The Delicate Art of Living Off of Caffeine

Chapter 23

 "Wow, I didn't think you'd actually show up."

Instead of answering, Cassius sat down across from Ro at the cafe she picked out, crossing his legs like he hated being seen in public with her. She had to physically stop herself from cackling at the sight.

"If you're going to ask where my son is, I don't know."

"Oh, I know where he is." Desperation flashed in his eyes at her comment before being schooled away. Perfect. "I'm here to ask you why."

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

She sat up straighter, swirling her drink in front of her. Old Fancypants didn't bother to order anything. "And that's where you're wrong. When you push your kid to run away, it becomes my business."

"He's staying at a...friend's house at the moment."

"Sure, his 'friend's' house. If that's what helps you sleep at night."

Ever so slightly, Ro could see Cassius' hands shake under the glass table top. "I still don't see why you dragged me here."

I'm starting to question that too, Ro huffed. Even if she hated this man's guts, she could see how much it hurt Keefe to leave.

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"Ro?"

"What?" The woman growled into her phone. "Unless you have a life or death reason for calling me, I'm going to poison your water bottle."

Something rustled on Keefe's end of the line. "I need you to get something from my house."

"And why can't you get it yourself?"

"Because I'm not there."

Ro sat up fully in her bed. Maybe he really did have a reason to call her at the ass crack of dawn. "Where are you? Do you need me to pick you up?"

"No, I'm fine." The rustling came back although, on second thought, it sounded more like sniffling. "I'm at Dex's house. Look, I just need some clothes-"

Slowly, Ro's eyes adjusted to the brightness cutting through her still-dark room. "Wait a second. What happened?"

"It's nothing too bad."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Keefe let out a long breath. "Last night, I invited Dex over."

"And? You were all hyped about it."

"I'm getting there." Irritation crackled into his voice. Good, that was at least better than just being sad. "Cassius was supposed to be gone for the whole weekend, but he came back early. He..he saw Dex and I together and freaked out...so I left."

"You left?" Ro asked. Frankly, that sounded like a cause for celebration.

"Yeah. Dex said that I could stay at his place for now."

Ro rubbed her eyes, very tempted to burrow back into her blankets and wait for her actual alarm to get her up. Curse being a functional adult who won't just let a teenager run away. "What's the longevity of this plan?"

"I... don't know."

At this rate, he'll probably end up moving in with me, but that's not the main problem. "Are you okay?"

"I'm about as good as you'd expect?"

And that's supposed to be reassuring? "Are you going to elaborate?"