Page 173 of The Incredible Ordinary

“Which was inconvenient,” I venture a guess. “Because it required some modifications to the plan?”

Rory is quiet for a bit. Another flick of his gaze follows.

“Not too many. It doesn’t really matter who pays in the end,” he says. “As long as they pay.”

Unexpectedly, even to myself, I laugh out loud. “Pragmatic.” I turn my head and look at him. “Why did you agree to this?”

I’m still not judging. Mainly just curious.

“I was gonna get a cut of the money. And then…” He shrugs.

“You have options.” I echo the words from that conversation long ago. “You’re tall for your age. And you can get a job. Because you know how to do lots of things.”

He sends me a small smirk, like it’s a shared joke. The smirk is gone a second later, though.

“Why didn’t you go through with it?” I ask. “I would’ve paid.”

“Things started to feel different. Sort of like maybe you wanted me here. And then I didn’t want to do it anymore. Dallas’s plan. He called a lot, and I ignored him, but he just didn’t stop. He showed up at our place a little while ago and caught me before soccer practice.”

“What?” I snap my head toward him.

“I told him I didn’t want to do it anymore.”

“I feel like there’s a but coming.”

“He got angry, but then Jordan and Theo came to pick me up, and Dallas took off.” He looks at me properly then. “Jordan said I would have to tell you about what happened. He didn’t know who Dallas was or anything. And I said I would.”

“But you didn’t.”

He shakes his head.

I rub my face and sigh. “Okay. Okay. But then last night? How did we get there?”

He bites his lower lip. The tension is palpable. I could cut it with a knife.

“I overheard Jordan when he said you were leaving.”

Christ, I’m an idiot.

“And I…” Rory says. “I…”

“You were angry. And hurt,” I guess.

He nods.

“And I figured, well, if you didn’t care and were leaving anyway…” His voice trails off, and he sniffs. He dashes his arm over his eyes with a quick, sharp movement, but then he sniffs again.

“Kid,” I say with a sigh. And then I scooch closer and put my arm over his shoulders before I remember I shouldn’t, but he doesn’t freak out or try to escape. He just sits still, eyes on the floor. I wait until the sniffing subsides and his shoulders stop shaking.

“If… if you want to send me away after this?” he says, his voice so quiet it’s almost a whisper. “I understand.”

“Hey.” I nudge his foot with mine and wait until he looks at me. “This is your home. Here. With all of us. For as long as you want it. So I guess the question is, do you want it to be?”

I wait with bated breath and jangling nerves. I almost don’t recognize myself. I’ve strolled through life for over thirty years with very few emotions on display or even inside me. I figured that was just the kind of person I was.

But now I’m starting to wonder if maybe it’s not that I lack feelings. Maybe it’s that for most of my life I’ve never truly wanted something as badly as I want this life I’ve accidentally stumbled into.

And now, looking at Rory and seeing the oh so careful look of hope in his eyes, it feels like another piece clicking into place.