His hands are balled into fists, his entire body wound tight with tension. Something about it just feels so wrong to me. He shouldn’t have feelings this big, this thorny, this dark.
“Then we don’t have to invite him.” I put my hand on Josh’s shoulder. His trembles run through me as his eyes dart to mine, then away again. “He’s not invited, okay?”
He nods and I bite down on my tongue to keep the tears from spilling over. “Why don’t you go get ready for bed, sweetheart? I have a quick call to make and then I’ll come tuck you in.”
The moment he leaves the kitchen, I grab my phone and scramble through the window onto the fire escape. I dial in Ruslan’s number—embarrassingly, I know it by heart—and wait for him to pick up. I start babbling as soon as he answers.
“He doesn’t know how to be a
