Chapter 93

“Hey…” I tried for his hand, but he tucked it away under the table. “Spencer, I know I messed up. And I’ve been thinking about it really long and hard and I’m ready to make some changes. Some serious changes.”

“I wanna go home.” He drew back into his seat. “I’m gonna call Mom.”

“Wait. Don’t call Mom. Let me just—” I took a shallow breath. “Come on, hold on a second here. Gimme a chance, will you?”

He slipped his phone out of his pocket. His eyes were furious. How much had I hurt him?

Here was this little kid, this little man, holding back the tears, trying to be tough, staring back at me with eyes that both threatened and implored me to let him leave. I owed him respect. Some kind of reverence. “All right,” I said, my voice choking. “I’ll drive you.”

In the car, we sat in silence. It was the shortest drive in the world. We were in front of Mona’s house before I’d even had the chance to take a deep breath and try to regain some kind of composure.