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“Perfect for whom?” I asked, irritated all over again. “I can’t just take time off from my job.”
“I’ll pay for everything, including any bills that wouldn’t get paid because you missed work,” he said easily.
“Not everything is about money, dammit.” I slammed my hand down on the table and then dropped my head, taking a breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have raised my voice, but I can’t just drop everything whenever you want to see your son. That doesn’t work for me.”
“Why not?” he demanded. His voice was low, but his eyes flashed with irritation. “I can afford to take care of you and help you get back on your feet. Help Meg with her medication. Make sure the baby has everything. Fix up the house. I can do those things for you, to make your life better. All I want in return is to spend time with my son. I don’t even want to separate you—I’m happy to bring all of you to me in California. Why is that a bad thing?”
“Because we aren’t family,” I said harshly. “And frankly, the thought of meeting your family is embarrassing as hell. How are you planning to introduce me? This is the bimbo I fucked in Minneapolis last year who got knocked up?”
“Presley.” Aunt Meg looked shocked, and I was momentarily ashamed.
Even if I thought those types of things, there was no reason to say them in front of her. I didn’t care what Zeke thought, but I never wanted Aunt Meg to be uncomfortable.
“Okay, wait.” Zeke was shaking his head. “Is that what you think? Is that what you think I think?”
“I don’t really give a shit what you think, but to bring my aunt into a situation where your family will know who I am to you? Never going to happen.”
“Who, exactly, do you think you are to me?” he asked slowly, his gaze narrowing.
“The unfortunate one-night stand that made me your baby mama.”
“There was nothing unfortunate about that night,” he growled.
We glared at each other until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“No?” I leaned back in my chair, somehow still itching for a fight. I wanted to scream and yell, and I wanted him to fight back. I wanted him to be as mean to me as I was being to him, just like he’d done the morning after our night together. I’d never felt like this before and the pressure inside of me was about to boil over. “Give me a break. I was nothing but another groupie, falling for your rockstar charms. You wouldn’t even let me explain what happened the next morning. I wasn’t even a human being to you, just another person in your life who you automatically assumed wanted something.”
“I was upset when I heard you on the phone,” he said. “We’d spent hours talking and it never occurred to you to tell me who you were? Yeah, that made me question your motives. But you weren’t just another groupie. That’s ridiculous. You weren’t a groupie at all.”
“Technically I was. Onyx Knight was one of my favorite bands.” Not anymore, but semantics probably weren’t important right now.
“That has nothing to do with anything,” he said, spreading his hands. “What do you want from me, Presley?”
“I want you to go home to California and leave me alone,” I said. “You can come see Jeremy anytime you like, but we’re not going to become a family. We’re not meeting your family. And we’re not coming to California. Not now, not ever.”
I was being childish, but there was so much hurt inside of me, I was a thousand percent sure I would say or do something even worse if I didn’t get away from him immediately.
“I’m sorry, I have to go.” I got up, grabbed my purse, and walked out of the restaurant.
Yup. I was immature, hormonal, and probably a whole bunch of other adjectives, but I couldn’t be bothered to care.
I needed to get as far away from Zeke as possible.
The only good news was that now I could afford to get an Uber to take me home.
* * *
I didn’t see Zeke again before he left the following day. He came to say goodbye to Jeremy and Aunt Meg, but I stayed in my room until he was gone. A little while later, Aunt Meg knocked on my door, peeking her head in.
“Do you have a minute?”
“I guess.” I sighed heavily since I figured I was about to get a well-deserved lecture.
She came and sat on the edge of my mattress, reaching for one of my hands. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on in your head?”
“I can’t be around him,” I whispered. “I just can’t. Every time I see him, I remember the way he humiliated me at work. The way I felt when Aurora dressed me down on the phone, reminding me what an unprofessional journalist I was. The shame I felt when she told me that they got phone calls like mine every single week. The pain when I realized that Zeke didn’t want anything to do with me or the baby.”
“But most of that wasn’t true,” she said. “Aurora never told Zeke about your calls. She essentially lied. Zeke came the moment he found out. That has to count for something.”
