All Chapters of The Way He Looked at Me: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

The one with red hair,” Jonah replied, a little glum.Nathan’s face lit up. “Alright, then let’s check with your dad with brown hair instead.”It’s moments like this that make me love kids and, at the same time, shake my head at adults. Prejudice isn’t innate, it's taught. Somewhere along the way, some grown-up decides to plant hate in a child’s heart because of who someone loves. Assholes.Nathan hops down from his stool and heads to the sink. “All done?” I ask.“Mm-hmm. Thanks, Daddy. That was fun. How long until Aria picks me up?”I glance at my watch. “Still about seven hours.”He groans. &ldqu

“Nathan shouts advice over his shoulder about backhands. Cole glances at me, almost like he’s saying, See what I have to deal with? And I grin, helpless, caught in some ridiculous orbit of admiration and distraction.The shorts. They are getting worse. The fabric clings, tracing muscles I didn’t know I could notice this much. His glutes, his quads, every damn line of him sculpted like he was built for my eyeballs. Who even allowed this? Who designed these shorts for men and thought it wouldn’t break people?“…for the rest of the day?” His voice pulls me out of my

I blink. His grin is insistent, hopeful, mischievous… and utterly irresistible. Cole shakes his head, chuckles, and relents. “Okay, one more. But aim carefully at Carter's wearing nice clothes.” I stiffen, trying not to collapse into full-body laughter at the tiny compliment. Cole shifts slightly, bracing, leaning into the inevitable spray. Nathan lifts the hose and drench Cole completely. Water arcs through the air, bouncing off him, streaming through his hair. His lashes cling together, wet. His hair fans out, a dark halo against the sunlight. He laughs, shaking his head. The sound is deep, rolling, and magnetic. It fills the yard. My chest tightens. My stomach flips. Time feels thinner, stretched. Nathan drops the hose onto the grass. “Daddy,&rdqu

Cole Williams POVNathan is off today. His sleep was a mess last night, and it shows. All morning, he moved like a cloud of gloom, dragging his feet, barely speaking. By midday, he’d snapped at me twice over nothing, small bursts of anger laced with exhaustion. I tried to lift him took him to the skate shop right after breakfast, thinking new wheels might spark something. Maybe it did a little, but we missed coffee with Cole again, and I can’t shake the thought that missing those few minutes with him might have knocked Nathan further off balance than the skates could ever fix.I’ve tried coaxing him to talk. To let it out. To speak Mera’s name aloud, let it echo and fall, to cry if he needs. I’ve done all the right things or at least, what I think are the right things but nothing seems to touch him. He just sits there, like grief has him pinned, pressin

Nathan’s eyelids start drooping before I even notice the time. One second he’s blinking slowly, the next he’s practically asleep on his feet. Carter and I have already opened another bottle of wine downstairs, so I push myself up and say quickly, “Don’t disappear on me yet. I’ll be right back.”I scoop Nathan into my arms and head for the stairs.“He’s exhausted,” I add over my shoulder. “Give him five minutes. He’ll be out cold.”Upstairs is dim and peaceful. Nathan barely stirs as I tuck him into bed. Within seconds his breathing evens out, soft and steady.Just like that he’s gone.I linger for a moment, watching him, then slip out and pull the door shut.The house feels different when I walk back downstairs.Not empty.Occupied.Warm.And the strange thing is… I like it.I descend the stairs slower than usual, aware that someone is waiting for me at the bottom. Carter is stretched out on the couch, legs folded under him, holding his empty wine glass like it’s something fragile. Hi