Chapter 33 · Stay the Night

"Stay the night." He said it again, like the first time hadn't landed hard enough. Ten feet of hallway between us and he still hadn't moved.

"No." I kept my hand on the door, not opening it wider, not shutting it either. "Say what you came to say and go home, Cade."

"I came to say that."

"Try again."

He leaned on the frame. Close enough I could smell rain on his coat, cold and clean, close enough that if I let the door go another inch his shoulder would be in my apartment instead of the hallway. "The hearing's Thursday," he said. "Judge wants a custody proposal on record by Wednesday night. You knew that."

"I knew that at nine a.m. I don't need it at eleven p.m. on my own doorstep."

"You do if you want to see what I'm proposing before I file it."

That stopped me. My grip on the door tightened. "You're filing something without telling me first?"

"I'm telling you first. Right now. That's why I'm standing here instead of sending it through my lawyer like I'm supposed to."

"Then send it through your lawyer.