The door shuts and Paige’s forehead drops to the wood. Her back rises and falls and her knuckles become white from her grip on the doorknob. Remaining quiet, I wait for her to turn around. When she finally does, the wetness in her eyes is clear and my hands clench to stop from hugging her. “Thanks, Rob. I really appreciate it. I’ll skip my last class.”

“No you won’t. I have this. Don’t worry.” I step forward and she does the same. My whole body desperately wants to grab her, hug her and fade away those worries. I learned after the accident, you can’t encompass the pain of someone else.

“Thank you.”

“You said that already,” I joke and she peers up at me with a smirk.

“Well, then take good care of my little brother. He’s shy, but he’ll open up a little more . . .”

“Go!” I usher with my hand for her to go up and get ready.

“Okay, great. Here’s his booster seat, don’t go fast, you know . . . drive the speed limit. He needs to be in the backseat.” She continues to ramble and I laugh at her being overprotective. I’m fairly certain this kid is resilient with the mother he has.

She back-steps up the stairs, biting the inside of her cheek. “Okay, going now.” Then she runs up the stairs and I admire the view of her ass in those shorts that I love.

When I go back into the kitchen, Matty is pouring himself another bowl of cereal. Now the kid’s got the right idea. “You play with a lot of kids?” I ask, taking the seat across from him.

“No,” he mumbles over his mouthful.

“Today’s your lucky day.” I shoot a text to Trey.

AN HOUR LATER, the kid is sitting in my backseat in his booster. He stares out the window mostly, but when I play some classic rock music, the kid lip-syncs and bobs his head to the beat. Paige has definitely been an influence on the little guy. I’m thankful Trey accepted my apology a month ago. I was convinced his friendship with Jessa would make him hate me, but I guess the true friendship we developed over the years still existed inside of him.

I ring the doorbell to the four-bedroom suburban home I’m still shocked my friend lives in with his wife. The rumbling of little feet slam against the floor before Trey’s booming voice yells. “Tara, do not open that door.”

“Man, he sounds so fatherly,” I remark to Matty who stares up at me with indifference. “See, he’s my good friend and I just—” The kid’s blank stare tells me I’m wasting my breath, so I stop.

I catch Trey with Chloe holding the little guy in his arms through the glass as he unlocks the door. A little brunette girl peers out the window, examining Matty. “Hey,” I snap my fingers and point to her.

“Tara.” Trey fills in the blank and laughs at me not recalling the girl’s name. “This is Drew.” Then he bends down. “Who’s this?”

“My name is Matty.” The kid surprises me.

“Good thing you know, because I’m fairly certain your driver doesn’t.” Trey jokes and then opens the screen.

“Funny, man.”

Trey winks, holding the door open. “I know.” Then he focuses on Matty. “Come on in; I guess the school holiday has everyone off in the area.”

I snap my finger and point to them. “I was wondering.”

I follow Matty and clasp my hand on Trey’s free shoulder. “You’re a lifesaver. I had no idea what to do with the kid.” I whisper so he can’t hear although he’s already following Tara down the hall.

“Whose son is he again?” We walk down the hallway to the kitchen and family room. “Why were you the best choice to watch him?” His eyebrow arches and I shake my head.

“He’s Paige’s brother and I was the last option.” I try to fill him in, but he shrugs.

“Figured so. How is Paige?” He raises his eyebrows up a few times fast.

“Shut the f—”

Trey’s eyebrows raise and he stares down at a drooling Drew. “She’s fine.” I correct myself and a bellowing laugh escapes Trey. I do have to admit one thing I missed about him was his easy going love for life personality.

“Sure she is.” He situates Drew in the high chair and tosses a few Cheerios on his tray. “Why don’t you guys go outside?” The kids all scramble up and run outside to the patio. I’m surprised Matty follows with how shy he’s been.

“See, already a lady killer,” I joke, nodding my head toward Matty following Trey’s two girls outside.

“You’re a bad influence. How long have you been around him?” Trey maneuvers around the kitchen, grabbing things with ease for the little one. Man, he’s changed since those days when stopping at Zen’s was our daily ritual. Or the nights when we’d down shots of Jack until we ended up passing out watching re-runs of Saturday Night Live.

“Don’t knock the kid’s swagger. I’ve only known him for . . .” I pick up my arm and glance at my watch. “An hour, maybe.”

Trey chuckles, giving Drew juice. “You couldn’t even play with the kid before shuffling him over here?” He occupies the seat across from me, cutting up a banana.

“You’ve really become . . . domesticated.” I raise my eyebrows at him and ease back into the chair.

His eyes focus on me with daggers. “Yeah.” I’m shocked he doesn’t make a joke or flip the tables on me. A strong desire to hold his self-confidence digs into my heart. He couldn’t give a shit what I think, or anyone else for that matter, he’s happy. Which everyone is aware of from the cheesy-ass smile on his face.

“Where’s your other half anyway?” I distract the churning thoughts about happily ever after that I’ll never get by pulling out my phone, as though someone texted me.

“She’s at school. I had to take the day off since it’s a teacher service day.” Then he picks up his head, placing a few cut up bananas on Drew’s tray. “Where does Matty go to school? Weird they are all off today.”

I shrug because I don’t even know if the kid is in school. “Today is the first I even knew there was a brother.”

Treys smile breaks into a stifled laugh. “And how nice of you to free him from Paige.” He wiggles his brows as though he knows something I don’t.

“Don’t.” I warn, but he just laughs, which makes Drew start laughing. Suddenly, a one year old finds my kindness amusing.

“Come on. I really liked talking with her until you made the bone head move and ventured over to that table full of girls.” Drew’s slimy hands reach out for more banana and Trey places some more down. I give Trey props, I’m not sure I’m ready for this in my life right now. Drew’s greedy hands clamp on to banana pieces and he smashes them into his mouth. Trey laughs. “Let the guard down, she’s a cool chick.”

Trey’s right, Paige is cool as shit. The fact she didn’t even ask me questions last night on the way home from the race earned her great respect from me. She hasn’t dug into my issues, and for some reason I’ve grown to like her even more because of it. But finding a girl cool to hang out with and then stepping forward into girlfriend zone are two different things. After running into Xavier and Nora last night, it all rings too true for me. That I shouldn’t be happy, I deserve to live a life of single moments with a million different people instead of a million moments with one person. They reminded me of my fate and I need to stick with it. If only Paige didn’t make it so hard on me.

“She’s a great friend and if I could get her to be friends with benefits, that’d be even better.” I wink and for the first time today, Trey’s face is stone straight.

“You need to get your shit together, Rob. We aren’t eighteen anymore, we’re fucking twenty-four and life will continue on. If you keep passing up the girls, you’ll live a life of regret.” He stands up, walking over to the fridge. “Do you want anything?” Typical Trey, words of advice followed by normal daily routine.

The kids’ screams in the backyard show they’re definitely having fun with one another. I meander toward the window and find Tara chasing Matty. Their little arms pump and I can’t help but smile. Tara’s arm stretches out and she tags him, and then Chloe screeches. To be so innocent and carefree. Not that any of the kids out there were handed an easy life up to this point, but their resilience amazes me and I guarantee they’ll all be in therapy at some point in their adult life. The door bells rings and Drew claps his hands.