I’d ever go out with you again. Even if I was single.”

“Who the fuck are you dating?” His face pinches with anger, and something in my gut warns me to tread carefully.

“Why does it matter to you?” Shit… not exactly careful.

“It matters because I should get a say in who spends time with my son.”

My jaw drops. “You can’t be serious. You haven’t been a father to Cody for almost nine years. A few visits do not give you the right to have an opinion on our lives.” I turn away to call for Cody, and Bryce grabs my arm.

“Don’t you turn your back on me.”

“Let go of me,” I growl through my clenched teeth.

Bryce narrows his eyes as he pulls me closer. “What are you going to do about it?”

I strike out with quick force. My arm twists to break his hold, and my hand snaps out to hit him in his throat.

He doubles over with a cough. “You bitch.”

“I asked you to let me go. If you even think about pressing charges, I will be taking pictures of my arm that will have bruises. I don’t give a shit how much money you have. I will drag you through the mud.” I turn away to find Cody watching me. His eyes are wide with worry, and I hurry to reassure him.

“I’m okay. I’m sorry you had to see that. Are you ready to leave?”

Cody nods and takes my hand to walk to the parking lot. When we get in the car, I sit in silence for a moment to collect my bearings.

“What happened, Mom?”

“Bryce wasn’t very happy to hear I’m dating Nolan. He grabbed my arm, and when I asked him to let go, he didn’t. It wasn’t okay to physically hurt him, Cody. I shouldn’t have done that, but I panicked. It was purely a reaction to him grabbing me.”

“Am I going to have to spend time with him again?”

“No, baby. If you don’t want to see him again, you won’t have to. I don’t care what he says about it.”

“Okay. I don’t want to see him again. I don’t want him to hurt me, too.”

Fuck, what have I done?

I knew this was a bad idea from the beginning. I knew that allowing Bryce into our lives would end in disaster, but I couldn’t risk losing Cody. Now I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Bryce out of our lives for good.