Everett grins, sips his coffee, then looks up at Brooke, and I can tell before he even opens his mouth that trouble is on the rise. It’sthe look in his eyes. That mischievous glint that used to mean a shit ton of pleasure for me, but now? I have no idea what it means.
“Long enough to know how Leo sounds when she screams my name.”
Brooke practically chokes on her own spit.
I drag my hand down my face. This is not happening.
“I’m…I’m going to go do stock…stocking…stuff.” Finally, she makes an exit. Took her long enough to get the hint.
“What do you want, Everett?” I begin to walk away from him.
He parallels me on the other side of the counter, following my steps. “I want my son, Leo. I want to know him.”
“No. I won't put him through that. He is safe where he is at, safe with what we have. I won’t let you near him to hurt him.”
“Fuck, Leo. I would never hurt him!” Everett has never raised his voice, but he does now as he slams his fist down on the bar. I’m taken aback, my body literally jerking into the counter behind me.
“Shit, baby, I—Leo, I didn’t mean to yell. I’m sorry. I just, I met him in the ER, and all I want is to know him.”
Baby. He didn’t mean to, but he let it slip, and I feel my heart momentarily take flight.Calm down, little hummingbird. Don't you remember? This is the man who burned your wings to ashes?
He sits at one of the booths and drops his head into his hands. His leg bounces up and down, up and down. He never used to do that before. I used to see him as so magnanimous. So big and bright, beautiful. He was full of life and laughter. Now? He’s fragmented. A shell of the Ev I once knew. Does he regret the decision he made to leave us? Some part of him must, if he wants to know Rune now.Maybe seeing Rune, how great he is, was the reason his mind was changed.
And as selfish as I want to be to keep Rune protected and safe, just the two of us…. What does Rune deserve? Can I really keep his father from him, a father he desperately not only wants but needs in his life right now? Can I trust Everett to keep Rune’s heart safe when he completely obliterated mine?
I go to Everett’s table, sitting across from him. I want so badly to reach out. To run my fingers through those golden waves atop his head. Feel the tresses running through my fingers, soothing me as much as it used to soothe him.
“We just met.”
He lifts his head. The look in his eyes is full of sorrow. Where did the stars in his eyes go?
“What?”
I release a sigh, admitting to myself that I am actually going to do this. “We don’t know each other from the past. We will run into each other somewhere, and Rune will introduce us. He will want to, trust me. We can go on a few dates—no, not dates—meetups or run ins, whatever, and then we can discuss future—”
“You’ll let me see him regularly.” It isn’t a question.
My lioness surfaces. “You will not interrupt me. He is my son—”
“Ourson.”
I narrow my eyes at him. He must see the look on my face. A look he has never seen before. Rune likes to call it my mad mama look.
“My son.You will get to have regular scheduled and supervised times with him until I can trust you on your own. If all goes well, and that is a big if, we can discuss telling Rune who you are to him.”
“I don’t want to lie to him.”
“It’s for the best right now, until I know you won’t hurt him and leave.”
“I would never leave him.”
Yeah, now that you know how amazing he is.
“We do it my way or not at all.” My tone is firm. Final.
I can see the fight in his eyes. The fire. He doesn’t like this, but he knows that right now, he shouldn’t mess with a mama and her baby.
“Fine. You have raised him this long. I trust that you know what's best for him. But Leo, one day, he will know who I am. I want to be his father. All those things I told you, about the kind of father I wanted—want to be. They apply to Rune, even if I’m coming in late to the game.”
