Page 58 of The Incredible Ordinary

He’s almost in the doorway when he stops, turns around, and comes back. He picks up his plate and fork and quickly puts them in the dishwasher. A second later he’s gone again.

I purse my lips for a moment before I take the laptop and open it again with renewed determination.

Whatever happens once my year here is over, I’m gonna give this kid a home. Somehow.

I smilewhen I see Jordan at the side of the field. He’s wearing a baseball cap backward and a hoodie.

He grins when he notices me approaching.

I ignore the way my soul lights up at his proximity. All of this—everything—is getting out of hand.

I lean my elbows on the railing, shoulder to shoulder with Jordan.

Rory comes out last, as always, but then Theo is waiting at the gate that leads to the field, and they walk over to the others side by side.

My shoulders refuse to relax as I watch Rory. I’m not really expecting anything to go wrong, I’m just an uptight motherfucker now when it comes to that kid.

“Breathe,” Jordan murmurs from his spot next to me.

I turn my head to look at him.

He smiles and shrugs.

“Just breathe.”

I take the advice.

Aiden is out like a light,snoring softly. It’s well past midnight, and sometime in the last half hour, it started to rain.

I’m flicking through the channels, feet on the coffee table, too awake to go to bed, but too tired to do anything else other than sit here and mindlessly watch nothing in particular.

There’s a shuffling noise from the hallway, and when I look to the side, I find Rory standing in the doorway.

I raise my brows at him.

“You should be sleeping,” I say quietly, so I don’t accidentally wake Aiden, even if I’m not entirely sure it’s possible in his current state.

Rory’s eyes move over Aiden and me. He doesn’t say anything, just fidgets, his gaze jumping all over the place. There’s a nervous edge to the air surrounding him. An anxious restlessness that seeps into everything.

“Just getting water,” he mutters, but instead of doing that, he starts to turn around to leave.

“You’ve ever seen this?” I pointing at the TV.

He hesitates. “No.”

“It’s really good.”

It’s an action movie from the eighties. Not one of the classics. One of those that went straight to video even back then.

Rory frowns at the screen but steps closer. He comes to the couch and sinks down on the edge of it, eyes on the screen. He stays very still, so after a bit, I get up and go get him that glass of water.

He looks even more startled when I hold it out for him.

“Thanks?” he says, looking between me and the glass several times before he finally takes it.

I settle back in and throw him a blanket. “You know you can lean against the backrest? It won’t fall off.”

He scrunches his nose but scooches backward until he’s slouching like a normal person. It takes a few more minutes for him to unfold the blanket and burrow under it.