Last Good Thing (The Fallout Series Book 1)

by Heather Young-Nichols

  “Pretty boy,” Porter snorted. “I like it.” That got him a warning look from Zac.

  “That sounds great, actually. I can still get a refund on the dorm that’s already paid for. What do you think? I mean, I don’t have to move out of the dorm to make this happen but it would give me more money.”

  “Yes, you do.” Rhian pushed out her pouty lip. As soon as her parents had finally relented and let her get an apartment that they’d pay for, of course, she wanted me to move in with her. But by then I’d already met with my roommate and hadn’t wanted to make a big change. Now I did.

  “You just want her to move in with you, don’t you?” Porter guessed correctly.

  “Whatever,” Rhian countered. “It’s our last chance to live together now that you’re with him. Next year you’ll be married and popping out kids.”

  “Ah, no I won’t.” Married, I could get behind, maybe. But kids were gonna wait a little while. Besides, Zac already had Dylan. That was probably enough to get used to.

  “I love whatever gets me time with you,” Zac said. “And yes, I can probably control myself long enough for you to do school work. I do have a job.” He glanced over to Rhian, who immediately stuck her tongue out at him.

  “OK. New plan. Living with Rhian,” I said. “No douchebags, though. I’m serious. I’ll move back here and drive three hours each way if I have to.”

  “Got it. No douchebags.” She held up three fingers as a scout’s honor.

  “Sorry, Porter.” Zac laughed quietly.

  We finished up breakfast and the guys left for work. Rhian and I got home, but then she left almost right away. She still had some things to get done before school started. I, on the other hand, went shopping. If I was going to be using my house, then I was going to need a bed. I didn’t regret getting rid of the things I had because they needed to be replaced. Maybe not all at once but this way, I had to do it.

  The last thing I did before Zac arrived was call my mom. I hadn’t talked to her in a while and felt like I should update her on my future whereabouts. She supported the plan because what other option did she have?

  Then Zac was there. I’d decided I was actually going to cook for us. Nothing over the top, but I’d really wanted to do that since we’d started seeing each other.

  While the chicken baked, I was in the kitchen throwing together a salad with Zac leaning against the counter nearby. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of looking at him.

  “Do you really not want to get married and have kids?” he asked causing my knife to pause midair. “I’m not proposing or anything. I’m just curious.”

  “I do. Eventually. When I said that to Rhian, I just mean that maybe I didn’t want to do all of it next year.” I went back to chopping the carrots. “I could see being married sooner or later. Now that we’re together you get a say in the decision, thought. But kids… ” I shook my head. “Not for a while. Besides”—I shrugged—“you already have Dylan. Maybe you don’t want anymore.”

  “I love that you’re thinking of these things with me in mind.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek. A sweet move that any boyfriend would do but it sent butterflies loose in my stomach. “And yeah, I have Dylan. I love him. I’ll always love him. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want kids with you.” He moved closer, putting one hand on the small of my back. “And I think you’ll love him like your own anyway.”

  “I already adore him.”

  “Well, all right then. I just wanted to see if we’re on the same page or not.”

  “And if we weren’t?” I asked because it was unlikely. We’d always agree on everything.

  “Then I’d change my page. We’d work it out.”

  That night, we ate slowly since we had nowhere we had to be. Then I packed a small overnight bag to stay at his house. My bed wasn’t being delivered until Friday so we couldn’t stay here. The couch wasn’t the best place for two people to sleep.

  And Friday night, after the bed arrived, Maddie dropped Dylan off because she was on her way to Ian’s anyway. Zac had a heart-to-heart with his little guy during dinner.

  “Dylan, I want to talk to you about something,” Zac told him. Dylan’s spoonful of mac and cheese paused halfway to his mouth but only for a second. “I want you to know that Laney is my girlfriend. Do you know what that means?” he asked.

  Nodding, Dylan said, “Like Mommy and Ian.”

  “Right,” Zac agreed. “Like Mommy and Ian. So that means Laney’s going to be around a lot more. I love her and I want her with us as much as possible.”

  “Me, too,” he said without looking at Zac. Dylan was more focused on his food than anything else.

  “You too what?”

  I just pushed my food around my plate because while this conversation involved me, it absolutely didn’t include me. This was Zac’s thing.

  “I love Laney.”

  My heart melted and a smile spread across my face at the same time. Zac looked over to me with a huge grin.

  “I told you my son has excellent taste.”

  After dinner, Zac and I sat on the couch with Dylan tucked in between us watching a Disney movie about superheroes. I didn’t pay much attention to the storyline as I was too focused on the men beside me. This was my life now and I was going to love it.

  Dylan fell asleep halfway through and I think I fell even more in love with Zac when I watched him carefully lift the tiny human into his arms to take him to bed.

  When it was time to leave, Zac walked beside me all the way to my front door.

  “Sorry you can’t spend the night. I hate the idea of you having to sleep in that big new bed all alone.”

  “I understand, Zac. I think we’ll both survive.”

  He groaned. “I don’t know that I will, but this is an agreement between me and Maddie. Neither of us have overnights. I have to honor the agreement.”

  “I told you.” I punctuated the words with a quick kiss. “I understand. You being a dad comes first and I wouldn’t love you if it didn’t.”

  That didn’t mean Zac didn’t spend fifteen minutes saying goodnight to me on the porch, hidden in the shadows. But I had a new bed to break in.

  Even though Zac practically begged, I didn’t spend every minute of the weekend with them. We did take Dylan to the park for a while on Sunday morning, but I didn’t want to be this person that just showed up and took over like I was being forced on the kid. I wanted things to happen more naturally and Dylan needed alone time with his dad.

  Although by then, Zac held my hand in front of his son and didn’t shy away of appropriate PDA’s. I wasn’t sure at first but Zac said it was fine and he was the dad so I had to trust him.

  No matter how much I didn’t want it to happen, Thursday came, and it was time for me to go. I had to go to my mom’s house for all the things I’d brought home from the dorm, then move the necessities to Rhian’s. Zac arranged with Joe to have the morning off to help me pack up my Jeep. He’d have to work Saturday to make up for it but said he didn’t mind. And as he stood, pushing me back against my car with the force of his kisses, I was really glad he’d done it.

  “You really have to go today?” he asked breathlessly.

  “I do. It’s six hours to Mom’s and I have so much to go through there. I want to visit the park where we spread Dad’s ashes before I leave for school. It’s so weird to think he’s been gone almost four months. Then classes start Monday.”

  “I wish I could go with you.”

  “I know. But I’d rather you be with me right now. This is a good send off.”

  He kissed me again and ran his hand up my back under my shirt. We’d had a lot of goodbye sex to hold us over. It wasn’t enough.

  “You’ll be back next weekend?” he asked.

  “Yes. I thought Rhian and I could come because it’s Labor Day, so no classes on Monday.” His face perked a little. “But you have Dylan that weekend, so I’ll be safely in my bed at my house.” His face fell into a pout making me laugh.
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  “We’ll just have to use our time wisely after he’s asleep.”

  “I’m not having sex with you on your couch while your kid is asleep one room away,” I told him.

  He threw his head back and laughed. “I wasn’t talking about sex. I just want some time with you.”

  “That, I can get behind.”

  He opened the driver’s side door so I could climb in, then closed it gently behind me.

  “You’ll call as soon as you get there?” he asked. It was more of a reminder than anything else.

  “Yup.”

  Nodding, he cupped my face and pulled me toward him through the open window for one last kiss. “Drive safely.”

  As I drove away, I saw him stay right where he was until I had to turn and could no longer see him.

  This had begun as the worst summer of my life. Losing my dad and having to face my former friends. I couldn’t say it turned out for the best because my dad was still dead, and I missed him every single day.

  But I’d gained something in the midst of that horrible loss. I’d gotten my friends back. The friends who’d been with me since grade school. And I’d finally attained the one thing I’d wanted my entire life. Sure, I had other goals, things I wanted to do, but for as long as I could remember, every time I’d pictured my life, doing the things I hoped to do, Zac had been there with me.

  And now I had absolutely no doubt that he always would be.

  Thank you for reading Last Good Thing! Please consider leaving a review!

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  About the Author

  Heather Young-Nichols is a multi-published YA and contemporary romance author and a native of the great and often very cold state of Michigan. She is better known at home and to her friends as the Snarker-in-Chief, a job she excels at beyond anything she could have imagined. She loves many things, but especially cold coffee, hot books, and baseball. But not necessarily in that order.

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