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“Wait,” I called out, hurrying to catch up with her.

She didn’t. We were halfway across the lobby before I reached her side, taking her arm to pull her to a stop.

“Damnit, Chris. You know it’s not okay to just walk off like that.”

“I’m in the hotel lobby. I’m fine.”

“You’re being disrespectful. And I’m not going to allow it.”

She scoffed and pulled her arm free to keep walking. This was the bad part about having a teenager. When she was in a bad mood, she could be rude and belligerent as hell.

A small part of me liked that I was raising a strong woman, but it was frustrating when I was facing that strength head-on.

“You need to talk to me,” I said, sticking to her side as we left the resort.

Night had fallen, and the concrete walkway leading to the bungalow was lined with solar lights that cast a golden glow. We hadn’t gotten far, but my words made her stop again and glare at me.

“So, now we talk about things?”

“What?”

She looked angry and—worse—hurt. I wasn’t expecting that.

“I saw that woman leaving your bungalow today. She’s the one I met in the lobby. Heather.”

The way she said her name was hollow, and I couldn’t get a read on what it meant.

“What was she doing there? What’s going on between you?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. I hadn’t even decided what I wanted from my relationship with Heather yet, so how could I tell Christine?

“She’s a friend.”

That sounded lame, and Christine scoffed.

“Come on, Dad. I’m not a kid. I have a pretty good idea what you two were doing alone in your bungalow. And I saw you kiss her.” Her nose scrunched up in a way that might have been funny if her eyes weren’t so big and full of hurt. She was more upset about this than I thought. “It’s weird. She seems way younger than you. And why didn’t you tell me you were dating? I haven’t seen you with anyone since you and mom split.”

There was something raw in her voice, vulnerable in a way that made my heart clench.

“Heather doesn’t mean anything to me. She’s just some woman I barely know.” The tightness in my chest got worse as I spoke, but I kept going, driven by a desperate need to make my child feel better. “She’s not someone worth mentioning because it’s not going anywhere.”

Christine sniffed and looked up at me. “Really?”

“Yeah. She’s not even my type.”

That was a lie. It was all lies, and it felt wrong to say it, but Christine looked relieved, tension draining out of her body as her expression softened.

“Okay,” she said. It was just one word, but it felt like a bridge being rebuilt between us. I didn’t understand why she was so upset about seeing me with Heather, but I was glad she felt better now.

No matter how shitty I felt for the terrible things I just said.

Chapter Fifteen: Heather

“This is bullshit,” Kelsie said, her words slightly slurred as she held the rubber ring in one hand and a drink in the other. “It’s too hard.”

“That’s what he said,” Jess shouted out, and I laughed.

I had a rubber ring in my hand too, waiting my turn to attempt to toss it onto the dildo strapped to the front of Leanne’s pelvis. This version of a ring toss was easily the most outrageous game we’d played tonight, made even more fun by the fact that most of the women here were drunk, which made their aim terrible.