Read Online Out of Nowhere by Rebecca Phillips - Free Book Online

sister is seven years older. My parents thought they were done after her, but then I showed up. Surprise.”
    “My parents were both eighteen when I was born,” I told him. “I was a surprise too.”
    “I bet.” He tipped back his chair, balancing it on its two back legs. “Your parents are really young, then. Mine are always older than everyone else’s.”
    Keeping my eyes on the empty brownie plate, I said, “My mom is thirty-four. My father… he’s dead. He died when I was eleven.” Even after five and a half years of practice, I still hated saying it out loud. It never got any easier.
    “Oh,” Cole said, and his chair dropped with a thump. “I’m sorry.”
    I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Thanks. It was sudden. A brain aneurysm.” I didn’t add that he died practically right in front of me. Way too heavy for a chat over coffee.
    “Wow. That really…sucks.” Cole was still for once. I’d noticed before that he was constantly moving—jiggling his leg, tapping his fingers, shifting in his chair. Like a five year old with ADHD who couldn’t wait to run wild and burn off some energy. All that coffee probably didn’t help.
    “Yeah,” I agreed, because indeed it did suck. More than he knew. “Anyway,” I said, switching topics again, “I’m guessing you must be spoiled, being the baby of the family.”
    “I wouldn’t say spoiled.”
    “Come on.” I gave him a look. “A motorcycle? A car ?”
    “Hey now, I bought that car with the money I saved working two summers for my dad. And the bike used to belong to my brother. All I had to do was pay for the parts I needed to fix it up. So there.”
    I held up my hands. “Sorry, my mistake. I take it back. You’re not spoiled.”
    “Well, maybe I am, a little.” He drained his cup and flipped it into the trash can a few feet away. Perfect shot. “My uncle doesn’t put up with any crap though, so I’d better go.”
    “Me too,” I said, standing up. “My break’s almost over.”
    Cole stood up with me and pushed in his chair. I noted again that we were almost exactly the same height, five-nine or so. Adam was tall, over six feet. Usually I liked being the shorter one when it came to guys, but standing even wasn’t so bad either.
    “Thanks for the coffee,” Cole said.
    I smiled. “Thanks for the brownie.”
    “No, thank you . It was insane.”
    “Crazy,” I said, nodding in agreement. “Mentally unstable.”
    “Demented, that’s what that brownie was.” He stood there looking at me for a second, then turned to go. “Okay, I’d better take off now or else I’ll still be here at midnight talking about that brownie. Bye, Riley.”
    “Bye, Cole.”
    I collected our dishes and took them in back to the dishwasher, expecting Lucas to jump out at every turn. But I didn’t see him anywhere, so he must’ve been either in the washroom or outside dumping garbage. In a way I was relieved, because for two whole minutes I wouldn’t have to listen to him say, “I told you so.”

Chapter Six
     
     
    Mom and I both getting a Sunday off in the same weekend was such a rare occurrence that when it did happen, she liked to take full advantage of it. She called these particular Sundays “Family Day.” I pretended to hate them but I didn’t, really. We’d take Tristan somewhere, to the park or the pool or on a picnic, and he’d practically glow under all the attention. Then we’d take him to a fast food place and watch him eat French fries, which he loved more than life itself. He’d fall asleep in the car on the way home and Mom and I would talk about school and my future and sometimes, when we were feeling nostalgic, my dad.
    But with Jeff hanging around every weekend now, Family Day seemed less special. We still took Tristan out, we still fed him fries, he still fell asleep on the way home, but Mom and I didn’t talk. Mom and Jeff talked while I sat in the backseat, listening to Tristan snore. Which was exactly what I was