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I settle back onto the park bench as she sits next to me. "I'm glad you brought the kids."
She nods towards the playground equipment. "They love it here. They miss you, you know. They talk about you a lot."
"How are you?" It's the expected question and one that will give me some time to gather my emotions before I dive into the subject of her ex.
"Great." The wide smile that covers her face says more than the word. "I've been struggling, but things are looking up."
"With the new guy?" Another momentary reprieve before I bring up Drew. How exactly am I going to do that? I wish I had given this more thought before I texted her after rushing out of Nathan's office.
She looks down at t
he ground before she answers. "With Nate. I saw him last night."
The words bite as they hurl their way through me. It's just another unwelcome reminder of her connection with him. My entire relationship with Nathan has been a lie just so he could help her. "Great." It's weak. It's lame and it's the only syllable I can utter right now.
"He's in love with someone." She waves to the twins as they race through the sand towards a set of swings.
"Oh," slips past my lips. "Do you still care about him?" That's not my business but my brain doesn't have any guardrails at the moment. I'm going to drive my entire life over a cliff just because I can't temper what I feel for Nathan Moore.
"As a friend." She pulls her long, brown hair into her fist to keep it from flying into her face in the wind. "We were never a good fit."
"You seemed to care a lot about him when we were at his apartment," I counter. Why am I doing this? Why push her to share things that don't matter at this point? He wagered money on whether he'd sleep with me before Drew. The fact that he made the bet after we'd already fucked isn't lost on me. It's just semantics. A man who claims to care about a woman doesn't do that. Plain and simple.
"He helped me when no one else would." She takes a deep breath. "I guess I needed a knight in shining armor and he wanted to be one."
I'd never use that phrase to describe him and my brain was having trouble wrapping itself around the concept. "What happened last night?" It's not my business. I know it's not but I can't help myself.
"He gave me a lecture about my ex." She takes a heavy swallow before she turns to look at me directly. "He told me it was time for me to stand up for myself. He wants me to go after my ex for support."
I feel my stomach drop at the mention of Drew. "Your ex doesn’t pay support?" Another useless question to try and bide myself enough time to learn more about Drew.
"He's got issues." She laces her fingers in mine on my lap. "I still love him, Jess. I don't know how to stop."
I glance at her trembling hand and think about how mismatched Drew and she are. "He should be helping you with the kids." I know it's not my place to offer any opinion on her relationship with Drew. If I was actually going to be honest, I'd tell her to kick him square in the groin the next time she sees him, not only for being a deadbeat dad but for being an asshole too.
"Nate helped me see that last night." A thinly veiled sigh escapes her lips. "He told me that unless I make him responsible for the kids, he's going to keep doing what he's doing."
What he's doing is he's out trolling clubs looking for women he can bet on. I want to tell her but now isn't the time. Is there ever an appropriate time to tell your ex-boss that her ex-husband is a low life piece of shit?
"You're going to try and get your ex to see that?" Good luck with that Cassandra, I want to add. Good luck getting Drew to see anything.
"Nate gave me the name of a friend of his who can help me get back some child support." She pauses before she continues, "I just need to tell Andrew that's what I'm doing." She winces as she says her name and I realize it's the first time I've heard her use it.
"You've never said his name before." Way to point out the extra obvious, Jessica.
"It hurts too much," she whispers softly. "I still miss him."
Chapter 7
"I feel like I should be writing this down," Bryce jokes as he takes a bite of his cheeseburger. "You're like living in a reality show right now, Jess."
"Tell me about it." I reach across the table to steal a fry. The salad I ordered may be welcomed by my hips, but my stomach is craving something greasy and bad for me. Why does that conjure up an image of Nathan? I smile inwardly, grateful for the chance to spill everything out to someone I know I can trust.
He pushes his plate to the middle of the table to grant me unlimited access to his dinner. "Have you told Rebecca all of this?"
"Are you kidding?" I almost choke on the food in my mouth. "She works with Cassandra every day. She'd gossip about all of this to her. She has no idea Nathan used to date Cassandra."
"I don't get it though." He takes a long drink of his soda. "Why did he make a bet with Drew knowing he'd banged you already?"
