Page 51 of Freeze Frame

I nodded then turned around and walked away.

I’d tell him a lot of things when I found him.

Like the fact that I loved him. I’d tell him about how much I didn’t care about his age. I’d tell him what a wonderful man I thought he was. I’d tell him that I was sorry for not sending her away and for not warning him about her. I’d explain that I’d always meant to tell her to back off, and I had before, but I think she could tell that I hadn’t quite meant it until now.

I’d tell him that I fell asleep thinking about him and woke up wishing he were next to me. I’d tell him that I never wanted to be without him. And, yeah, I’d tell him that she was sorry but not as sorry as I was that I’d let her hurt him.

But first I had to find him.

TWENTY-FIVE

DAVID

Should I have stayed?Maybe. But Josh’s sister was important to him, and I’d been unprepared for the way she glared at me like I was shit on her shoe. And I definitely hadn’t been ready to overhear her call me a “weird old man.” I’d clenched my teeth so hard my jaw ached, and I was halfway down the stairs with Wally tucked under an arm before I realized I was leaving.

The past few hours had been fucking abysmal, and I had no desire to hang around and be insulted. Maybe I should have stayed and pressed my ear against the door and tried to hear his response to her, but there had been no calming down after I heard those words.

Weird old man.

My stomach churned when I thought about those words. Josh had never made me feel that way. Not weird. Not old. Yes, the age gap was always present, it wasn’t something that would ever disappear, but he hadn’t minded one bit that I was old enough to be his dad.

My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that they started to hurt, and that’s when I realized I couldn’t just drive around all night. But I didn’t want to go home. Foolishly, I tried Jax’s place first, but he wasn’t there, which meant he was at Asher’s. That’s where the three of them seemed to spend most of their time. They weren’t officially moved in together yet, but I could see it coming a mile away.

The only problem with him being at Asher’s was that I didn’t have the address and getting it from Jax sounded like too much work. Then he’d know that something was wrong. Instead, I turned the corner and spotted Bennett’s diner and decided to pull in there. Maybe I’d have a coffee and get a doggy bag to go.

The diner was quiet when I walked in. There were a few people sitting over in a booth in the far corner. I’d been here enough times to know that was the family booth. It used to be just Ethan and his boys who sat there, but everyone in that family had gotten bit by the lovebug and had partnered up.

As soon as I took a seat at the counter, Ethan was there to greet me.

“Coffee?”

“In a to-go cup, if you don’t mind. My dog is with me and I don’t want to leave him too long.”

“One coffee to go. Anything else?”

I didn’t think I could eat anything with the way my stomach churned and clenched, but maybe Wally would like a treat. There was no reason for both of us to be miserable. “Maybe just a plain burger patty for my dog if that’s possible.”

“Sure is, it’ll be just a couple minutes.”

I pulled a twenty out of my wallet and passed it to Ethan. “Keep the change.”

Ethan was about to say something when a younger man came up to the counter. “I have to head out now. But I’ll see you later?” He practically climbed over the counter, and I watched the wayEthan’s expression softened for him as he leaned in and stole a kiss.

The guy had to be half his age. Easily. And he kissed him out in the open like it was no big deal.

I must have been staring at them because Ethan arched an eyebrow at me and straightened up, making himself taller, broader, more imposing. Like he was ready to toss my ass out. “Is there a problem?”

I shook my head. “No, there’s no problem. My boyfriend is younger too.” I didn’t feel like it was appropriate to launch into my emotionally crippling insecurity that maybe I was too old for him.

“It’s a lot of work to keep up with him, but he’s worth it,” Ethan supplied smoothly. Filling a to-go cup with coffee, he left the lid off so I could add cream or sugar.

“Tell me about it.” I laughed dryly. While I focused on doctoring my coffee, Ethan slipped away to deal with other customers and when he returned, he had a burger patty in a container for me.

“You should bring your boyfriend here some time. Mickey and I have breakfast together every Monday. I don’t generally invite people to sit in the family booth, but the booth across from it isn’t technically the family booth and if you sat there, I bet that would make Mickey’s day.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

Ethan leaned on the counter. We weren’t friends exactly, but I’d been coming here for years so we’d known each other in a very vague acquaintance sort of way.