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“Hi,” she whispers. She’s still got her sunglasses on so I can’t see her eyes. “How ya doing?”
“Been better.” I breathe out.
She nods. “You kept your cool. Did you yell before we got here?”
“No…I don’t think so. I blacked out for a second, I think.”
She nods again. “How do you feel about it?”
“Am I allowed an opinion?”
“Of course you are. You’re her dad. Besides, it’s just me here.”
I sit on the chair next to her and rest my forearms on my knees. “I’m happy if she’s happy. I only hope she’s just not so enamored with the idea of all of this and then she wakes up in a few years once the novelty has worn off and she’s wildly unhappy with this guy. Yeah, she can leave him but she’s still forced to deal with him because they have a baby together.” I scrub at my jaw. “It’s tough, not getting along while having to co-parent.”
It’s not something I’ve discussed with Raegan or Lucas, nor do I think I ever will, but Rebecca getting pregnant with Raegan is why we got married. That’s not to say I didn’t love her at the time, but it certainly pushed us down the aisle sooner than I had wanted to. We didn’t have a huge wedding; we eloped in Fiji and everyone thinks it was impulsive and romantic when in reality it was a response to a positive pregnancy test and wanting to do the right thing.
We had her and then Lucas a year and a half later and the next time I blinked, Raegan was five and Lucas was three. It was like I’d been in a sleepless fog for five years and I was just realizing how Rebecca and I just didn’t fit.
Eight years and an affair later, I’d had enough.
She peeks past me before returning her gaze to me and leaning forward, putting her hand on top of mine. “I get it,” she whispers. “I mean, I don’t really get it because my parents are super in love but…I can imagine it’s tough.” She pulls her sunglasses off and meets my gaze andGod her eyes…I could get lost in them. She’s barely wearing any makeup, but she’s got on a few coats of mascara, elongating her lashes and I drag my gaze down past her nose to her full bare lips that still have a pink hue.
Visions of pushing my dick through them come flooding back and I lean back adjusting myself as discreetly as possible but Avery smiles baring her teeth. “I’m going to go shower. I’m still kind of sweaty from the gym. Tell Lucas I’ll be back, okay?”
I nod and without even looking at me, she stands and drags her fingertips up my arm gently as she walks by me.
And now, I’m hard as a rock.
Ishowered and changed into a short off the shoulder black gingham print dress that’s both casual and sexy and I’m hoping Theo has hung around long enough to see me in it. I’m moving down the stairs when I hear my mom call for me and I see her in the kitchen pulling a cake out of the oven wearing anAvery’s Cafét-shirt and shorts underneath an apron. Her dark curly hair is pulled back into a tight bun like she always does when she’s cooking if she’s not wearing the cute chef’s hat my dad got her.
“Taste this,” she says, holding a spoon with light green icing.
“Mint?” I ask her, because she’s always trying to revamp how she prepares mint chocolate desserts.
“Mmmhm, I swear this batch tastes like toothpaste.” I lick the spoon and scrunch my nose.
“Definitely Colgate-y.” I giggle. “That batch you made over Thanksgiving break last year was perfection.”Truly, I’ve had dreams about how good those mint chocolate brownies tasted.
“Your father has not stopped talking about that damn batch and I went rogue and I can’t remember what I did.” She puts a hand over her forehead and squeezes her eyes shut like she’s trying to remember how many grains of salt were in the pinch that went into the batch.
“I mean, Mom, your mint chocolate is already amazing, like everything else you bake, why do you let this get to you?”
“Because it’s different every time I bake it! I need consistency. Hello!?” She huffs. “So, you’re coming to the café with me tomorrow?”
“Yep.”
“Even if you’re hungover.” She raises an eyebrow and looks behind me out the back door that is a shortcut to Lucas’ house.
“Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Fine. Be careful coming home.” I move towards the door when she stops me. “By the way, did I see Raegan’s car over there? Is she home?”
“She came by, but she was in and out.”
“Mmmm, I hear she’s seeing someone.”
“Oh?”I ask, wondering what exactly she knows.
