Bad for You by Weston Parker
30
BRITTANY
Tristin, Lou, and I were back in the car, but there was no joy in the ride this time. I had no idea what we were going to do with Lou in the long term, but I was glad we’d gotten him out of that house—at least temporarily.
Lou didn’t seem sure what to make of things either. He kept wiping tears from his face, fidgeting with his hands in his lap as he sat in the back seat and stared out the window.
As the disbelief and adrenaline of the encounter faded, the atmosphere in the car became awkward. What the heck did we just do?
Tristin and I weren’t equipped to look after an eight-year-old child. Not that there was any way we could’ve left him there, but still. We’d told his mother he’d be staying with me. I had a room for him, unlike the area around the couch which was where it had seemed like he stayed when he was at home, but a guest room did not a stable household make.
“I can move in with you for now too,” Tristin said, finally breaking the silence that had fallen between us all. “If you think it would help.”
His offer hit me like a rock-hard piece of soap between the eyes. “I’m not sure. Things are already uncertain enough, don’t you think? It might not be a good idea for you to move in right now.”
As it was, I was going to have to deal with the social worker, and Beckett, and I didn’t even know who else. The last thing we needed was a spotlight being put on my relationship with Tristin to determine whether we were solid enough to look after Lou together.
Tristin shrugged like it was no big deal, but it was. It really was. “I’m going to help nonetheless. Even if I’m sleeping in my own bed at night.”
“That would be good,” I said lamely. “Lou and I are going to need all the help we can get, right, Lou?”
I twisted in my seat to look at the little boy, who brought his frightened brown eyes to mine and nodded. “She won’t let me go back home. That wasn’t the first time she said any of that stuff. My mom won’t take me back.”
My heart folded in on itself, but I kept my gaze steady on his and my chin up. “We’ll work it out. You’re welcome to stay with me for as long as you need or want to. Don’t worry about a thing, okay?”
“They won’t let me stay with you,” he said miserably, the corners of his mouth turning down as his eyes filled with tears once more. “I overheard the guidance counselor talking to my social worker and Principal James once. They said I’d have to go into foster care.”
Tristin shook his head vehemently, his eyes flashing when he glanced at me. “Let’s take it one step at a time, kiddo, but I promise you I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you can stay with Brittany.”
“Have you got a lot of power?” Lou asked, and Tristin let out a soft chuckle as he dipped his head in a curt nod.
“I have enough,” he said. “How about we go grab an early dinner? We’ve all had a long day, and I’m willing to bet you’re both as hungry as I am. After, if you’re up to it, we can stop by the arcade.”
My appetite had disappeared, but I agreed anyway. Dinner and an arcade sounded much better than going straight home after all that. We needed to decompress, get food in our bellies, and I needed a moment alone with Tristin to figure out our next move.
I had no clue about the legalities surrounding something like this, but I doubted I could just let a student stay with me. Regardless of whether his mother had agreed to it, it seemed like there had to be more to it. Lou and I had formed a bond, and while I wasn’t supposed to love any of my students more than another, I had to admit that Lou had a special place in my heart.
Tristin drove us to a large family restaurant that had been downtown since we’d been kids. It boasted country-style cooking with funky antiques hanging from the ceiling and milkshakes the size of my head.
“Well, what is it going to be?” Tristin asked Lou once we were settled in a booth. “Their burgers used to be amazing, but their biscuits were also always great.”
The boy looked at the menu in front of him, then back up at Tristin. “You mean I can have anything I want?”
“Anything you want.” Tristin smiled, then left Lou staring at his options when he brought his gaze to mine. “Do you remember that time we tried to see how many milkshakes we could finish in one sitting?”
I groaned, nodding before dropping my head into my hands. “Just thinking about it still makes me nauseous. It was so stupid to try the lime one.”
“Hey, I liked the lime one.” He grinned at Lou. “What flavor do you like best?”
“I, uh,” Lou stammered, his cheeks flushing. “I don’t know.”
Tristin frowned, and it dawned on both of us that it didn’t look like Lou had ever been taken out for a milkshake before. He recovered well, smoothing out the frown before Lou could notice it. “That’s okay. We’ll keep coming back here, and you can try them all. Want to start with bubble gum?”
“Sure. I like bubble gum.” He smiled tentatively. “Could I have a burger? It doesn’t have to have cheese on it. I know that costs extra.”
“A cheeseburger it is,” Tristin said cheerfully. “Cheese and bacon is wonderful too, but it’s big. I wonder if you could eat it all.”
“I can eat it all,” Lou replied confidently, glancing back down at the menu. “Are you sure it’s okay if I have it?”
“It’s fine. Have two if you want.” Tristin pointed out something else on the menu, drawing Lou out of his shell as they discussed what foods they liked.
Slowly but surely, Lou started engaging in easy conversation with Tristin again. I really liked the way Tristin was with him, considerate but also relating to him on his level. It was working wonders with the so-called “troubled” kid.
After dinner, we went to the arcade as promised. Tristin loaded up a card for Lou, walked him through some of the games, and then told him to have fun while he made a few calls. While Lou hit up the games, we kept him in our sights but moved off to the side a little.
For the first time since he’d arrived at the school this afternoon, he let his true feelings about this situation show. There was worry as dark as a thundercloud in his eyes, and his brows were raised and slightly pulled together. He released a shaky breath.
“How are you doing?” he asked me, his voice pitched low. “That was a total shitshow back there.”
“You’re telling me. Thanks for being there. I’m not sure I’d have gotten through it by myself.” I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Where do we start?”
“Do you have his social worker’s contact details?”
I nodded. “Beckett sent them to me earlier. I haven’t opened the message yet, but I saw it there. The school pulled her into this case, and I think she knows who I am. He mentioned she’d be contacting me as part of her investigation.”
“Good. That’s good.” He slid his finger under my chin, and feeling it there made me blink my eyes open again. As they met his golden, caramel browns, some of the tension eased out of me. Tristin was here, he was working on a plan, and I was damn lucky to have his help. “You call the social worker. Let them know what happened and that we’ve got him. I’m going to get on the phone to my family’s lawyer. He’s on the legal team for the company as well. I don’t know how much family and child law he’s done, but he’ll get me to the right people if he can’t help.”
“Okay, I can do that.” I rested my head against his chest, listening to the steady sound of his heart beating under my ear for just a minute. “What are we going to do, Tristin? We can’t just take a kid from his mother and expect everything to be fine.”
“We’ll figure out a long-term solution,” he said, his voice rumbling in his chest as he stroked a hand up and down my back. “Just trust me to help you sort things out, okay? Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, I can.” I really, really meant it too. “Thank you. I’m desperately relieved that you’re with me in this.”
“I’m always going to be with you, baby,” he whispered but then straightened up and released me. “Okay, we need to make these calls while he’s occupied.”
“Let’s do it,” I said. “I’ll send you the social worker’s contact details as well. The lawyer will probably need them.”
“Good thinking.” He kissed my hair, and then his whole demeanor changed when he got the lawyer on the line. It was that same quiet yet commanding, authoritative thing I’d seen from him before, and I still freaking loved it.
The only difference was that this time, it didn’t get me all hot and bothered. It would again later, I was sure, once we were no longer in the midst of this crisis. Right now, however, it just made me feel as safe and secure as I did when I was in his arms.
The conversation with the social worker was grueling, but once she’d grilled me for about twenty minutes on everything I knew about Lou and his situation, as well as my own home life, and then informed me about the process, she agreed to letting him stay with me.
Tristin and I trailed after Lou, phones pressed to our ears as he enjoyed the arcade. Once we’d both hung up, he promised me his lawyer was on it, and I let him know that the social worker had approved me as an emergency foster parent—for now.
There were formal applications to be made, paperwork to be filed, and a ton of other red tape, but we’d get through it. Tristin held my hand or kept his arm over my shoulder when we rejoined a delighted Lou, who seemed to be in his element here.
We stayed until he looked like he was about to drop, and then, once he was in the car, I pulled Tristin closer and kissed him deeply. “Thank you for today. You have no idea how much it means to me.”
He tugged at my ponytail so I’d look up at him all the way, smiling against my lips before murmuring to me without lifting his mouth away, “I’m always going to be here for you, Brit. Always. You don’t need to thank me. It’s all part of being together.”
From the corner of my eye, it seemed like there were bursts of light coming from the interior of one of the cars parked nearby. I had no idea what’d caused them, but they yanked me out of my Tristin bubble and made me remember that we had a child to get to bed.
“There’s no one I’d rather be doing any of this with,” I replied before pulling away from him, my eyes filled with grateful tears that he was back in my life at the very time I needed him the most. “Let’s get him home. We can figure out all the rest tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” he promised. “I’ll pick you guys up early and take you to school, okay? We don’t have to worry about your car tonight. You’re right. We should get him home.”
And that was exactly what we did.
