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I step in front of the kids slightly as if I could protect them from emotional damage caused by this asshole. My guard is up, the hairs on the back of my neck standing at attention as I look him over, trying to ignore the way my heart races at the sight of him. Remington looks tired, with dark circles under his eyes. His hair is mussed and sticking up in the back like he rolled out of bed and raced over here.
“I can explain. I wasn’t abandoning you,” he says, running a shaking hand through his hair. Those green eyes pierce right through me, but I resist, looking away from the man who broke my heart.
I don’t want to listen to him. I can’t. I need to get my emotions and my hormones in check before I talk to him. That way, I won’t risk falling for his pretty lies and charming grin.
“Can we go?” Noah asks, glaring at Remington with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Absolutely,” I answer with delight.
We walk past Remington, the three of us holding hands. He opens his mouth, but I shoot him a warning look. The man wisely shuts his trap, which is the first good decision he’s made all week.
Still, he trails after us back to the cars, hanging around while I help the kids into the backseat.
“Lucy,” Remington starts, and I glare at him.
“We don’t need to do this. Certainly not here. I got your message loud and clear.”
“I wasn’t ignoring you, I swear. Just let me explain,” he pleads.
Part of me wants to give in and hear him out. My stupid heart is tripping all over itself and swooning with naive dreams of a happily ever after. My head, however, has decided to take over. No more life-altering decisions will be deligated to my heart. She’s put us through enough pain.
“I don’t want to hear it right now,” I snap at him. Maybe Remington has an amazing excuse. Or maybe he’s a shitty liar, and it took him several days to come up with a whopper big enough to ditch me and Noah. Either way, he hurt me, and I’m not ready to forgive him. I’m not ready to open myself up and let him hurt me again. Once was plenty, thank you very much.
“We’ll talk later, though,” he says, and it’s not really a question.
I give him one terse nod and climb into the car. We’re silent as we back out of the parking lot and head downtown. I glance in the rearview mirror, taking in Noah’s thunderous expression.
“Are we still getting ice cream?” June asks, and I know that she’s trying to lighten the mood.
“Of course!”
I pull my eyes away from Remington and focus on the road as we head to the ice cream shop. The mood is a bit dour, but June does her best to cheer us up as we sit outside and enjoy the warm weather.
“Maybe we could go back to the trampoline park or do ceramics,” June suggests.
“Maybe next time. It’s already getting kind of late,” I tell her.
The truth is that I want to go home and try to process everything I’m feeling. I’m not going to be much fun to hang around when all I can think about is Remington and how he hurt me. Now that I’ve seen him again, I have another intrusive thought. Is he okay? He looked… rough. I mean, he’s Remington, so he’s still annoyingly sexy and handsome, but something was missing. His light was gone. As much as I want to forget about Remington, I can’t get the picture of his sad eyes and hurt features in my rearview mirror out of my mind.
I glance at Noah and see that he’s just as preoccupied with his thoughts as I am.
“Why did he come to find us?” Noah asks. I swallow hard, the sweet taste of the ice cream souring on my tongue.
Noah still looks mad, but I can hear the tinge of hope in his voice. He didn’t know Remington for very long, but he was starting to grow attached to him, to let his guard down around him. Just like me.
“I don’t know,” I tell him quietly, wrapping my arm around his shoulders.
He’s quiet and tense, and I remove my arm from around him, letting him have his own space.
“Why don’t I take you guys home? We can try the ceramics place or the trampoline park in a few days,” I tell them.
They nod, and I drive them home in silence.
“See you later,” June tells me, giving me a quick hug.
“Let me know if you need anything before I see you next.”
She smiles and hurries to catch up to Noah.
