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“You should be doing something fulfilling.”
“Oncefulfillingcan pay the bills, I’ll consider it.”
She isn’t wrong, though.
I’d like nothing more than to quit my shitty day job, but what are my options?
“I always thought you and Aiden would end up starting a business.”
“Funny you should say that. We almost did.”
Her head snaps toward me.
“A story for another time. You should ask him about it.”
Bee doesn’t respond. It’s clear she doesn’t realize just how much Aiden cares. Knowing I’m getting access to her secrets when he wishes they were closer is eating at me, but they aren’t my stories to tell.
I can only hope helping her will give her the confidence to open up to him.
Two bags of chips find their way into the basket. I cast a challenging look at Bee, who is smiling sweetly, as though that will make up for the abomination she’s selected. How someone so delectable can favor sour cream is unfathomable to me.
“No.” I take them out.
She returns them. “Yes.”
Oh, she thinks she’s clever.
“Bee.”
“Yes, dear?”
Goddamn. I can’t throw her up against the shelves, but I really fucking want to.
What I can do is cage her in carefully, keeping my voice rough. “What was that?” I’m rewarded by her breath hitching. My body is humming with need. I want to take her mouth with mine, see how well we can agree on what we both so clearly need.
“Fine,” she says, chest rising between us. Bee reaches behind her back and replaces one pack with salt & vinegar. “A compromise.”
I shove myself back a step and continue down the aisle.Nothing to see here. Just my crumbling control and a complete lack of sense when it comes to her.
But if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that Bee deserves better. Someone with their shit together. I might be on my way, but I’m not there yet.
She’s looking to find herself, and half the time, I’m sure I’m lost.
Ten years ago, I would have spit in the face of anyone who accused me of not knowing what I wanted. I knew exactly.
To be a better man.
To do anything and everything in my power to not become my father.
To never stop for long enough to consider it might be unavoidable.
Bee stops to consider creamers. How the hell does a woman like that doubt herself? It won’t ever make sense to me. But I won’t disappoint her. And I won’t let my feelings get in the way of her goals.
If there’s one thing I learned from my parents, it’s that I’m never going to steamroll my partner’s dreams for my own selfishness.
Bee has already made my dream possible. I’d rather rip my own heart out than keep her from hers.
Maybe I made all the wrong choices growing up. My parents married young, so I avoided that by keeping things casual. Except now, at thirty-six, I’m single and wondering if a family is even in the cards for me. It hurts to think I might have wasted my twenties.
