Page 31 of The Penalty

“Tyler. How are you?” Every time she calls, she sounds like she’s just calling to chat, which I hate. I don’t have the time to chat with her, and I don’t particularly want to. We’re co-parents, not friends.

“Fine. You?”

“Good. Just checking in, seeing how Kylie’s doing.”

“Why didn’t you call her and ask?”

She sighs through the phone. “Because I know she would just sugarcoat it. I want to know how she’s really doing.”

“What makes you think she needs to sugarcoat anything? She’s doing just fine here. She’s made friends and doing good in school. There’s nothing for you to be concerned about.” And if there was, Kylie and I could talk it out together. She’s technically an adult, but I am her parent and can help support her just as much as Shae could. She doesn’t need to check in on us.

“Are you sure? I know you’re probably not around much to notice since it’s football season.”

I grind my teeth to keep from snapping at her. She’s trying to push my buttons, make me feel like I’m not doing enough for Kylie, like I’m a shitty father or something. I know I’m not. I’d do anything for Kylie. But today is not the day for her bullshit.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I snap.

“Jeez, what crawled up your ass and died?” she asks, clearly picking up on my agitation.

“I’ve had a long day, Shae. I’m just trying to get home.”

“You know you used to like talking to me. We’d spend hours on the phone.”

“We were sixteen. We did a lot of stupid things then.” One of them being having unprotected sex.

“What happened with us, Ty?”

The absolute last thing I want to do right now is rehash our relationship. We were kids. We grew up and grew apart. We tried and failed. I thought we’d both moved on from this but apparently not.

“We grew up,” I answer plainly.

“You never miss me?”

No point in lying. “No.”

Shae and I broke up for the last time about fifteen years ago. I’ve dated since then, but no one has made me want to settle down. I’m sure it’s a me problem, not a them problem. But I’m not going to force myself to be in a relationship if it doesn’t feel right. Shae and I did that for way too long, and it didn’t help either of us.

But just because I’m single doesn’t mean I want to be with her.

“Wow, Ty.”

I sigh and loosen my grip on the steering wheel, trying to make myself relax. “Listen, Shae, I’m not in the mood for a trip down memory lane, ok? If you’re worried about Kylie, call her.”

“Fine, Tyler. Bye.” She hangs up quickly, probably thinking it’ll piss me off, but it doesn’t. Shae lives for drama, and she loves picking fights. She thinks it’ll get a rise out of me. Maybe it did when I was a teenager but I couldn’t care less now.

I pull into my driveway and see McKenzie’s beat-up Honda parked next to the garage.

She’s here.

Why does that make my stomach flip?

I quickly shut that shit down. I cannot be excited to see her. It’s completely inappropriate, and yet I’ve found myself thinking about her more and more as the days go on. I’ve got to get her out of my head. She’s pretty, obviously. But she’s still basically a kid.

As soon as I open the door, I hear music coming from the living room. The two of them are sitting on the floor at the coffee table, painting their nails and eating Chinese takeout.

“Hey,” I call to them over the music.

“Hey, Dad.” Kylie smiles at me. “We got plenty of food if you’re hungry.”