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I put my hand in his. “Ready.”
Entering the kitchen, Luke is coloring at the table. Carter ruffles his hair before giving him a fist bump.
“Happy birthday, buddy.”
“Happy birthday, Luke,” I chime in.
“So, are you two boyfriend and girlfriend now?” Luke asks.
Carter immediately replies with a resounding yes while I deny any such thing. Luke ignores my response and sticks with Carter’s.
“Yay,” he squeals. “Does this mean I can call you Aunt Lexie?” Luke says, his voice full of delight.
“Sure, bud,” Carter answers for me.
I glare at Carter. What does he think he’s doing? We haven’t talked about this. In fact, I flat out ignored him to avoid this very conversation.
“Sit next to me, Aunt Lexie,” Luke says, patting the seat next to his chair.
With the weight of Carter’s gaze still on me, I join Luke at the table and begin to color. I can feel eyes on me, and when I look up, Carter is talking to Charlotte, but his eyes are glued on me. I can’t help but smile. These things right here—love and family—are what I’ve always wanted.
Chapter32
Lexie
As I’m heading to the gym to meet Carter, I get a text from my dad asking me to meet him for lunch. As much as I don’t want to, as angry as I still am with him, he’s the only parent I have left. Ignoring him any longer just seems… wrong.
Our date, the moment Carter kissed me, us making love, was as though the final pieces of our puzzle were fitting together. Everything finally becoming right with the world. There was no more denying where Carter and I stood. I could fight it all I want, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and mine is dead set on Carter Wallace.
As much as I’m dreading this conversation with my father, it’s high time we have it.
“Hi, Dad,” I say when I reach the table.
“Hi, honey. How are you?”
“I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?” The concern in his eyes tells me this isn’t just some general line of questioning.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” He looks down at his hands. “Maybe because you left your dream job.”
“The thing about dreams is they change. Mine changed.”
“So, there wasn’t an issue with the Ravens? With you butting heads with management?”
“Is that what they’re saying?”
The information infuriates me. Not that I care. I have no intention of returning to the Ravens or any other team to work. Not when I have something like the Foundation to look forward to. Still, the fact that they’re lying to cover their own asses bothers me.
My dad shrugs. “It’s what they’ve said to me. My concern is…”
“You have nothing to be concerned about. They’re lying. There was no disagreement. I quit because one of their players attacked me, and I didn’t want to work for them anymore.”
“What? You were attacked? When? Who?” He slams his fist on the table. “This is exactly what I was worried about. This is why I didn’t want you to work for the Knights… or any other team. Why couldn’t you just pick a safe job in a doctor’s office away from…”
“Men?” I offer. “That was one bad guy out of thousands of good ones.”
