Some Loves by Meg Jolie Read Free Book Online Page B

his eyes.
    I sliced a teasing look at him. “Are you telling me she’s hard on you? What kind of deals does she make?”
    “She always says I have to have my homework done before I can do anything fun,” he grumbled.
    I laughed. “Ty, that’s the same kind of deal Mom used to make with you.”
    “I know,” he grumbled again. “But that doesn’t mean I like it!”
    “Do you have any homework tonight?” I asked suspiciously.
    He shook his head. “No . We had testing all day. Can we have chocolate malts?”
    “Absolutely. That sounds like the perfect way to celebrate having all that testing behind you.”
    “Can I have extra malt mix in mine?”
    I scrunched up my nose at his request. “If you must.”
    “I must,” he decided. “That’s the best part.”
    We reached my car and I opened the door for him. He clambered into the backseat. I watched to be sure that he buckled his seatbelt.
    We weren’t even out of the parking lot when he started peppering me with questions.
    “Are you and Caleb fighting?” Tyler unabashedly demanded.
    A brittle, nervous laugh slipped out. “What? Why would you ask that?” I stole a peek at him in the rearview mirror. He wore a concerned frown. His gaze met mine, waiting for an answer. “We’re not fighting.”
    “Then why don’t you do anything with us anymore?”
    I knew he was more observant than the average child. I took a minute to choose my words carefully, hoping my expression gave nothing away.
    “ I know how much fun you have with Caleb—”
    “I like when you come with too,” he interjected.
    “That’s really sweet, Ty. But when I spend time with you, I like to have you all to myself.”
    “Oh.”
    I was met with a few moments of silence. I should’ve known that he wouldn’t let the subject drop so easily.
    “Can’t you just have me all to yourself sometimes ? Does it have to be all the time? Don’t you have fun with me and Caleb?”
    “Of course I have fun. But Caleb’s making a special effort to spend time with you. He probably feels the same way. I bet he likes to have you all to himself too.” My fingers gripped the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary. There was no good way to explain this to Tyler. He was far too young to understand. Even if he were older, I wouldn’t want to burden him with it. The kid already had enough to deal with.
    “Caleb wouldn’t care if you came with,” he argued. “We’re going to the rock climbing wall again this weekend. It was really fun last time. I asked him if you could come with. He said yes.”
    “Ty,” I said as I tried to keep my voice calm, “can we just drop this?”
    “But why ?”
    I could hardly tell him that my feelings for Caleb were compl icated. I liked him as a friend. At one time, I’d felt a lot more. Spending time with him had gotten me into trouble. I just didn’t think it was good to tempt fate.
    “Let’s make a deal,” I said.
    I watched in the mirror as he rolled his eyes. “What?” he asked in a growly voice, but there was a smile on his face.
    “You stop asking, and I’ll think about it.”
    “That means you’ll say no.”
    “That means I’ll think about it,” I firmly repeated. “Now, are you sure you wouldn’t rather have plain old vanilla malts? Or strawberry?”
    “Chocolate,” he said decisively.
    “What? Did you say caramel ?” I teased as I held my hand up to my ear.
    “Chocolate!” he repeated. He was getting a little too old for this type of distraction but it seemed to be working so I continued to go with it.
    “ Butterscotch ?”
    “Chocolate, Emory. I said chocolate.” He giggled and the sound was musical.
    “Oh, chocolate . Chocolate it is, then.”
     
    ***
     
    “Aww, man,” Tyler grumbled when the doorbell rang.
    We were nearing the end of a game of Crazy Eights. He, of course, was winning. We were sitting in the middle of the living room floor. Our huge, empty malt glasses were off to the side. Our stomachs were both full. I