Just One Touch: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 3) (12 page)

“Fuck!” Conner
yells as the front door slams against the wall.

A scream passes Jake’s
lips as he leaps onto the chair. For real this time, I fall off the
couch.

“What are you guys
doing in here?” Conner asks as he steps into the living room. Jake
scurries across the floor to where I fell.

“You made her fall.”

“You fell?” Conner
rushes to me and helps me up.

“I didn’t fall,
fall,” I say, glancing to the clock.

“Yes, you fell into
the lava!” Jake shouts.

“The lava?” Conner
asks.

“Yeah, we was playing
a lava game, and we had to jump on the couch!”

I give my best smile as
Conner glances at me with one eyebrow raised.

I just shrug.

“It happens, but more
importantly, why are you storming into your apartment shouting
profanities and how are you off when I left you an hour ago?”

Conner’s eyes capture
me where I stand. He never lets the connection break, not even as a
grin appears on his lips. He takes a deep breath and I do the same.
He tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering.
The urge to tilt my head slightly comes to me, to let it rest in his
hand.

“Just a scheduling
conflict that is long forgotten now that I’m home with the two of
you, and Lucas was able to come in sooner. That guy is a workaholic.”

“Fuck,” Jake’s
little voice says from somewhere around us.

Conner groans and I
cover my smile with my hand. “You need to start watching your
language. You know he repeats everything you say.”

“Yeah, I know.” His
head drops and his hands go to his hips. “Hey, bud, what did I say
about that word?”

“No.”

“Right, so why did
you say it?” he asks, stepping up behind Jake at the table. In the
time it took for Conner and me to stare at each other, Jake’s
little attention span has forgotten all about the lava game and he’s
already moved on to coloring at the table.

“My blue crayon
broke,” he answers.

“Aw, that’s no fun.
Let me see if I can find you another one,” Conner says, stepping
over the rectangle Tupperware box full of crayons. We both sit with
him at the table then, coloring for about a half hour before it’s
time for Jake to get ready for bed.

Once he’s all tucked
in, Conner comes down the hallway to find me in the living room. I’ve
put in a movie and am sitting on the couch, hoping he doesn’t want
me to leave quite yet. And I was right. He takes the seat next to me
before kissing me and guiding me onto my back. I was going to tell
him about me and Logan tonight, but this is a much, much better idea.

Conner

Alex steps out of the
bathroom with wet hair, fully dressed in her work shirt.

“Not that I mind,”
I say from the living room. “But has Jace told you when he’s
going to have your shower fixed?”

“All he keeps saying
is, ‘I’m waiting on a part,’ and since I know nothing about
plumbing, I have no reason not to believe him.”

“You could call
someone else. Have them come look at it.”

“Yeah, but then I’d
have to pay for it myself, and I’d miss out on all these awesome
moments of being in your apartment.”

“Eh,” I joke with
her.

She shoves me as she
takes a seat next to me on the couch, kissing me in the process.

“What time do you
have to work today?” I ask her.

“Eleven to five.”

“Would you be
interested in joining Jake and me in the park tonight for a picnic
dinner?”

“Just the three of
us?” she asks as though she’s worried it won’t be.

“Yes.” Her eyes
flutter around the apartment the exact way Logan’s do when he
doesn’t know what to say. She’s done this before, and I never
thought anything of it. Now, all I can think about is what Kelsey
mentioned to me. I just need to come right out and ask Alex before I
let it bother me much more.

“Please, Miss Alex.
It will be so fun. They have swings and slides,” Jake says as he
pokes his head out of his room. The two of them have been interacting
a lot. The fact that Jake enjoys her company as much I do makes the
idea of talking to Heather sound so simple.

“Is your bed made?”
I ask. He isn’t supposed to come out till his room is clean. It’s
something else he seems to be having a hard time with. My sister says
getting him to clean his room at this age is tough and I might have
to wait another year or two till it clicks, but my kid is smart and I
think he’ll catch on sooner than she thinks.

He nods.

“And your toys are in
their buckets?”

He puckers his lips and
then disappears back in his room.

“Did he do something
wrong?” Alex asks.

“No, why do you ask?”

“I always had to
clean my room extra good when I was in trouble. It looked a little
like what I just saw.”

Perfect opening line to
ask her more, ignoring Beth’s advice completely.

“Done!” Jake
hollers as he runs out of his room, preventing me from asking the
question on my lips.
Are you
Logan’s sister?

Jake plops his small
body between Alex’s and my own.

“Can we bring cookies
to the park?” he asks. I find it weird that he’s looking at me
and not Alex.

“Shouldn’t you be
asking me that question?” she says, gaining his attention.

He shrugs. “I don’t
like burnt cookies.”

Alex erupts into
laughter as she stands and grabs her stuff.

“Once, I did that
once,” she says as I follow her to the door. “I can’t believe
you told him about that.”

“I’ll pick you up?”
I ask, grinning at her playful tone.

“Sounds great.”

I kiss her goodbye and
then head back into the living room where I proceed to play Ninja
Turtles with my son, he as Donny and me as Shredder until it’s time
to pack up a picnic and pick up Alex from work. I try to call Heather
twice to see if whatever was going on a couple days ago is better
today, and also because I don’t want to wait any longer to tell her
about Alex, but just like the last two nights, she doesn’t answer
any of my calls.

* * *

Four other cars fill
the parking lot aside from mine as I head inside the gym. Must be a
slow afternoon. Jake runs inside in front of me, slowing to let the
automatic doors open for him.

Abby is standing behind
the counter when we walk in. Her face breaks into a smile when she
notices me, and I feel like a dick immediately because it’s the
same type of smile Alex gives me. I know what that smile means, and
even though I shouldn’t, I feel guilty that I don’t return those
feelings for Abby.

“Well, this is a
surprise. What brings in the two of you?” She stops folding the
towel in her hands to give me her full attention. Pete walks up in
the same moment.

“What, she can’t
even work one day without you showing up?” he asks. I can’t tell
by the tone of his voice if he’s annoyed or really bad at joking.
It’s like a mix of sarcasm and light bitterness. We may have told
him we were a couple before it was really true, but at least now we
don’t need to pretend.

“I can, but yeah, I’m
actually here to pick up Alex.”

Abby’s smile drops
and she turns, resuming her task.

“You mean
Alexis
.”
She mumbles the name in a sassy tone, but I caught it loud and clear.
Maybe I was listening for it, or maybe it’s just what I was hoping
to hear.

“Did you say Al—”

“Did you say my
name?” Alex comes from the back room, where I know they keep the
washing machines. She stops and gives me a beaming smile. “I’m
almost done. Give me ten more minutes to finish picking up the weight
room and I’ll meet you two outside.”

“I’ll help you,”
Pete says, grinning at me as he strides past her.

I nod, say goodbye to
Abby, and then convince Jake it’s better to let her finish than to
bother her when he wants to run back to the basketball court before
we return to the car. If I see him hitting on her or even standing
too close, I’ll probably end up punching the guy.

When Alex comes out,
she’s followed by Abby and the girl I saw her on the trails with.
Skylar, I think was her name. Pete is nowhere to be found, and I
breathe a sigh of relief. I’ve never been a jealous guy and I have
to say I don’t like it. The best thing I can do here is to not even
bring it up. This is still new.

Abby quickly walks away
toward her car, and then Skyler waves as she backs away and sets off
in the other direction. Alex doesn’t move for a moment before she
heads for my truck.

“Is everything okay?”
I ask as she buckles her seat belt.

“Yes. Abby is just
being weird.” She sighs. “She was fine up until we left, and then
it was like I was her least favorite person ever.”

I glance back to find
Jake focused on his LeapPad.

“I may actually be
the one to blame for that,” I say, backing out of the parking lot.

“Why?”

“Last year, Abby
stayed with me and my buddy Logan for a while when she didn’t have
a place to go. Somewhere during that time, she thought something was
going to happen between the two of us. It wasn’t. Ever. But now I
think she is taking the fact I’m not into her out on you.”

All I get is a blank
stare. “Girls suck sometimes,” she says.

I agree and pull onto
the road. Skylar is walking alone toward the center of town.

“Does she walk
everywhere?” I ask.

“You know, I’m not
quite sure.

“I thought you two
were friends.”

“We are.”

“Do you think she
needs a ride?”

“Really? I bet she’d
love that. Slow down, I’ll ask her.”

I slow the truck as
instructed and Alex rolls down her window. I catch a glimpse of Jake
stretching his neck to look out the window.

“Hey, Skylar, do you
need a ride?” Alex asks.

“No thanks.” Skylar
stops walking only long enough to answer.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m just
going to the diner across from the BA. I work the evening shift
tonight.”

“I didn’t know you
worked there.”

“It’s not really
something I brag about.”

I pinch Alex’s side
to get her attention. She jumps at my touch and then laughs, turning
to face me.

“Tell her to come to
the BA—it’s better money and I know she’ll get hired.”

“Conner says you
should go to the BA. He might be able to set you up with a better
paying job.”

“Seriously?”
Skylar’s face lights up. “I don’t know anything about making
drinks, though.”

“He can teach you,”
Alex answers for me.

“Okay, I will.” She
waves. “See you both later.”

Alex rolls up her
window and gazes at me with a smile.

“You’re turning out
to be one of those extremely rare types, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“The guy who can do
no wrong. Completely trustworthy and dependable.”

“Maybe, that
depends.”

“On what?”

“Are you into that
sort of guy?”

“Yes. One hundred
percent.”

I reach over and lace
her fingers through mine as we head for the park.

“It’s always about
the percentages with you, isn’t it?”

She laughs but nods.

“Before I forget,
this weekend a friend of mine is having a get together. It’d be
cool if you can make it.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll
think about it.”

A spark runs through my
veins at the idea that she might possibly go out with me. She always
has an excuse—or really does have something going on—and the idea
that I can finally introduce everyone to her thrills me. Right now
might not be the best time to include that the gathering is at
Logan’s house. If I mention it, it might spook her and then ruin
the evening I have planned. But if I mention it and she doesn’t
react, then I’ll know. I just don’t want to take that chance with
Jake in the car.

Either that, or I’m
not ready to face the truth, no matter how much I think about it.

Alexis

An evening picnic is
exactly what I need. Ever since I left the gym, I’ve had the way
Abby called me out right before we left work on my mind. She asked if
Conner knew my first and last name. She was a snot about it because
she’s seen the paperwork. But what stumps me is, if she knows, why
hasn’t she told anyone? If she really is as evil as people say, she
would have told someone by now, right?

Once we arrive at the
park, we eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and then Jake runs
off to play. Conner and I take a seat together on the blanket to
watch him. Well, mostly Conner is watching him, my brain is all over
the place. Conner kisses my shoulder and hugs me tighter from behind.

“Is everything okay?
You seem distracted,” he says.

I sigh. This is the
perfect moment to tell him. Blurt it out and I’ll no longer be
keeping a secret from him. “Your best friend is my brother and I
need help finding a way to tell him without him rejecting me” are
the words resting on the tip of my tongue. If I could just leave it
at that and not have Conner ask anything else, I’d be fine. I
really don’t want to go into the details that I went through four
different homes before someone kept me. I don’t think I can handle
being rejected by anyone else in my life.

“I’m fine. Just
thinking about what Jake and I are going to do while you’re working
tomorrow night,” I say instead.

“Oh, he has plenty of
toys to keep you busy.”

“I bet.”

“Dad, I’m bored.
Can we go now? Or can Clara come play?”

“It’s getting too
late for Clara to come play tonight, bud. I’ll see what I can do
about later this week though, okay?”

“Okay,” Jake says
with a sad voice.

“How about we go home
and you can pick out the movie?” Conner asks.