Free Running Interference by Elley Arden

myself in, and then I decided to stay. It’s true, Aunt T. My mom’s moving to Chicago, and my dad isn’t going to stop her. He said I don’t have a choice. But I do. I want to live with you.”
    Ugh.
Tanya wrapped an arm around him and held on. He couldn’t live here. She knew enough about child custody from being a teacher to know it didn’t work that way. But now was not the time to argue with him. “I’m so sorry you’re stuck in the middle of this.” Damn divorce. Dependent people. Messy feelings. Strings.
    He cried into her chest, and she leaned her chin on his head and cried a little too. A tissue box appeared in her peripheral vision.
Cam.
He was holding out a box of tissue and smoothing his free hand over her back.
    “I’m sorry,” she mouthed. Nothing like opening a delicious carton of ice cream, only to watch it melt. She snatched a couple tissues from the box Cam was holding, and then she offered them to Jace.
    “Are you going to make me go home?” He looked up at her, and the sadness on his face widened the crack in her heart.
    She shook her head. “No, but I do need to call your mom to let her know you’re safe.”
    “I should go,” Cam said.
    “No!” Jace looked at Cam and then back at her. “Can’t he stay and hang out with us? That would be so cool.”
    She looked up at Cam. “If you’re free, you’re welcome to stay. We can have ice cream.” She grinned.
    He nodded, and when he sat beside Jace on the other end of the couch, she excused herself to make that call.
    When her sister-in-law, Marissa, didn’t answer, Tanya called her brother, Tyler, and lit into him. Of course, Tyler wanted to come get Jace immediately, but Tanya warned him that might make things worse.
    “Give him the night to calm down and get some rest,” she said. “Maybe he’ll feel better in the morning. And by then, you and Marissa can formulate a plan, because whatever you have right now isn’t working.”
    It was all about the plan.
    By the time she returned to the living room, Cam and Jace where sitting side-by-side on the sofa, deep in conversation. So deep it made her stop just inside the hallway.
    “There’s a lot of cool stuff that comes with being famous,” Cam said.
    Jace nodded. “I bet you get all the hot chicks.”
    Cam laughed. “I do okay.”
    Her gut clenched. He’d always gotten the hot chicks. From the head cheerleader to the movie star. And yeah, she was jealous. Who wouldn’t be? When he’d had them, he didn’t seem to need her. Good thing she wouldn’t have to worry about that this time.
    “Have you ever been to Chicago?” Jace asked. The way he stared up at Cam with so much emotion in his eyes had her praying Cam would be careful with this answer.
    “I have.” Cam said. “I’m usually there once a year. It’s a great place.”
    She exhaled. Hearing about the positives of Chicago from a guy like Cam might make things easier for Jace.
    “What’s so great about it? It’s probably just like any other city.”
    Cam shook his head. “You mean like here? Nah. Chicago is way better than here. It’s a lot bigger, and bigger is always better.” He smiled. “They have awesome food, like deep-dish pizza
.
So good! There’s a lot more to do, too. They have a pier that runs out into Lake Michigan with all these rides and games. I’m talking a huge Ferris wheel. You can see for miles. And, Chicago has two professional baseball teams. I mean, how cool is that?”
    Alright. She didn’t love that he said Chicago was way better than here, but she appreciated what he was trying to do. Besides, two professional baseball teams
was
pretty cool.
    “I guess it sounds okay,” Jace said.
    “I’ll tell you something else,” Cam continued, but quieter. “I’m only here because I want my mom to move to Boston with me. I’ve been trying to get her to leave Cleveland since I was drafted, but she’s stubborn. If she wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be here. You know what I mean?”
    Tanya