Page 91 of Sexting My Ex’s Dad

The attacker isn’t fully visible at first. The camera catches their back, then a partial profile, then the most stupidly familiar detail of all.

A hoodie.

Dark. A distinct stripe near the sleeve. A small logo near the pocket that I chose myself years ago, when I thought I was buying something for a man who deserved me.

My hands go cold. I stare at the screen as the figure moves again, hood up, posture confident, then disappears out of frame like he has all the time in the world. “I bought that hoodie,” I say quietly, and the sentence tastes like betrayal.

The manager looks at me sharply. “Do you know him?”

I keep my eyes on the screen, and my voice comes out flat. “Yes,” I reply. “I know him.”

20

ATHENA

By the time I get back to the Airbnb, I’m angrier, but I’m also looking to finish things once and for all. Nate didn’t just hurt Nathan. He reached across years, cities, jobs, and fear, and put his hands on something that was never his to touch.

Maya looks up the second I walk in, and her eyes narrow in that immediate, practical way when she knows I’m holding too much at once. She’s cross-legged on the couch with Ivy tucked against her side, both of them under the same blanket like they negotiated a treaty.

“Well,” Maya says, setting her phone down. “That face means you found something ugly.”

I close the door behind me and lock it without thinking. “I found the person.”

Ivy sits up straighter. Her bunny drops into her lap, forgotten for once. “Who was it, Mom?”

I consider her question for a moment, then decide I’m telling her. She deserves to know, considering how badass she’s been. “Honey,” I say, softening my voice. “From now on, we’ll refer to him as Nate the bad guy.”

“Nate the bad guy,” she repeats, and the certainty in her voice almost makes me laugh.

Maya pats the empty cushion beside them. “Before you go full vigilante, sit down and eat. I got soup, bread, grilled cheese, and enough fries to qualify as emotional support.”

That does get a laugh out of me, brief and thin, but real enough. I sit, let her hand me a bowl, and stare at the steam for a second before I take the first spoonful. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until the warmth hits my tongue.

Ivy watches me over the rim of her juice box. “You’re supposed to tell us everything now.”

Maya glances at her. “Jesus, you two really are related.”

I set the bowl down and wipe my fingers on a napkin. Ivy is looking at me with those storm-gray eyes, open and steady, and I know if I start editing this now, I’ll be doing the same thing I’ve always done. Protecting her by cutting out the parts that matter. Keeping her safe by keeping her in the dark.

I’m done with that. “Okay,” I say quietly. “Everything you need to know.”

Ivy nods once, solemn and ready. Maya folds one leg under herself and waits.

“I went to the place where Nathan was attacked,” I begin. “There was security footage from the street, and I got to watch it with the building manager while she stayed in the room. I didn’t get a copy. I didn’t need one.”

Maya’s brows lift. “You identified him from the footage.”

“Yes,” I say.

Ivy hugs her bunny closer. “How?”

“The hoodie,” I reply, and my mouth twists. “A dark one with a stripe on the sleeve and a stupid little logo near the pocket. I bought it years ago for Nate the bad guy when I still made bad decisions on purpose.”

Maya winces. “Brutal.”

I nod. “He wore it twice, complained it made him look ridiculous, then dumped it in the back of his closet like he was doing me a favor by owning it. I remember every inch of that thing.”

Ivy tilts her head. “So Nate the bad guy hurt Daddy.”