AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s your house. Kick him out.”
“It’s my father’s house.”
“Then, havehimkick Tyler out.”
“It’s my children’s home too. They planned this with their father today, and I’ve done everything I can to make them realize this is their home through and through. If I kick Tyler out, I’m the bad guy.”
Will pinches the bridge of his nose. He lowers his hand and looks back at me with a severe stare. “Melissa, I wanted to spend the day with you. I didn’t come over here for a quickie and a nap.”
“I wasn’t expecting my children to come home early.” I look at him with equal exasperation and wonder why he is not understanding that I have zero control over my children being here. “Frankly, Will, I thought you were cool with the fact that I have children. Why are you behaving as if their presence is ruining your day?”
“I love your children. The problem is, I don’t want Tyler spending the evening with you when it wasmyplan to spend the evening with you. If that meant having pasta with your kids or making papier-mâché army men for a history project, then that’d be great. Instead, the man who gave you up is inside the house, and the man who desperately wants to be with you, in every way, is standing outside in the cold.”
“For the record, you brought us outside.”
“You know what I mean!” His tone rises, and I know I’ve struck a nerve. The smolder I love has cooled completely and is replaced with an icy glare. “I can’t go back in there. Not with him here.”
“Will, look, I am really sorry, but …dammit… if I go in there and tell the kids that I want Tyler to go because you’re staying, they’re going to hate me for kicking their dad out and hate you for taking his place. This is why I don’t want to tell them about us. Not yet. Divorce is messy, and mine is no neater than anyone else’s.”
His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows fiercely. “He gets to stay, and I have to leave?”
I run my hand through my hair and pull at the scalp because he has every single right to be upset about the situation right now, but I still have to look at him in his beautiful, kind, caring face, and say, “For now, yes.”
Will starts to turn, his body tight and clearly distraught by this conversation.
I grab the lapels of his coat and pull him back, inching up on my toes. “I’ll make it up to you.”
I place a kiss on his lips. He fights me for just a moment until he returns it and sinks into me in that way that he does when we connect.
Hands, lips … even our feet are practically on top of one another.
“Tomorrow? You’re off, and I’ll take a huge, tremendous break in my day. Let me treat you to a fancy lunch and show my man a good time on a Monday morning-slash-afternoon because I have to get my kids from school.”
He glances down at me under hooded eyes and long lashes, not happy with today’s situation, but seemingly pleased with the promise of tomorrow.
“Fine. Under one condition.” He pauses and waits for my full attention, which I am giving him with batted lashes. “You have to tell Tyler how serious we are, and you have to talk to him about his expectations of what my presence in your life is going to look like.”
“What is that exactly?”
He leans in so our foreheads are touching, gripping my hips, and I soak in every bit of breath he takes. “He’ll be seeing me a lot, and so will his children because I plan on being around for a very, very long time.”
My heart feels like it’s grown ten times too big. Problem with hearts when they swell is, they feel like they might explode. I have to rub my chest to shrink my heart back down so it’s not a fragile size. Nope, doesn’t matter. It’s still totally shatterable.
“I’ll try.”
Will’s departure downstairs seems sullen as he makes his way to his truck. I watch his car roll down the street, and my hand lingers on my lips that were kissed many times by him today.
When I go inside, I prepare for the onslaught of fake happy family and the incessant questions from Tyler, and I wonder why the hell Tyler seems to be wanting to come around so often lately.
Odds are, I won’t get the answer to any of it.
twenty-five
THE HISTORY PROJECT WITHTyler and the kids turned into a Hunter magic show. Having Tyler over wasn’t unbearable. For once, he took interest in Hunter’s magic kit and even looked up how to do a hidden coin trick. He even offered to help Izzy study while I took Hunter upstairs for his bath.
Dad locked himself in the garage workshop because he couldn’t handle seeing Tyler’s face in his home. There are now two men who despise my ex-husband’s presence in my kitchen. When I went to talk to Tyler about it, he was already gone. Izzy said Maisie had called, and he rushed off.
I called Will before I went to bed, but it was brief because I was still exhausted.
