AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did that keep you from contacting me?” she asked. “You’d think it would be the opposite.”
“You’d think. Maybe I was punishing myself for what I did to you because you didn’t punish me.”
She wasn’t sure what to think of this. “This is like the statement that you wanted me mad or to fight to show you how much I loved you?”
“No,” he said. “I was used to getting pushed back on everything in my life back then. You never pushed me back. I don’t know if I understood how to handle that.”
It went back to his father and unresolved feelings he was going to have to get over. “I’m not like everyone else that was in your life back then. I don’t push back often. I’m not saying I get walked all over. I can stand my ground, which is different than pushing back.”
“It is,” he said. “We were young and stupid back then.”
“No,” she said seriously. “We were young. You were stupid.”
He laughed and hugged her close. “Fair point. And the truth. It makes me feel good to know that you can say that to me. You aren’t angry, but I know you mean it.”
“I do,” she said. “You threw away what we had. I’m not saying I wasn’t to blame because there is blame on both our parts. I understand that. But you threw it away, not me.”
“I’m trying to pick up the pieces,” he said. “Are you going to help me put them back together?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”
13
Thanks For The Tease
“Why do you look so awake and refreshed in the morning all the time?” Ren asked.
He’d dropped Max off at his mother’s and told her he’d be back after his son’s afternoon nap. It was going to take him two hours to get home, then a few hours to get everything he needed, get some lunch, check on the house and then come home to unload everything and put it away.
Zara shrugged. “No clue. I get up at the same time every day. I’ve always been that way. I exercise and eat breakfast too.”
“Why am I not surprised,” he said. “I’d think that you’d get enough running around at work that you wouldn’t need to exercise on top of it.”
She laughed. “Why do you sound so put out over that?” she asked. “I do run around, but it’s not the same. It’s more that I don’t get to sit and eat much. We have snack time and if I can grab something I will, but most times I’m helping the kids get their snacks ready. It’s not like I’ve got endless amounts of energy. By the end of the day my tank is empty. It’s not worth trying to work out if I don’t have the energy to put enough into it. What about you? You’ve got a nice body on you.”
He laughed. “Thanks for noticing.”
“Well, you do sit at a desk all day. You could be soft and pudgy. Of course under your clothes you might be.”
He’d tossed his jacket in the backseat, as he hated to have it on driving. With his right hand he lifted the edge of his sweatshirt to show his stomach. “Does that look pudgy to you?”
This time she laughed. “No, sir,” she said. “Damn. Okay. Thanks for the tease.”
“You can do it back if you’d like,” he said, grinning at her.
“I think I’ll leave you in suspense a bit more.”
Just like last night when they ended up making out like teenagers on the couch.
Somehow he’d ended up on his back, her across his chest, his hands under her shirt on her back. He’d desperately wanted to slide his fingers into her jeans and over her ass like he’d done so much when they were young and kissing on the couch but didn’t press his luck.
They were making progress, but he wasn’t stupid enough to make a misstep and set them back again.
“If that’s the best I can get,” he said, “I’ll take it.”
They drove the rest of the trip talking about Max and kids in general. Things he should look for. It was great to talk to Dee about stuff, but at times he was too embarrassed to ask and Dee volunteered if she thought of things.
But Colin and Dee had two daughters and he was finding things about a boy that he’d been afraid to ask.
