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“Oh, yeah. See you on the ice.” He waves to Remi.
“Me too, kiddo.”
Orion starts to walk away but stops and looks back at me before he moves to hug me.
“Love you, Mom. I’ll see you later,” he whispers so his friends don’t hear him, and I try to hide the smile. It’s cute and makes me want to squeeze him tighter so he doesn’t grow up, but I don’t. I give him what he needs and pat him on the back. He looks up at Thor and nods at him. “See you.” He races off, and I start to bend down to pick up his bag.
“I’ve got that,” Thor says and bends down to pick up the bag.
“I’ll call you soon so we can get out on the ice together,” Remi says, and gives me a kiss on the cheek before walking off, leaving Thor and me by ourselves.
“Why did you come?” I ask him as we move toward the doors. We weave between the other families, who are still in shock at seeing Remi.
“I had to. I don’t want to go through the courts. We used to be friends. Can’t we work this out together? I have a right to know him, and he should know me.”
“I agreed to that before you gave us the cold shoulder and said you didn’t want us. I got the messages a long time ago.” I can’t hold the bitterness from my tone. He had every chance to be there. I contacted him numerous times. He told me to abort. He told me he wanted proof he was the father. Every mean thing he could say, he did.
“I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know. I never got a single message.”
I stop and turn toward him, causing him to nearly collide with me. “You texted me. Don’t lie now.” My hands go to my hips and my chest heaves. I watch as his eyes focus on my chest in the deep V-neck of my light-blue sweater. I don’t have to look to know the swells of my breasts are visible. “You told me to abort our son.” I watch as stark anger covers his face. His eyes flare wide, and his jaw tightens. “You told me to prove he was yours. You said you had no memory of the event, so I was probably lying.” I give him only some of the awful things he said to me, and each statement makes his jaw tick. His normally perfect hair is messed from his fingers going through it several times. He lifts a hand up and rubs his scruffy jaw.
“I never said any of that, and I’ll prove it to you.”
I step back in shock and concern. Is it true? How? Did someone interfere in our lives?
“That doesn’t make sense. Another time you admitted you fucked me but only because you were too drunk. Only a few of us knew you’d been drinking that night. You called it a pity fuck for the fat”—I choke on the word—“girl.”
Thor drops Rion’s hockey bag before he grabs me. He pulls me against his body tight.
“I wasn’t that drunk. I remember everything. It haunts me that I allowed you to walk away from me the next day.”
I try to pull away from him. He’s haunted by the fact he slept with me.
“I’m haunted because I want you still,” he says before his lips slam down on mine.
Just like at the gala, I find myself giving in to him. I want this. I wrap my arms around his body as he slides his around me, pulling me in tight. When his head turns, I turn mine and open for him. His tongue plunges in, and I moan as he groans. I’ve missed his lips on me. He kisses me as if I’m the very breath he needs. We shift our heads, trying to go deeper, and his hands make their way to my face, where he holds me tight to his mouth. When he finally pulls away, we are both breathless.
“You are not fat, and I’ve never said that.” He leans his forehead against mine, and I fight to keep the tears at bay.
“I want Orion to know you,” I confess, and he pulls back. “I want him to know you as his father, not a friend. I hated stating that in my legal statement, but I didn’t want you to hurt him.”
“I’d never hurt him. He’s my son. I don’t need the paternity test. I look in his eyes and I know.”
“Okay.” I pull away and look around the nearly empty parking lot. Cars move around on the streets, but it’s just him and me here right now. “Give me a couple days, and I’ll tell him.”
I want to confess everything to Thor. But once he knows the full extent of my plan, I know he’ll be angry, and I don’t want that yet. I want him to want me like I see in his eyes now. I don’t want to see those eyes that I used to love and then loath hate me next. When I completely step away from him, he bends down and picks up Rion’s bag again, and we walk to my car.
“I’d like to ask you to dinner, but I don’t want to rush you. This is about Orion. I don’t want you to think I only want to spend time with you because of him. I want you too. I’ll fight to prove that I’m sorry. I’ll find out who did this to us and make them pay.” His voice is gruffer than normal, and I bite my bottom lip as I hit the button on my key fob to open the hatch on my Volvo SUV.
“This is me.” I point, and he drops the bag in the back.
“They must pay you really well at BUTEE. I’ll double it if you want to come to P.O.R.B.” His offer is generous, but he doesn’t know the truth. I just smile and shake my head at him.
“Thank you, but I’m happy at BUTEE. Call me tomorrow. We can set up some time this weekend.”
After we load up Rion’s gear, he walks me to the driver’s side and opens my door for me. He leans into me and kisses my forehead.
“Text me when you get home,” he says. “Never mind. Send me an email. They took my cell for the day. I’ll get a new one tomorrow.”
