"What?" I ask her irritatingly.
"Your turn to make dinner. Let's go!" She says, trying to rush me.
I send her a glare before walking in. "What's wrong with you?" She asks me.
"I was talking to Austin!"
"It's not like you have a crush on him or something! Wait, do you like him?"
"What? No!"
"You have a boyfriend, Nicole."
"Kate, shut up. I don't like him. He's just the father of my child. That's it."
"Sure." She says. Her phone suddenly rings and she checks it. She gives me a sheepish smile.
"Aren't you going to answer that?"
"Um, yeah." She says before pressing answer. She presses the phone up to her ear. "Hello?" There's a small moment of silence. I try to listen to the other side discreetly, but I can't hear it. "Yeah, just let me go to my room."
She runs to the stairs and I follow her quietly, trying to listen to her talk as she walks up the stairs. "I can't tonight... Because they won't understand! If everyone knew I was dating someone younger than me, then-... Because I can't!... I'll talk later." She ends her conversation with an irritated sigh.
I walk into the kitchen and start dinner. She's dating someone? And he's younger than us? Who the heck is this guy?
"Ow!" I yell. I look down and realize that I've burnt myself because I wasn't paying attention. Caden walks in with Tommy and the two look over at me with questioning expressions.
"Burnt myself." I tell them.
"Run it under cold water." Caden tells me.
"Thanks Caden." I say sarcastically, already walking over to the sink. The two follow me and stop beside me.
"I have a job for you two."
"What?" Tommy asks eagerly.
"Well, I heard Kate talking about a guy that she's dating. We'll ask her about it tonight, but she might not tell the truth. If she doesn't, you two are going to be my spies." I give them all the details and Tommy's eyes get impossibly wider with each sentence as Caden nods happily beside him.
Once I'm finished, I ask the two if they're up for it. They both say yes and walk off discussing their new job. "Remember, Kate doesn't know about this." I quietly call out.
"Yes, boss!" Tommy calls out, his lisp clearly showing.
I finish dinner soon after this and call everyone down. I give Tommy and Caden a discreet wink and the two give a thumbs up to me. They walk to the kitchen table and I serve everyone.
Dad comes in and grabs the rest, taking it into his room. He's been depressed lately because of Kathy. Apparently, she sent pictures of her kissing three different guys to him a couple days ago. Kate found them torn up on the coffee table with a note attached to it saying:
I told you I'd be able to be happy without you. XOXO -Kathy
Anyways, I look over at the boys and give a small nod.
"Hey, Kate." I get her attention away from her phone. "I haven't heard of any guys lately. Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No." She says, shrugging. She tries to play it off, but I can see her eyes searching around the room for an escape and her fingers fiddle around on the table.
"Wow! Kate doesn't have a boyfriend? That's pretty weird. You used to tell me that you have to have a boyfriend or you'd die." I say enthusiastically.
"Well, I changed." She says quickly. I decide to drop the conversation and nod at the boys again to tell them to be my spies.
We talk about other things for the rest of dinner, none involving a boyfriend of Kate's. Kate leaves when everyone is finished, running up to her room. The boys excitedly follow her, being quiet as a mouse.
I clean up dinner, anxiously waiting for the boys to come back with news. This guy must be really cute to get Kate's attention like this.
I finish up cleaning and sit on the couch impatiently. I soon hear a pair of footsteps stomping down the stairs and I turn around casually, thinking Kate caught them. But it's Caden.
"Nicole, you need to hear this! Come on!" He whisper yells. I hurriedly rush over to him and up the stairs. I see Tommy peeping inside the room through a crack of the door.
I take his place and see Kate laying on the bed. She twirls her hair like a little girl with a crush. "Stop it, I forgave you... Right, I'm not mad at you anymore... Okay, bye Wyatt... Love you too." She hangs up, and my mouth drops open.
I can't take it anymore, and I open the door with my mouth in the same position.
"You're dating Wyatt?!" I yell out. Her eyes widen and she immediately blushes. She backs into a sitting position, and throws a pillow at me.
"Get out!" She screams at me, chucking another pillow. I dodge it and start laughing hysterically. She watches me with an agitated expression, looking over to the boys and pointing at me.
"Is this a pregnancy thing?" She asks them. They shrug their shoulders looking over at me with an uneasy smile.
"You... And Wyatt?" I yell out, doubling over and laughing out loud again.
"Yeah! What's the big deal about it?"
"You... Always treated him like he was... Chopped liver or something!" I say, finally starting to calm down. I take in deep breaths, trying to steady my breathing.
"Well, he's really cute and.. Age doesn't matter!" She crosses her arms over her chest, throwing a baby fit.
When I finally calm my breathing, I look to the boys. "Why don't you guys go to bed?"
"Are we still your spies?" Tommy asks me.
"Yes, I'll give you your new assignment tomorrow." I say. The two run off to their room and I sit down beside Kate.
"Do you really like him?"
"Yeah, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't make fun of me for it." She says with a snappy attitude.
"Well, sorry about that." I say sarcastically while rolling my eyes. "But seriously, how long has this been going on?"
"A few months." She admits with a cute hunch of the shoulders and a little blush showing.
"Wait, so you've been dating since the divorce between dad and Kathy was finalized?"
"Yeah, we didn't want to date when his sister and my brother were dating. Talk about weird. So we started when he wasn't my brother anymore."
"Aww, so how long did you two like each other?"
"Since New Years." She says smiling. "I admitted that I liked him, and he surprisingly liked me back!"
"You had no idea he liked you? He always drools over you!" I cry out.
"And why won't you tell everyone that you two are dating?" I ask, recalling her earlier conversation.
"Because I'll be even more unpopular than now!"
"Wow, I guess you don't love him as much as I thought you did." I lay a guilt trip on her.
"I do!"
"Then tell everyone. If you really love him, then tell everyone about it!"
"Fine."
"You do have good taste though."
"I know right?! I love his bright brown eyes that matches that amazing messed up yet perfect brown hair! Ugh, I love him so much!"
"So it's only been a few months and you're already saying I love you?"
"Because we do. I love him with all my heart." She finalizes with a huff and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Alright, well I gotta go to bed. Night, love you." I tease her by singing the love you.
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Hey everyone! Hope you liked this chapter, and I do understand that her dating Wyatt was pretty predictable, but I don't care. Question time!
Did you all think the guy she was secretly dating was Wyatt? What did you all think of Kathy sending those photos to their dad? How about Wyatt and Kate's relationship?
Thank you so much for reading my book this far! Please vote and comment! I love you all so much!!!