“Paige, wake up,” Jerry said.
“Mm.”
“Paige.” He shook her shoulder. When she still didn’t move, he sat on her shins and feet.
“Get off,” she mumbled as she tried pulling her legs from under him.
“I won’t get up till you get up.”
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. “I’m up, okay?”
He lifted himself from her legs but then moved to a different spot on the bed. “I’m staying here so you don’t go back to bed.”
“Can I punch you in the face while you’re at it?” she asked as she stood up and stretched.
He lay on her bed and tucked his hands behind his head with his nose wrinkling. “Ew, your bed smells like you.”
“Then get off my fucking bed.”
They stared at each other as if they were about to brawl until her phone alarm went off.
After Paige went to the nightstand to turn it off, she said, “Anyway, I got my own alarm. You don’t have to wake me up every morning.”
“Yeah, but you sleep through your alarm sometimes, and I can hear it from my room.” He shrugged. “And I’m older than you, so I get to boss you around.”
She stuck her tongue out before heading to her bathroom and shutting the door behind her. Chuckling at the mirror as she put toothpaste on her toothbrush, she realized that even though she hated all living creatures every morning, she actually liked waking up to Jerry annoying her until she got up. He was always an early bird, but he hadn’t been so cheery in the mornings until he got rid of his wheelchair. Now he was getting the mail daily, making the long walks to friends’ houses, and taking pictures outside with the new camera Paige got him for his twentieth birthday. He used to be the one needing help, but now he was the most active person in the house.
When she spit out the toothpaste, she could still remember--always remember--the first day she saw him walking out of the clinic. It was a miracle seeing his sedentary and bony legs carrying all of his weight with every step he took. He didn’t have to worry about asking people to get objects too high for him, strangers staring at him for no reason at all, or staying in the first floor of a building without an elevator.
But it seemed that the ignorant comments people made about and to him were still a thing, just in less amounts with the wheelchair out of the picture. On the day when Christy made up her little rumor, which exemplified the highest level of cuntery a person could reach, Paige was bothered less by Supreme Douchebag and Company’s comments of her and more by Dave calling Jerry the R-word. That asshole hadn’t even met Jerry, so who was he to even say anything about him?
But of course, the only person who would’ve told the group about him was none other than Carter, who was such a good actor when he first met Jerry and listened to her explanation of cerebral palsy. Even when Jerry was starting to accept him as a friend, Carter never kept an open mind, especially when he once claimed his dad Owen’s drinking problems were getting worse because of Jerry. And then before the cops came on that crazy night that ended Owen’s part in the family, Carter had completely wrecked the wheelchair with Jerry still seriously injured from Owen’s attacks.
Certainly now, with Owen locked up in the county jail, Paige would never let Carter anywhere near Jerry again. Jerry had already graduated from high school two years ago, so as long as Carter wouldn’t find him at Walmart or anywhere else, Jerry was safe.
After doing her routine--apply sunscreen on her pale and freckled face, spend five minutes putting her face on, change into her favorite romper and a matching cardigan, and pack her stuff for school--she met with Jerry and Mom in the kitchen.
“Hey guys, guess what?” Mom asked as she put yogurt in her bag.
Paige leaned on the island with her elbows and studied Mom’s face. “You messed up your eyebrows again?”
She scoffed. “No.” Then she looked at her reflection in the microwave. “Is it that obvious?”
“I’ll fix it after school.”
“Okay, well, besides that…Nolan is gonna drive you two!”
Paige and Jerry looked at each other. Then Jerry said, “How come you can’t?”
“He just asked me if he could drive, so I thought why not?” She pointed a finger at them. “This is good for you guys, okay? Especially you, Paige.”
“Whatever.” Paige went to the fridge to grab yogurt too. She would’ve rather not go through another fight about her preexisting suspicions of Nolan. After all, it wasn’t Paige’s fault that the last ex-boyfriends were the biggest pieces of shit on the planet. “Do you know when you wanna start that yoga class?”
“Next week sound good?”
“Yup.” Paige stored the yogurt and a spoon in her purse.
“I wanna try meditation. I read about this Buddhist Zen technique thing in a health magazine.”
Paige grinned. “And you finally get to wear your new yoga pants!”
“Those? No way.” Mom shook her head and hung her bag over her shoulder. “I’m returning those.”
“What? Why?”
“They make my legs look weird.”
“What do?”
Paige and Mom turned to look at Nolan walking into the kitchen with his satchel. His usual dark curls were gone after Mom and Paige nagged his ass to the hair salon yesterday. He had on a couple of his dozens of identical shirts and pants, and his facial hair--which looked like the last time he shaved was a year ago--and the bags under his eyes made him look older than mid-thirties. And yet he attracted Mom like a magnet as they pecked each other on the lips.
“What makes your legs look weird?” he asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“Her new yoga pants,” Paige cut in, rolling her eyes, then turned to Mom. “I told you they look fine on you.”
“Can I see them on you?” Nolan asked.
“No no no. I’m returning them, so you can’t.”
He pulled her into an almost-hug. “But I bet you look great in them. I mean, you look great in everything.” He lowered his head to whisper in her ear what Paige could make out was “and in nothing.”
Paige was about to crack up in nervousness at the private moment when Mom smacked his shoulder. “Okay, fine. I’ll show you tonight.”
“Thanks, Hails,” he said as he smiled widely at her, and Paige could’ve sworn he looked younger than mid-thirties in that moment.
“I gotta head out for class, and you’re driving the kids, right?”
He nodded as he glanced at Paige and Jerry.
“Be nice to him, alright?” She pointed a finger at them again before going to the garage.
Soon enough the trio followed Mom to the garage, with Mom driving her SUV and Nolan driving Paige and Jerry in his BMW sedan. They rarely went in his car, which didn’t turn out to be as smooth as Andrew the Spoiled Brat’s car since Nolan’s had aged for over a decade.
The first few minutes of the ride was deadly quiet, until Paige turned on the radio and switched to a rock station playing a 2000’s song. It brought back memories of her blaring Mom’s old radio to drown out her noisy fights and breakups. Those arguments were usually about the ex not caring about her kids or him never being at home.
If Nolan wanted to drive her and Jerry this morning, something might’ve definitely been going on, which was a nice change from what Paige saw over and over again. But what brought about this change?
He lowered the volume and cleared his throat. “So, I’ve been with you guys for, I believe, three years?”
Jerry nodded while Paige stayed quiet, waiting for some kind of ultimate moment she sensed he was about to get to.
“And you’ve lived at the house a little less than that. And I don’t mind it all. It’s like having a whole family--” He came to an abrupt stop at a stoplight. “Well, what I’m trying to say is, we’ve known each other for a while, and I’ve been with your mom just as long. And I even knew her way before you guys were born, back in the nineties when we were just in grade school. We go way back--”
“Nolan, what’s your point?” Paige asked as she rested her cheek against her fist.
He sat up straighter and cleared his throat again. “I, uh, wanna know what you think about me, um, proposing?”
“What?” Paige and Jerry exclaimed. Only, Jerry was hopping up and down on his seat while Paige simply stared at Nolan.
“Really?” Jerry asked, his eyes widening.
Nolan ran his fingers through his hair and then took his hand away as if his head was too hot. “I really do care about your mom, especially as an old friend. I think us getting married won’t change anything. It’ll just involve a wedding, which I’m sure she’d make a bigger deal than I would like to.” He grinned to himself. “But, you know, I just wanna see what you guys think.” His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel.
Paige looked over her shoulder to look at Jerry’s expression of shock mixed with delight. Of course he’d be taking this in well; Nolan helped him recover from his injuries inflicted by Owen the Drunk Bum and got him all kinds of physical and psychological therapies afterward. Paige was pretty sure those were the main reasons why Jerry’s smile emanated sunshine whenever he talked to Nolan.
The only good thing she saw in Nolan was the fact that so far he didn’t once hurt her mom in any shape or form.
Coming to think of it, how did her mom, especially with a background that screamed dysfunctional, get together with such a clean and perfect guy like Nolan Perez? Minus his divorce four years ago, he was a childhood friend of Mom’s growing up in the suburbs, moved to Washington state to go to college, and attended a medical school in the same area. But it got scarily coincidental when, after his divorce, he moved back to his hometown in California right when it was time to kick Mom’s drunk ex out of the house. As soon as the asshole was knocked out that night, Mom first called Nolan, who then called the cops before Owen could wake up. And just like any other romance novella sold at Walmart, Mom and Nolan let their nostalgia of a childhood friendship kindle a romantic love after sixteen years of separation.
But Paige still didn’t know if he was for real. The last person to be an expert on men was Mom, so who knew what Nolan would have in store for the three of them if he married Mom? His background, while flashy and flawless, could also hide some parts of him that Mom might not have known yet. Sixteen years was a pretty long time for someone to change.
Mom always forgave people, men included, so easily. But Paige’s heart had hardened long ago, even after Mom dated Brandon Moore, a nasty, pedophilic fuck, and even after Paige broke up with Carter and dealt with the lifelong consequences. It was why she felt close to nothing when guys lined up, got what they wanted and left, and the same always happened to her mom. Anything with a penis was not to be trusted.
“Well,” Jerry said, his voice interrupting her thoughts, as well as reminding her he was the only exception to her view of the male sex. “To me, I think it’s about time you’re proposing.”
“Really?” Nolan said.
“It feels like you’re already part of the family, so…” He shrugged.
“Oh. Thanks.” The corners of his lips lifted and his shoulders relaxed. “What do you think, Paige?”
She looked out the window and semi-wished she didn’t know about his plan in the first place. “I don’t know.”
The silence that followed told her she might’ve made a bad mark on her relationship with Nolan. She didn’t know if she felt bad about that or not.
He came to a stop in front of Walmart. “Have a good day at work!” he said as he waved at Jerry.
Jerry stepped out of the car and waved back before closing the door.
As Nolan took the usual route to Paige’s school, she drummed her fingers on the armrest of her car door. The sound was better than the silence that egged her to spill everything she was thinking.
But then Nolan let out a breath and said, “Are you not okay with this?”
She continued to stare out her window. “I don’t know you that much. I don’t know if you’re worth it.”
“You can ask me anything you want. I’m not hiding anything.”
Paige studied him. “If you divorced your last wife, what makes you think you can marry my mom?” His eyes widened at the road. He did say she could ask anything.
“It didn’t work out with Nancy because we never made enough time for each other, even in the five years we were together. It was like going through the motions of what was expected of us. And we didn’t have any kids ‘cause she didn’t want any, which was fine by me. But then I realized that my whole life, up until I was with her, I always dreamed of having kids with someone. A whole family, especially with a woman I love and care about deeply. And then I realized Nancy didn’t feel like a family to me, without kids and without any real connection between us.” He glanced sideways at Paige. “And when I came back, the only woman I was waiting for my whole life turned out to be my best friend and your mother. And she has such amazing kids that she raised so well, even with all of the idiots that broke her heart. I don’t think I’m just another one of them because I actually know your mom, and our friendship never failed even after I was gone for so long. Sometimes I actually think I was better off not leaving, ‘cause I didn’t feel truly happy back in Washington until moving back here. Not just because I have a better job here, but I’m around people I grew up with, including your mom. She’s the only one that gives me this sense of clarity...if that makes sense.”
Somehow, Paige had managed to forget her suspicions about him somewhere in the middle of his lengthy monologue. What shocked her the most, though, was the fact that he was willing to be so open about his thoughts with her.
But he seemed to take her silence the wrong way when he said quickly, “But I get it if you don’t trust me after dealing with all of her boyfriends. It’s fair to be on the safe side--”
“No.”
“What?”
She shook her head to herself as she fumbled for the right words. “I mean, no, I guess you’re not like the others. I just need to think about this some more.”
He nodded. “Sure thing. And just so you know, I won’t actually propose until I get the okay from you guys.”
“Oh.” She stared ahead at her school approaching. “Well, your decision doesn’t have to depend on us. This is about you and Mom.”
“And also you and Jerry. After all, you’re her family, and I just want to be a part of your family too.”
Paige didn’t stop herself from smiling as he pulled up to the sidewalk. If it took a guy this much dedication, he might’ve actually been for real.
“Thanks for dropping us off,” she said as she picked up her stuff from the floor and opened the car door.
“No problem.” He waved at her before driving away to work.
Turning to the school, she still couldn’t believe she was even thinking of adding Nolan to her extremely short list of exceptions to her perception of the male sex, which was dominated by testosterone and uncontrollable libido worsened by male-oriented internet porn.
But that list of exceptions, without a doubt, wasn't going to have any more additions. If it did, she would be living in a pretty fucked up alternate universe.
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