“You can’t do that,” he screeched. “You changed it on Monday.”
Before I could reply, Alex was moving me forward and closing my trunk. Nudging me toward the house, he kept his eyes on my kid as he said, “No need to change the password, Evie.”
Cody’s body relaxed dramatically hearing it until Alex added, “I’ll show you how to block gaming on your settings. It’s much easier to do because then you don’t have to go around all of your devices re-attaching them to the internet.”
Holy shit, that was like heaven. I couldn’t even count the amount of time I wasted doing that. Almost everything was attached to it these days, including our lighting, and it was a pain in the ass fixing it all when this one acted up.
“Thank you,” I breathed, shooting him a smile.
See, my ex was never like this. I’d lay down the law with Cody, and he’d go behind my back and say okay just for an easy life. I’d change the Wi-Fi password, and he’d give it to him. He also never had the time or inclination to teach our son how to do things or even spend time with him, so it was like I was fighting a battle that was impossible to win.
Having someone even take my back for five minutes, or show me something as simple as adjusting the settings on the internet, was so vastly different from how life had been three years ago. Sure, it was temporary—so temporary it would last a matter of minutes—but still. It felt like I could breathe for the first time in years.
Cody begrudgingly held the door open for us, then moved over to the sink as Rocket and Razzle danced around Alex for a moment, then returned to their bed when he’d given them chin scratches.
The way Cody was staring down into it made my stomach drop. My darling child had a habit of taking dishes to his room or making something while I was out. Then he’d hide it somewhere, swearing blind he didn’t have it in his room until he either couldn’t stand the smell, or I threatened him with hosing it down with everything in it, including his Xbox and PC.
Which I’d done last night, so obviously, while I was out, he’d ‘found’ the missing plates and bowls and had dumped them in the sink, thinking I’d do them while I did the rest. Unfortunately for him, Alex had unknowingly given Cody a taste of karma, and he was now going to have to clean them himself.
“I can’t do it,” Cody said firmly, shaking his head. “I don’t know how to wash dishes. They don’t teach us stuff like that at school, so—”
Keeping his tone light, Alex interrupted. “You don’t know how to fill the sink with water and dish soap? How to pick up the sponge and rub it across the plates until they’re clean? How to put them on the dish drainer next to you so they dry unless you’re feeling super helpful, and pick up the dish towel to dry them by hand?”
Because his voice wasn’t mocking or scornful, it had an impact on my son, who bit down on his lip and looked from Alex back to the sink. “I guess when you put it that way…”
“Don’t worry, bud. I’m right here to remind you of the steps and ingredients,” Alex assured him. “I won’t leave your side the whole time.”
Now, as an adult, I knew precisely what Detective Sweatpants Crotch Bulge was doing. He was making it out to be reassuring for Cody’s sake, but to another adult, you knew he actually meant he wouldn’t let my son run away from the chore or half-ass it.
I almost swooned. Almost. And the reason I wouldn’t fully swoon was that Alex was just being a great neighbor. On the other side of us was the school principal, Ross Teller, who was also a great guy and helpful neighbor. It’d be easy to get carried away and read into things because I was a single woman who wanted a man in her life, but I was a realistic woman, too.
So, I bit down the swoon and disappointed sigh and went to work opening the box of ‘nice buns,’ doing my best to ignore the real and original nice buns, and got breakfast ready. I’d only had time for one cup of coffee before I’d gone out to do the errands, so I readied the machine to make a new pot for us.
That’s what a realistic adult woman did. She kept shit real.
Even though she didn’t want to.
Chapter Two
Alex
I hadn’t meant to say to Cody what I had, but all I could see was a young boy/almost teenager who’d been hit hard by his parent's divorce and was now angry at the world. I hated seeing any kid in pain like that, especially after seeing my son, Dave, go through it when we’d lost his mom.