Booktree.ngIt-Starts-with-Us-Colleen-Hoover

This feels like it could lead to a lengthy conversation, and I’d rather have
it while he’s more comfortable. There isn’t a table back here with seating,
so I motion toward the doors that lead into the dining room. There’s enough
light from the exit signs that I don’t have to power up the dining room
lights.
“Sit here.” I point to table eight and he takes a seat in the exact spot our
mother sat in earlier tonight. He starts eating as soon as I set his food down.
“What do you want to drink?”
He swallows, and then shrugs. “Whatever.”
I go back to the kitchen and pour him a glass of ice water and then slide
into the booth across from him. He drinks half of it in one gulp.
“Your mother showed up here tonight,” I say. “She’s looking for you.”
He makes a face that indicates he doesn’t care, and then he continues
eating.
“Where have you been staying?”
“Places,” he says with a mouthful.
“Are you in school?”
“Not lately.”
I let him get in a few more bites before I continue. The last thing I want
to do is run him off with too many questions. “Why did you run away?” I
ask. “Because of her?”
“Sutton?”
I nod. I wonder what kind of relationship they have if he doesn’t even
call her “Mom.”
“Yeah, we got in a fight. We always fight over the stupidest shit.” He
eats his last bite, then downs the rest of his water.
“And your dad? Tim?”
“He left when I was little.” His eyes roam around the room, landing on
the tree. When he looks back at me, he tilts his head. “Are you rich?”
“If I was, I wouldn’t tell you. You’ve tried to rob me several times now.”
I can see a smirk playing across his lips, but he refuses to release it. He
relaxes into the booth more, pulling his hoodie away from his face. Strands
of greasy brown hair fall forward, and he pushes them back. His hair holds
the shape of a cut that’s long overdue, with sides that have grown out too
long and uneven to be intentional.
“She told me you left because of me. She said you didn’t want a
brother.”