Chapter 27

Istirred when the knocking on my door grew too loud to ignore.

"What?"

The wood creaked open before the sound of paws across the floor filled my ears, and then a heavy body sank into the bed next to me. A warm, wet nose nuzzled into my face, so I buried my head under the pillow to avoid it. Damn, Max.

"You're actually home this morning?"

When I peeked my head out, Uncle Drew was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. I'd been spending more and more time at Chase's place over the last couple of weeks, so I couldn't blame him for being surprised.

"Yeah." I sat up and stretched, instantly regretting it as Max took the opportunity to slobber all over my face. I shoved the dog off of the bed before laughing. "I have an interview today, so we thought it was a good idea if I got some good rest beforehand."

Uncle Drew nodded before he headed down the hall. I climbed from the bed, grabbed a pair of sweatpants, and pulled them up my legs. I hadn't been the best with communicating with my uncle about not coming back to his place, but I'd been showing up for work daily. I should have been more grateful he'd let me stay with him at all.

When I got into the kitchen, Uncle Drew was pulling a loaf of bread from the drawer and throwing it on the counter. He looked at me before shrugging. "It would be nice to know when I need to feed you or not."

I absently scratched at my chest. My face heated as I nodded. "I'm sorry about that. I'll be better about letting you know when I'm not coming back."

Uncle Drew pulled butter and a bottle of orange juice from the fridge. Then he opened the bread bag and plopped a few pieces into the toaster. I sat at the island and watched him work. Something niggled in the back of my mind that he shouldn't be taking care of me at all. I was old enough to make my own meals, not some kid that needed looking after.

"Do you want me to help with breakfast?"

Uncle Drew paused. "I'm not stopping you, kid."

I got up off the stool and opened the fridge, pulling out the carton of eggs. The cabinet that held the pans was under the cutting board and I had to navigate it carefully so I didn't hit my head. Armed with a frying pan, I stood in front of the stove and cracked them open, watching them sizzle until we had some perfect sunny-side up eggs.

It wasn't the fanciest meal, but it felt good to help him out. My uncle wasn't moving the fastest this morning. His hands trembled slightly as he poured the juice into our glasses. The last thing I need was for anything to happen to him.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked as I scooped up some of my breakfast.

He looked up, startled for a moment. "I'm fine. Just been a little more tired lately."

I nodded and took a bite of my food. We settled back into quiet as we ate the rest of our meal. When we finished, we washed the dishes together before I went back to my room to take a quick shower and get ready for my interview today. If Ive learned anything since looking for a job, its that you should dress your best, no matter if its an interview over the phone or in person. I pulled out a pair of dress slacks and a nice polo shirt and got dressed. My hands shook slightly with my phone clutched tightly, waiting for it to ring.

The interview time came and went. I sat with bated breath and the call didn't come. My eyes watched the time on the display on my phone. Ten minutes passed, and then fifteen. I pulled up the email to verify that they said they were going to call me and that I wasn't supposed to have called them.

After thirty minutes had passed, I gave up hope. I'd given up a night with my boyfriend for this.

Boyfriend?

It was hard to be mad when that word settled into my chest. A smile spread across my face, but then dropped. Perhaps I was jumping to conclusions. Chase and I hadn't discussed an official title for what we were, but it truly felt like we were back there.

My phone went off with an incoming message. It slipped from my fingers in my haste to answer it, in case it was the company that was supposed to interview me. No such luck. It was only Joe. It wasn't fair, but since he'd been hanging around Aiden more, I was a little on edge.

"Hey, what's up, man?" I flopped back on my bed, blinking up at the ceiling as I pressed the phone to my ear.

Joe laughed before he answered me. "Not a lot. Just wanted to check on you. You doing okay trapped out there still?"

I chewed on my bottom lip. "Yeah. More than fine."

"Cool, man. There was this killer party the other night, and this girl Jessica was asking about you."

I rolled my eyes, because that was typical of Joe. "If you hadn't noticed..."

"You're tied to someone? I caught that. I shut her down. She actually didn't have much to say about you that was nice."

My heart sank as I sat back up in bed. "What do you mean?"

"It was more like she wanted to make sure you weren't there. She was still pretty pissed about being chased from your house by your mom."

I ran a hand down my face. Where the hell had I gotten that her name started with a "G?" Her name was Jessica?

My hand ran around to rub at my neck as I stared at the door as Max nosed his way in and trotted over. He rested his chin on my lap and I petted him behind the ears. "Honestly, she's sort of the reason I got sent out here."

Joe's laugh didn't make me feel any better. He was a good friend, but it felt more like he was making fun of me. "No shit? Your mom was that mad?"

"It's not like you live with your parents anymore."

Joe sighed. "I know, dude. You're trying. We're all trying. Not that it's any better living in my sister's basement. So much for living the dream after graduation, right?"

Considering that I'd just been stood up for another interview? Yeah, this sucked. Being an adult wasn't a walk in the park, and I wanted to go back to the simplicity of being a student. Responsibility was for the birds.

I itched to get Joe off the phone and call Chase. "Hey, Joe? I'm going to let you go."

You could practically hear his smile through the phone. "No biggie, man. Go get your dude. I'm probably going to go hang out with your bro."

Before I could object, the line disconnected. It sucked being stuck so far away that I couldn't do a damn thing about it.

I got up and changed out of my clothes for the interview, slipping on a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top. Uncle Drew was banging around with something in the back of the house, so I took Max with me and figured I would see what he was up to. As much as I wanted to see Chase, it was important to spend time with my family as well and not forget their existence.

"Hey, Uncle Drew."

He jumped, cursing as he dropped a hammer and peeked his head around a piece of scrap metal. "You need something, kid?"

I shrugged. "Not really. Just thought I'd see if you wanted to do something today instead of running off like I normally do."

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and when I pulled it out, it was a message from Chase. I was instantly conflicted, but I'd already decided that if my uncle wanted to do something, I'd spend the time with him.

"Why don't you do something with Chase? It's what you want to do." Uncle Drew studied me as I shoved the phone back in my pocket.

"I do want to spend time with him, but I haven't seen you much lately. So what do you say we take a drive or something?" When I was little, Uncle Drew would load me into his truck and we'd drive off into all the little ridiculously named towns that were close by. My favorite had been Humptulips and the river there was perfect for swimming. He must have had the same thought as a smile spread across his face and he set the hammer down.

"I could do with a drive. So could Max."

I nodded. "Perfect. Let me go grab some towels. Maybe we can find a swimming spot."

Once inside, I pulled my phone out and texted Chase about my plans with my uncle for the day. He seemed okay with the idea, but I still promised to come see him when I came back in the evening. I probably could have asked him to come with us, but it had been a long time since I had done something with just my uncle.

Uncle Drew and I loaded into the truck and headed out onto the road.