Page 7 of Escort Mountain Daddy

I cut everyone out of my life for a good six months after that ordeal, especially when one of my closest friends told me I needed to just move on because she wasn’t coming back. I remember punching him in the face that night, feeling livid that he would even say something like that to me. But as time passed, the pain of losing her slowly faded. Yes, I still missed her to this day, but she’s no longer suffering. Or at least I hoped not.

I wasn’t much of a church person, but I did believe in an afterlife.

She should’ve gotten the best afterlife, if you asked me.

“What are you thinking about?” Serena asked curiously, watching me.

I broke out of my thoughts, and shook my head, “It’s nothing important. I was just remembering the past.”

Serena tilted her head to the side, “How so?”

I hesitated for a moment, but I could tell immediately that she wasn’t just going to back down, “After the loss of my ex, I never thought I was going to want to be with anyone else. Her death left a hole in me, but I’m beginning to think that hole has finally healed, and I met someone I want to possibly pursue a relationship with.”

Serena’s expression went blank as she asked, “Oh? You like somebody?”

I smiled because I knew she was a little clueless, “Yes, I think I do. She is a kind woman who I never expected to meet, and she makes me feel things that I haven’t felt in a long time. It’s not… fake with her.”

I was hoping she would get the hint about who I was talking about, but I wasn’t so lucky.

“I see,” Serena mumbled, turning to look out the window. “She must be a very lucky woman to hear you talk so highly about her.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing then that she no doubt didn’t realize I was talking about her, “She really is and she doesn’t even realize it.”

I was thinking that Serena might try to pry more, ask for more details, but she remained silent, staring out the window. It wasn’t a long drive, maybe about thirty minutes, and when we reached this cabin area deep in the forest, it was hard to even find a parking spot. There was about forty-five minutes until the wedding began, and by the way her knee bounced, I could tell she was nervous.

“You got this,” I told her softly, waiting for her to tell me we could get out of the car.

Serena sat there, trying to get her wits as she stared at the cabin. It looked like she was going to get out, a fire brewing in her eyes, but just as she reached out to grab the handle, she froze, a look of fear and confusion spreading across her face.

“Serena?” I whispered, trying to get her back to me.

My voice seemed to snap her out of her daze as she quickly put back on her seatbelt, “Take me home.”

I was startled, “What? I don’t—"

“Take me home!” She repeated, unable to look at me, “just drop me off and be on your way. I’ll still pay you for the night, you don’t have to worry.”

I was going to fight Serena on this, demand to know why she had suddenly backed down. But when I saw the tears threatening to fall from her eyes, I snapped my mouth closed, clenching my jaw as I put the car in reverse and headed away from the cabin and back toward the city.

Where did it all go wrong?

CHAPTER FIVE

Serena

I knew that Kellan was confused by my behavior, but I didn’t know what to say to him without seeming like a complete idiot. I didn’t even know what to say to him besides the truth, but the truth could only hurt me. I thought tonight would be fine; I could just show off Kellan and make everyone jealous by his good looks. To show the world I was over Lazarus for good.

Which was true, but not the reason I left.

Since I started speaking to Kellan, I had developed a crush on him. Something that I wasn’t sure how to handle. To him, this was just a job and he no doubt had more lined up after me. I had braced myself for that. What I didn’t expect was that he actually had someone he liked!

How could I compete with a woman who had his attention that way?

It made me realize that this whole escort thing was dumb on my part, and I shouldn’t have done it in the first place. I was happy that Lazarus had moved on, that he had found the happiness that he deserved. I began to realize I wasn’t jealous of the fact he had moved on from me. I was jealous that he had found someone to spend his life with, and here I was using an escort to try and derail his relationship.

I was a terrible person.

“Serena, can you talk to me?” Kellan whispered, keeping his eyes on the road but I could hear the concern in his voice. “I’m not sure what just happened, but if you talk to me about it, maybe I could find a way to fix it.”