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"Yeah, go dowhatever it is you all do now And we’ll just take hi hi out"

I stared atin I wanted to spend time with Coen, and despite dinner just nowI still wasn’t ready for the three of us to hang out together So nights when Parker ith my parents were the only time I would be able to see hi for hi"

Mom waved me off and held her hand out for Parker "We’ll be fine"

Turning, I found Coen watching , "Is it--­uh, is it okay if I crash your night?"

Coen’s dark gaze flitted over toback on o to my place and chill I just need Hudson to take et an nodded as he continued talking to Erica about driving arrangements

"Can I take you? I mean--­I can take you," I blurted out before I could talk ht then," he said after a few seconds, and said good-­bye tothat," Coen said as he put the address in my GPS ere in my car

"What?"

"For you to ask if you could drive , you weren’t exactly happy that they thought we’d hung out at the park God forbid they know about Friday night"

"Coen--­"

"You should probably start driving before your brother co here"

I bit back a sigh and pulled the car out of the spot beforelot "I’ I have avoided uy in our life, and ree, but they know that They’ve triedI don’t knoAnd not once have I even considered it You sa pissed off I hen they all went behind my back to set me up on that double date with you And then you"--­I futo say It didn’t "You were there, and for the first ti with so

"But, trustmyself out of it so many times I didn’t want to want you Parker and I are fine by ourselves, and throwing a guy into that can just s e’re in such a good place now?" I noring their atteet Parker and me to a place where we don’t need anyone, and then suddenly have there be this guy in the picture?"

"I" Coen huffed "I still don’t get it Okay, so you didn’t want to date a bunch of randouys Because of that you can’t tell the someone? They want you to see ­people Your brother tried to set us up You just said all three of theet us on a double date"

"Yeah, but you don’t know ed But you had to have noticed how Keegan reacted, and all he knows about is the park"

When he didn’t respond, I glanced over at hiot pregnant with Parker, I didn’t stop going to school Even after he was born I continued going until I graduated froh school Granted, I had to ask my mom to watch him while I was there because I didn’t have a job then As soon as I graduated I got a job and moved out with Parker six months later I wanted to put hi in control of everything ‘Control’wordI’m not a control freak It’s justif I can’t handle so on my own, it scares me When Austin left me--­"

"Austin?"

"Parker’s dad When he left, I was deter a baby in high school, but I didn’t want to be a statistic, you know? So ever since that day when he broke up with me, I have to be able to handle every situation by le et by Because Austin left us and it was so bad with my parents at first when they found out, I knew I had to be a certain way for Parker So I hate asking for help I like knowing I can do it on my own But my family still thinks they need to watch out for Parker andanyone else to do it So even though they wantso he would be good for ree"

Coen didn’t say anything, and because of the traffic, I couldn’t look at hi ht Keegan was looking at you like an ene you up, my momGod, my mom--­"