After filing his company for bankruptcy, Kyle's wife leaves him and his three-year-old son. Now a forty-two-year-old divorcee with no parenting skills or money, Kyle decides to move back to the small home town he grew up in.
He should have lost all...
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The rest of the ride was silent apart from when Kyle had to ask where exactly Chaska lived. It was a little apartment in a small complex nestled in the town center. Kyle had pulled the car to a stop right in front of it, and Chaska had stared out into the night with a blank look on his face.
Kyle's heart was racing. If Chaska didn't step out fast, he might lose his cool and start sniffling. The man's words tore into him like a blade, but Chaska didn't seem to realize the effect of his standoffish words.
"Aren't you getting down?" Kyle managed to ask through his ragged breathing. Chaska turned to look at him before turning his attention back to the window on his side.
"I don't know," Chaska replied, letting out a little sigh as he ran his fingers down the gym bag he had pulled up to his lap somewhere along the way. "Things feel tense. Did I do something?" he asked, making the blood drain out of Kyle's face.
Did he do something?
Does he really have no idea? Kyle wondered. The blond opened his mouth to say something, but he could only manage a sigh. He took his hands off the steering wheel, running his fingers through his hair as he looked out into the neighborhood.
"I'll be honest and say yes," Kyle said, turning to look at Chaska. "But you can't really tell me you don't know what you did, can you?" Kyle asked, raising a brow at Chaska who had turned to face him. The man was looking at him with a confused frown. He really didn't seem to know what he had done. Kyle was starting to think he was just sensitive.
"You know what? Forget I said anything," he found himself rambling as he looked away from Chaska. "I was probably over-reading things." He did that sometimes. It wasn't beyond speculation that he did that here too.
"Can you tell me what I did?" Chaska asked, ignoring Kyle. Chaska went quiet, his eyelids lowering as he stared down at Kyle's lap.
"Why do you act like I'm bothering you when I do or say anything that's dating-related?" Kyle asked. "Back in the farm you just told me 'sure' when I asked if you could try dating. When I texted you, asking if you got back safe you just replied, 'I did', and back in the parking lot you said it was a date if I wanted it to be one. I don't know if I'm reading things right, but do you even want to do any of this? Should we just pretend I never said anything back in Brook's farm?" Kyle could feel his heart rate pique up as the words left his lips. He wasn't sure how Chaska would react. He was too afraid to look to his side and see.
"Oh."
Oh? Is that it? Kyle wondered, feeling both confused and upset.
"It has nothing to do with you. I just get a little overwhelmed, is all," Chaska said. Kyle finally found the courage to look over at him. The man had his hands folded on top of his gym bag. His face was blank, and his mouth slightly parted as if he was waiting for words to come out. "To be honest I feel kind of numb. Nothing's really worked out for me relationship-wise, so you can say I'm trying not to be too optimistic," he said as his eyes flickered from his hands on his bag to Kyle, and then back to his bag again. He brought his thumb to his mouth, nibbling at the nail as he looked out of the car's window in the direction of the apartment complex.
