By the time the carnival closes, Theo is fast asleep in his mother's arms while Patrick is demoted to toy carrier.
His arms are stuffed with prizes ranging from dinosaurs to a plush elephant (a prize he'd won for Teresa). Since he'd grown up on a carnival himself he knew all the tricks of the game booths and how to win prizes even with it rigged. The amount of bewildered looks he got from the workers and even some parents is laughable.
As Teresa sits Theo in the car and buckles him in his car seat, Patrick stacks the toys up in the backseat with a smug look on his face. This night has undoubtedly been one of the most enjoyable nights he's had in a while, and it's all because of a beautiful woman and her son.
"What are you smiling at?" Teresa questions once they're seated up front, an eyebrow raised in his direction.
He starts the car and begins to pull out of the lot. "I'm smiling because I had a wonderful time with you and Theo tonight."
Out of the corner of his eye he sees her smile and blush. "I had a wonderful time as well. I'm sure Theo did too. You must've spent a fortune on those games."
He shrugs. "Meh. It was worth seeing the big smile on his face. He's really an adorable kid."
She nods shyly, averting her eyes to her lap. He has the sudden urge to reach over and take her hand in his, so without a second thought he does just that.
She blinks in surprise but doesn't remove her hand from his. Their fingers interlock and he relishes the moment, her small, soft hand safely encased in his.
Minutes pass before she interrupts the silence. "I'm still waiting to hear that carnie story of yours."
He stiffens in his seat. He's completely forgotten about telling her he grew up on a carnival. His childhood wasn't a great one; it mostly consisted of his father exploiting and beating him when he came back with less money than what he wanted. His mother had died giving birth to him, so he was raised by his mess of a father. The only good part of living the carnie life was meeting Angela. When he saw her for the first time, it was love at first sight. They ended up running away together two weeks later.
It's a lot of information to pack on Teresa, so he decides to lay off the details and tell the simple truth. "Ah, right. Well there isn't much to say. I grew up as a carnie. My father worked on a carnival and I helped out as best I could."
Her eyes are curious. "What'd you guys do?"
Well, better now than never, he thinks. "We gave readings to customers."
"Readings? Like psychic readings?"
His jaw ticks. "Yes. We ran a psychic booth. My father insisted that we'd make a lot of money and I was a kid with nothing better to do. I didn't understand that what we were doing was cruel until way later."
"So...you pretended to read minds?" She queries, trying to grasp onto an understanding. "Did you talk to the dead and stuff?"
He chuckles humorlessly. "I read peoples' expressions and body language. It's rather easy to tell if they've lost someone close to them just by looking into their eyes. I pretended to talk to their dead loved ones and give them a sense of peace. It was a lie, of course, since I can't actually talk to the dead, but they didn't know that. They were happy with the hope I provided."
Teresa falls silent for a moment, and he's worried he's upset her and she'll no longer want anything to do with him. This is why he doesn't tell people about his past. Everyone's quick to judge. He doesn't blame them, but it doesn't hurt any less.
"I'm sorry," he voices when the silence becomes deafening. "If you no longer want to see me, I understand."
She finally looks at him, her green eyes juggling all kinds of emotions he can't name. "Of course I want to continue seeing you. I'm not upset. You were just a kid and your father made you deceive people, right?"
He nods. "He's always been a part of the carnie life. I had no other path to take."
"Okay then. It's not your fault. I can tell that conning people was never something you enjoyed doing." She sends him a small smile and squeezes his hand, a reminder that their fingers are still joined.
He exhales a breath of relief. This woman is more than he deserves. He's incredibly lucky to have met her and the little boy sleeping behind him. He feels more at ease when they're around, and Teresa's endless kindness and patience only makes him fall for her more.
Holy shit. He's falling for her. Hard.
The new revelation shocks him. He never thought he'd catch feelings for a woman ever again, but then Teresa crashes into his life and knocks it off-kilter. It's been so long since he's felt this way. Since he's felt happy.
Teresa and Theo make him happy.
He squeezes her hand, his chest feeling ten times lighter. "Thank you."
When they arrive at her place and she unbuckles her seatbelt, he lunges over and cups her chin to bring her lips to his. The kiss is short and sweet, but the passion in it is unmistakable.
Her lips are perfect and tasted just as he'd imagined. He sees the surprise flicker in her green eyes when he pulls away, but a tiny smile ghosts across her lips.
"Do I have permission to see you again?" His finger traces her jaw, his eyes staring deeply into hers.
She pretends to think about it. "Hm. I suppose."
"You suppose?" He raises an eyebrow before leaning in and capturing her inviting lips for another quick kiss.
They break apart and her eyes flutter open. "If you keep kissing me like that, I may never let you go."
He grins. "Maybe that's what I want."
"Ever the charmer." She ignores his pout as she pushes open the car door and slips out. She heaves a sleeping Theo into her arms and peers into the front seat. "Thank you for the day. We really enjoyed it."
"It was my pleasure," he says wistfully, watching as she shuts the door and makes her way to the porch. He remains parked at the curb until she's safely inside and then drives away, all while the scene of their kiss replays in his mind.
XxX
"Sweetie, put your toys away and eat your dinner so you can go to bed."
"Okay mama," Theo mumbled disappointedly. He pushed his toy dinosaurs to the side and dragged his bowl of spaghetti towards him as his mother fixed a bowl for his father.
"Are you excited to see daddy tonight?" She asked him while setting the table for herself and Evan, who was about to be home from his week-long business trip. Her fiancé was an entrepreneur and was away quite often, so she always tried to make the most of it when he came back home.
Theo shrugged. "I guess."
"You guess?"
"Yeah."
She wanted to question him further, but before she could, the door unlocked and was pushed open. Footsteps trekked into the house and soon she caught sight of Evan, his chestnut brown hair tousled and a slight scowl on his face.
She mustered a loving smile as he entered the kitchen, hoping his bad mood would wilt once he ate dinner. Instead of sitting down at the table, though, he brushed past her and snatched a beer from the fridge.
"How was your trip?" She asked softly, afraid to provoke him. He was frightening when he was angry.
"Fine," he answered bitterly, not even looking at her.
"Anything interesting happen?"
She jumped when he slammed his beer on the table. "You always ask so many goddamn questions. It's annoying."
"I was just wondering— "
"I don't give a damn," he snapped, inching towards her with venom dripping from his words. Her back was soon pressed against the sink and his face was millimeters away from hers. "I had a long ass week and all I want to do is have a beer and watch the game, but your ass has to fucking talk all the damn time. I swear, if you didn't have that pussy of yours I would've left you a long time ago."
She froze, staring up at him with watery eyes. This wasn't the first time they'd had a fight like this, but his words were so harsh she couldn't stop the tears from coming.
"Oh, god," he groaned. "Of course you're fucking crying. You're either yapping or crying. Do something useful for once in your life."
In that moment she remembered Theo. Her eyes darted to him, finding the little boy watching them with wide, scared eyes. He was unmoving and downright terrified.
"Evan," she said, trying to steady her voice. "You're scaring Theo."
"I don't give a fuck 'bout that boy," the man hissed. "I didn't want him in the first place."
"Then you shouldn't have fucked me without a condom."
Her mind didn't register the slap until she felt the burning pain in her cheek.
"You fucking bitch." His fingers curled around her throat, forcing her closer. "Don't you ever talk back to me. Do you understand? Huh?"
"Let go of me," she demanded, her vision scattered with tears. "Let go of me, Evan."
His grip tightened on her throat. "Don't tell me what to do."
"Mama," she heard Theo cry, and she tried to wrestle out of Evan's grasp, but he was just too strong. "Daddy, stop it!"
"Shut up, boy!"
"You're hurting mama!"
Evan released her with a huff and she crumbled to the floor. "God, you two are insufferable. Fuckin' embarrassing, both of you."
Seconds later, she heard the door slam shut.
"Mama." Theo's small voice reached out to her. "Mama, are you okay?"
She gulped down a mouthful of air and nodded. "I'm okay, baby."
The boy scrambled off the chair, running towards her and throwing his arms around her. She hugged him back, cradling his head as silent tears ran down her cheeks.
Evan never returned.
She wakes up gasping for air, the blanket feeling like it is suffocating her.
She kicks it off and slides out of bed, padding into the bathroom to splash her face with water. Her nightmares vary from different moments with him, but the one where he left them replays most in her mind.
Her hand absently lifts to touch her throat. She can still feel his fingers cutting off her oxygen, can still remember the menace glare in his eyes.
He hadn't always been that way. She hadn't even known he could possess such rage until the first year into their relationship. At first it was just little arguments over work, then it became verbal fights that ended with him leaving and her crying. He'd never put his hands on her until that night. It was like something inside him snapped.
He never came back after that, not even to pack a bag with his things. He just up and left. To this day she has no idea where he went or what he's doing now, and to be honest she doesn't care. Her and Theo are better off without him.
She leaves the bathroom and peeks into Theo's room to check on him. He's still fast asleep in his racecar bed and she smiles. As much as she despises Evan, she could never regret him giving her Theo.
The little boy is the best thing to ever happen to her.
She returns to her room and climbs back into bed. The alarm clock on her nightstand reads 4:33 A.M. and she groans. She has to get up soon yet she can't fall back asleep no matter how hard she tries.
She shifts in bed before she gives up and gropes for her phone on the nightstand. She doesn't want to disturb him but needs to hear his voice.
The day they'd had was nothing short of perfect, and she hates that her happiness is being cut off by a nightmare. She still remembers the feeling of Patrick's soft, sweet lips on hers. It's easily the best kiss she's ever had. She'd fallen asleep thinking of him, yet woke up from a nightmare of the man who'd ruined her.
She just wants it all to be over.
He picks up on the third ring, his voice groggy. "Teresa?"
She winces. Guilt surfaces for waking him up.
"Hey, sorry for waking you up," she apologizes.
She hears him yawn sleepily. "No worries. I like hearing your voice."
A flock of butterflies swarm her stomach. His voice is thick with sleep and she can only imagined how he looks right now— eyes half-open, curls astray, possibly even bare chested...
She snaps out of her thoughts and redirects her attention to the phone in her hand. She doesn't know how to respond, but luckily he changes the subject.
"Is something wrong?"
Now he sounds concerned. She doesn't blame him. She's the idiot who'd woken him up at four thirty in the damn morning because of a stupid nightmare she's had many times before.
The only person who knows about her nightmares is Grace. Her best friend knows all about her past relationship with Evan; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Even Wayne knows some pieces about what happened, but not all of it.
She doesn't want to dump her problems onto Patrick on the first week into their relationship. Hell, it isn't even a relationship. They've kissed once. As much as she wishes they could amount to something more, she knows it'll only end with a broken heart. Her broken heart.
She sighs inaudibly, then says, "nothing's wrong. Sorry. Go back to sleep."
He speaks before she can hang up. "You can't fool me, Teresa. I can tell by your voice that something's wrong."
Of course he can. He is the most observant person she knows. Or maybe she's just a terrible actress even over the phone.
"It's nothing important," she mumbles shyly.
"Teresa, it's obviously important if it's keeping you awake. If something's bothering you, you can tell me."
As much as she wants to, she can't air her dirty laundry to him like that. So instead, she comes up with a proposal.
"I will. Later," she assures him. "But for now, can you...can you stay on the phone with me? Just until I fall asleep."
"Of course," he replies softly, his voice a caress along her skin.
"Thank you."
"Try to get some sleep. I'm right here."
She snuggles into the covers with her phone cradled to her chest, the sound of his soft breathing already easing her nerves. She doesn't know how he's able to make her feel safe without even being here.
Within a few minutes, she's sound asleep.