Page 23 of Playing With Temptation

So, how the heck have you been? Who did you love enough to marry and have children with? Yeah? Awesome. Let me go puke my guts up now.

Then there was the small fact, Jase looked like he was itching for a fight. Let’s not forget I knew him, knew him. I might not have been in his life for a very long time, but I knew him down to his soul.

I knew what it meant when his tone changed from sarcastic to antagonistic.

And then there was the big, honking elephant in the room—me ghosting him.

That was a conversation I wasn’t ready to have, mainly because it made me look like the bad guy—which, of course, I was, but that didn’t mean I was ready to admit my immature jealousy that had caused me to cut him out of my life because I couldn’t handle knowing he had moved on.

Further from that, I didn’t want to know about his ex-wife. I didn’t want to know anything about the woman with whom he’d fallen in love and shared a life, even if they were no longer together, and that meant I was still that same dumb, immature, jealous girl.

If I were smart, I’d run out of the bar.

Been there. Done that. Lived with the guilt and regret.

That had to be why I was still there waiting on Jase. That and I’d lost my mind.

“I forgot how fascinating it is watching you when you’re a million miles away,” Jase drawled from across the table. “Every thought. Every feeling. It plays like a picture reel.”

I blinked him into focus and once again my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest.

Why did men get better-looking with age?

Why did Jase still have that slow drawl that gave me butterflies?

Why did his presence still give me a sense of peace?

And most importantly, why when he looked at me, did I feel seen and accepted?

Up until I’d met Zoe, he was the only person in my life who didn’t rush me or get impatient when I was thinking.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out.

Jase’s eyebrow winged up. Just the left one.

Thankfully, that was new, I’d never seen him do that before. Maybe he’d changed in the years we’d been apart. Maybe he was a monumental prick now. Maybe this reunion was a good thing, and I could apologize and walk away with a clear conscience and not worry about running into him at school because he’d become the Supreme Leader of Dickheads.

It was possible.

He hadn’t been very warm and cheery when I showed up.

Because you ghosted him—twice—you ninny.

But there was still Juni and Colson’s mom to worry about.

His ex-wife.

Shit.

Lucas was only a few weeks into the school year. It wouldn’t be too traumatizing for me to switch him to private school.

“Right,” Jase smoothly said into the silence. “Let’s start over. It’s good to see you, Rae.”

Rae.

Sweet baby Jesus that hurt.

No one but Jase called me Rae.