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“And she didn’t!” He plopped down in the chair and could not look more frustrated. “I think she has a gambling problem, man.”
I furrowed my brow. “It takes quite a few incidents for something to turn into an addiction. Half the guys in the office here have had a shitty weekend in Vegas that pissed off their wives?—”
“It was my card she used,” he cut in. “Without asking. She tried to hide the credit card statement—and how dumb is that? Did she honestly think I wouldn’t find out?”
Oh.
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Half the guys here make over $400K a year. You know who doesn’t?”
I heard him. He had a point. I just didn’t want anyone to make any rash decisions. Which was fucked up of me to claim in this case because KC didn’t belong with Christine. Or any other woman, for that matter. But even so.
“So you actually broke up with her?” I had to ask.
He blew out a breath and slumped lower in his seat, and he scrubbed a hand over his face. “I guess. I said we were done, and I walked out.”
“This happened today? Just now?”
He nodded. “I went home for lunch. I have to be in court all week, and Noa’s sick, so I thought… I thought I’d stop by with food.”
I cocked my head. “And where’s Christine?”
“At home. It’s just…” He made a face, but there was a pinch of amusement involved too. “I’m the last guy to call someone else a shitty cook, but…”
“You’re doing it anyway.” I smirked faintly.
He shrugged and threw a cursory glance at my bookshelf. “I don’t know what the fuck to do, Lucian.”
“It seems to me you’ve already done it,” I pointed out.
As I said, I knew shit was more complicated than that, and it was mostly because of that boy. KC and I weren’t what I’d call good at talking about feelings; I didn’t know the ins and outs of his relationship with that woman, but I did know one thing. KC had no issues rambling about Noa.
“Here’s the thing,” KC said. “We’re at that point where we either break up or get married.”
“He says, mere minutes after he ended the relationship,” I added.
He rolled his eyes and gave me a bitchy look. “Fuck the fight. We’ve both said shit like that before. Like—fuck, when she quit her job without saying anything to me? She treats me like a bank. Started the minute she got the stamp of approval from my folks.”
“Then I absolutely understand why you’re thinking about marrying her,” I replied dryly.
He sucked his teeth and averted his gaze again.
I didn’t mean to give him a hard time, but I just couldn’t understand. Was he truly going to spend the rest of his life pleasing his parents? Was he never going to come out of the closet? Did he genuinely believe I didn’t know he was gay?
“Her wasting two grand bothers me,” he said. “She knows I’m working my ass off to pay back my student loans—and we were gonna buy a house! We’re in a horrible school district now. I want Noa in a better area before he starts middle school.”
That was fair. I’d been to their apartment.
I cleared my throat and knew I had to ask the right question, and it wasn’t about Christine or his bigot parents.
“KC, is Noa worth everything?”
Because that’s what it boiled down to, and I’d respect his answer. Maybe I wouldn’t understand it, but I’d respect it. I had met Noa. He was a sweetheart. And even if children weren’t for me, it was easy to see KC was loving parenthood.
“The short answer is yes,” he said.
“And the long answer?”
“Is also yes.” He nodded. “But it includes more worries and variables.”
