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“No.” She can’t change my mind either. “You go, I go. You don’t go, I don’t go. Since I don’t want to take you, I’m not going. They’ll get over it. My ex-wife isn’t a priority here, Jamie. You are. They had a chance tonight to at least make you feel like you were a part of dinner and they didn’t. They didn’t to the point where you wanted to leave early. I’m not giving them a second chance to do that to you.”
“But you told them you’d go,” she whispers, her eyes focused on her hands.
“And I also told you I’d have your back. My word to you is more important.”
“I feel terrible about this.”
I grab her chin and lift her head to cause her to look at me. “Don’t. You haven’t done anything bad.”
She searches my face as if she needs to confirm I’m actually telling her the truth. It feels like she stares for the longest time, but then she leans forward and kisses me softly, slowly. Her fingers curl to grasp my shirt. My hands slide down from her waist to her hips and down to cup her ass, which for some ungodly reason causes her to pull away.
“Thank you, Brent. You don’t realize how much this means to me.” She kisses my cheek. “Let’s go to bed before Gregory comes down for some reason or another and catches us in an inappropriate position.” She grins and I can’t help but return it. Her fingers relax and her hands slide up to clutch my neck. Her smile turns a bit naughty and mischievous. “Aren’t you tired?”
I tighten my hold on her and stand. “So, so tired.”
“Brent! You can’t carry me! What if Gregory sees us?”
“You’ve hurt your ankle.”
“What about my bag?” she tries.
“You don’t need clothes right now. I’ll come back for it later. Stop your worrying and kiss me.”
My woman rolls her eyes, mutters a “Yes, boss,” but she does as I said. Once we’re behind the closed door of my bedroom, we do much, much more.
While I managed to get closer to Jamie that night, I also pissed off Shannon and Kayla the next day when I informed my ex-wife we would not be attending the wedding. I didn’t call because I didn’t want to get dragged
into a long conversation with her. Instead, I sent a text saying I was glad she invited me, but it turns out I won’t be attending. And then I ignored her messages asking why. Regardless of what anyone thinks, it’s the right decision and I don’t regret making it.
But it’s just over a week later now and I’m in the shop working with Gregory, teaching him something new as usual. My phone rings in my pocket. I wipe my hands to get them as clean as possible before pulling it out. Seeing it’s a call from Jamie makes me smile.
“Hey, Jamie,” I answer.
“Hey. Are you busy?” She sounds a little apprehensive.
“Not busy enough that I can’t talk to you. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I need to ask you something and you are completely free to say no, Brent.” She takes a deep breath. “My friend, Erin, has been seeing this guy and she feels like something is up, so she asked me to go on a double date with her. I don’t know where we’d go or anything. And I told her if you didn’t want to go, I’d still go with her, but she’s been bugging me all week about it and I can’t push her off any longer.”
She is nervous, so I decide to tease her and hope it makes her relax. “I thought you were going to ask me something. There wasn’t a question anywhere in there, Jamie.”
She laughs. “Fine. Would you like to go on a double date with me?”
“Would you like for me to go?” All I can hear in the back of my mind is her comment about how she’s receiving all the backlash and I don’t want to add to that unnecessarily somehow.
“I worry you won’t have a good time. What if he decides he wants us to go to a club after we eat?”
“Then I’ll dance with you. If you want me there, I’m there.”
Jamie is silent for a moment. “Thanks. Can you go tonight?”
Of course I can. She lets me know when she’ll be at the house and then I hang up. I have to admit. I’m slightly nervous about going out with her friends. Before Jamie, my life consisted of working, running, and spending time doing whatever my kids wanted to do with me. There were a few dates here and there, too. But I’ve never been to a club.
“Are you okay, Dad?” Gregory asks, snapping me out of it.
“I have a double date with Jamie’s friends tonight.”
“So what? You’re nervous? They’re just like Jamie.”
