AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This is a special day. You guys deserve to splurge a little,” I tell him.
Katie bites her lip, worry flashing in her eyes for half a second before she smiles at Cody. I’m not sure what that was about, but I hope to God I can help ease that worry in some way.
“Okay, you two. I’m dying over here. How did lunch go?”
Katie inhales like she’s about to say something, but Cody starts talking before she can. “It was fine. I was too nervous to get a big kid meal, so I ordered chicken nuggets and fries. I only ate half of them.”
“I can understand that,” I respond.
“Bryce is…” Cody looks up at the ceiling, tilting his head to the side as he thinks. “Kinda stuffy.”
I furrow my eyebrows at Katie, humor tilting the corner of my mouth. She’s biting her lip to keep from laughing.
“He was wearing a tie and one of those fancy coat things. He kept asking me if I played sports or was interested in sports, and even when I told him no, he said he’d teach me all about them.” He shrugs. “I don’t know. It was weird. He was nice, though, I guess.”
I suppose that answers that question. I’m glad he wasn’t mean to them or anything.
“He also kept looking at Mom weird.”
“Weird how?” I ask him, looking at Katie. She shakes her head as if she has no clue what he’s talking about.
“Kinda like you look at Mom sometimes, but different. You always look happy; he looked weird.”
Ah. He was attracted to her. I open my mouth to say something in response and then close it again when nothing comes out. Katie is beautiful. There’s no doubt about that. I can understand why he’d still want her. What I want to say is that Katie is mine and no one else gets to have her, but I don’t think that’s appropriate to say to her son. I decide a change of subject would be best at this point. “How many curse words did your mom say?”
Cody grins. “None. She did good.”
“I’m so glad you think so.” Katie rolls her eyes.
Our food arrives by the plate full, and Cody’s eyes widen at the display. Katie’s gaze flashes to mine when she realizes that I ordered her a Hawaiian pizza.
“This is awesome!” Cody gushes. He reaches out for a cheesy breadstick and chomps down on it, content as can be. “Even if we have to sit by Mom while she eats her gross pizza.”
“We’ll never be able to eat all of this.” Katie shakes her head. She picks up a piece of her pizza and closes her eyes as she takes a bite. I grab a slice for myself so I’ll stop perving out on her while she eats.
“I figured we could take the leftovers home to snack on this weekend.”
“Leftover pizza is the best,” Cody says through a mouthful of food.
“Right?” I agree. We listen to Cody chatter as we eat. He’s more entertaining than any TV show I’ve seen. I surprised him the most when I told him I liked to do yoga. He didn’t believe me at first, but Katie confirmed that I did. I also explained that the only sport I was ever good at was soccer. The only reason I played was because my siblings played, too. It was never my favorite, but they made it fun.
When we finish eating, Cody acts like he’s about to burst out of his skin. “Mom,” he whispers. “I have to go pee.”
“Oh, sure, baby. We can go.”
“Can Nolan go with me instead?”
Katie and I look at each other in surprise. I shrug, telling her I don’t care if she doesn’t. “If that would make you more comfortable, sure.”
He’s nodding fast and stands before we can say anything else. Katie mouths, “Thank you,” as I follow behind Cody to the bathroom.
He turns to me when we get outside the door. “I don’t really need help or anything. It’s just kind of embarrassing to have your mom waiting for you outside. She never lets me go on my own like a big kid.”
I roll my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing. Based on the look on his face, he’s completely serious right now. “I can understand that. I’ll wait here for you, then.”
Cody nods, his shoulders relaxing as he pushes open the door. I lean against the wall with my arms crossed while I wait for him. He comes back out a minute later, wiping his wet hands on his jeans.
“Did you use soap on your hands?” I ask, knowing that I rarely did at his age.
