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“Well, since chitchat is banned, I’ll get right to the point.” He stopped next to the pond and turned me to face him, taking both of my hands in his. “Layla, I love you. I loved you back then, and I haven’t stopped loving you since. If you took away what I did, would the same be true for you?”
I sighed. This was exactly what I was afraid of. “It’s not that easy, Zac.”
“Why not?”
“Because we can’t justtake awaywhat you did.”
He stepped away, facing the softly rippling water. I watched as he scratched his neck and rolled his shoulders. He seemed to be thinking about what I’d said, and I’d give anything to be a fly on the wall in his brain right now. Well, maybe not. But I definitely wanted to know his thoughts on that. Before I could ask, he turned back to me, taking my hands once again.
“Okay, let’s start over.”
I chuckled. “All right.”
“I get that we can’t pick up where we left off.”
“Correct.”
“But, what about a real second chance? Like a second chance that’s actually more like starting from scratch.”
“Starting from scratch? Isn’t that the same thing as taking away what you did?”
“No, not exactly. So, let’s say I’m a friend of Will’s and you’re a friend of Aria’s.”
“Okay …”
“And let’s say we’re meeting tonight for the first time.”
I frowned. “Zac, what—”
“Hang on, go with me on this.”
“Fine.”
“Trust is something that’s built up over time, right?”
I thought it was a rhetorical question, but when he seemed to be waiting for an answer, I nodded. “Right.”
“Right, so, we just met tonight. I’m a single dad who’s nervous about whether or not this beautiful, strong, talented woman would want to get into a relationship with someone with a kid.”
Licking my lips and then clamping down on them to fight the smile, I nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“And you are …” He waved a hand, indicating for me to fill in the blanks.
I looked up at the moon and thought about it. “I’m … an English teacher who’s been burned by love in the past and now has some serious trust issues.”
He snorted. “Okay, yeah, I deserve that. But good, that works. All right, so, we know where we stand going into this. I’ve heard dating as a single parent involves talking about your kid from the jump. That way if it’s a deal breaker, you don’t get too far down the road before finding that out.”
“You’ve heard? Or … you’veexperienced?” I couldn’t believe I’d even asked that, but it was too late to take it back.
“I’ve heard.” His eyes bore into mine, more serious than they’d been all night. “I haven’t dated anyone since we broke up, Layla.”
Butterflies took flight in my belly even as guilt threatened to shoot them down. I had dated. Quite a bit actually. But it wasn’t because I didn’t still love Zac. It was because I’d thought that ship had sailed, and I didn’t want to die alone, pining over someone who clearly didn’t want me.
Thankfully, he didn’t ask the same question of me, but I knew it would be something we’d need to talk about later if we really did make another go of it.
For now, I was keen to let his little game play out. “So, if we’d just met, you’d ask if Grayson was a deal breaker?”
“Yes. If I asked you if me having a kid was a deal breaker, and if you could see yourself dating me knowing the role you’d take in his life if it went well, what would you say?”
