Page 23 of Falling for My Son's Best Friend

“I know,” she replied softly, “it’s just that I’ve never heard it so clearly. I know I’m almost forty, but that dude threw it in my face, like it was a huge liability.”

And I snorted then.

“Who cares? That geezer was seventy if he was a day, and he’s got an evil mouth, he thinks his money lets him get away with anything. What he said wasn’t true,” I continued forcefully, “you’re not old, you’re perfect, you’re amazing, I adore you.”

And I stopped short myself then. Had I just said “adore”? Oh shit, that was weird. But even as the word left my mouth, I knew it was true. Because in my own way, I adored this woman, absolutely worshipped her, was putty in her hands, in her arms at night.

And although Marie smiled gently at me then, her eyes were still a little sad.

“I know, Trent, I know,” she said softly. “But there was truth in his words, and that’s why they stung. I am old, I’m older than you, a lot older in fact. You’re my son’s best friend, we’re not exactly peers,” she said with a wry smile.

And my hand on her arm grew tighter then because I had to make her see, had to make her realize that I didn’t give a fuck, that the world didn’t give a fuck. When you find someone who’s right, it’s a miracle no matter what. So I looked her straight in the eye and told her my truth.

“Marie, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, and the sex between us is crazy good,” I rumbled in a low voice. “The best I’ve ever had in fact, and I’ve had a lot.” It was the most I could offer at the moment, I didn’t know how to disentangle the feelings knotted in my chest, couldn’t figure them out myself even. So I went back to what was absolutely good for us, what we knew worked like clockwork. The physical.

The brunette smiled at me slowly, a real smile, brown eyes growing warm, her hand lightly tracing my cheek, moving to caress my jaw.

“I know, Trent, it’s the best I’ve ever had too,” she confessed, cheeks slightly pink. “But maybe it’s good that this is just a one-week thing, because you belong with someone else. Someone, I dunno, younger, fresher, closer to your age. I’m someone’s mom already. Maybe this way it’s for the better, this way we’ll both move on easier, forget each other that much sooner.”

My heart pounded painfully hearing those words, a loud rushing sound in my ears, deafening, like the world was crashing in. Because I understood what she was saying, and why she was saying it. We’d never made any promises, hell, even the one-week thing had been pure coincidence, we’d started as a bar hook-up of all things. But somehow, hearing the words, out in the open, no bullshit-style, really fucking hurt, making my jaw ache. Because I’d been living in wonderland as well and hearing the bald truth fucking sucked. So I took a deep breath, eyes serious.

“Listen, this is so complicated, and let’s just leave it for now, okay?” I ground out even as my heart ached, my lungs literally having trouble inflating. “There’s no sense in getting into it here, at Arcade Arena, with a basketball game to watch, Robbie waiting for us, and god knows who else in the crowds,” I rumbled. “So let’s just have fun, okay?”

And Marie’s mouth quirked even if her eyes remained sad.

“Of course Trent, let’s have fun,” the brunette said, with a forced air of cheer. “Come on, Robbie must think the earth’s swallowed us by now,” she teased, turning to head up the stairs to our seats.

And I watched, a lump in my throat, as that juicy ass swayed in her tight jeans, taking the steps one by one, moving in front of me and away. Because yeah, our relationship wasn’t traditional, this wasn’t how things usually happened. But that’s the thing. Is there a “usual” way anymore? Is there really “normal” anymore? I mean, on-line dating didn’t even exist ten years ago, and now swiping left and right is what everyone does. Plus, there were so many older woman / younger man celebrity couples, so why did we have to fight the current? Why did we have to swim upstream?

But I forced myself to follow her, my steps heavy, my heart even heavier. Because for some reason, it mattered to Marie, and because it mattered to her, it mattered to me too. And I only hoped that after this week, I’d get out alive because I was losing my heart to the brunette … with absolutely no hope of getting it back.

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