Page 9 of Never Less

“Horrible. Disappointed. Scared.” My heart breaks as I realize the truth. “Do you… think he’ll start cheating again?”

“Do you think he’s fully stopped?”

I bite my lip. Finding out that Nate cheated was hellish enough. I came to surprise him at work and found him kissing his coworker in his office. It took him weeks to tell me the full truth of how long it had been going on.

“Liliana?”

“I don’t even know if he’s admitted to everything he’s done.” Tears prick at my eyes again, but this time they’re from shame instead of hurt. “I’m stupid for trying to make this work, aren’t I?”

“I think you’re scared, just like you said.” The sound of water splashing and moving fills the space between us, and when I look up, I find Marcus in the water. He’s wading toward me, his face shadowed.

“I don’t know how to move on.” My voice wobbles, but I manage to stave off actual sobs. “It’d be so messy. I’d lose so many friends who knew him first, one of us would have to find a new place to live, and I’d…”

I’d miss getting to see you. I’m a little shocked at that realization. Sure, I’ve had a little crush on Marcus for years. He’s hot as hell and he’s always been so nice to me. But it’s always been manageable—just something that makes me blush every once in a while. So realizing that I’d actually miss my boyfriend’s dad, possibly more than my boyfriend himself, feels… quite unexpected.

“Trust me, I understand how messy it gets. It’s even worse when there’s a kid involved.” Pain crosses over Marcus’s face, and then he gives me a sad smile. “There’s an element of letting go that’s hard to face, too.”

I nod. “Once it’s done, it’s done. And what if we can work this out? What if I can learn to trust him again? What if… what if what we had wasn’t all lies?”

“Those are all the right questions to be asking,” he tells me, but something about his tone tells me that’s not all he has to say on the matter.

“But?” I prod.

“But you’re missing a few things.” Gently, he places a bent knuckle under my chin and lifts my head so I’m gazing directly into his eyes. “What you want and deserve matters, too, little star.”

“Little star?” I whisper.

“For this.” With his free hand, he brushes his fingers behind my right ear, where the tiny tattoo of a star sits. I got it when I turned eighteen to mark a new era of my life—one full of chasing dreams and never settling.

I turn my head to the side and look down again. “I don’t think I deserve a nickname like that.”

Blowing out a long breath, Marcus tugs me into his body. His arms come around me, anchoring me to him, and I find my cheek pressed to his bare chest. Wherever his scent is coming from—deodorant or cologne or soap—it smells nice. Spicy and masculine and grounding.

“He really did a number on you, didn’t he?” Marcus murmurs. “I’m so sorry he’s putting you through this.”

Even though it’s probably a bad idea, I let myself relax into him. His one hand gently rubs my back, and it awakens a desire in me that’s immediately chased by bitterness.

Desire for a man who listens to me, who values loyalty, and who would hold me the way Marcus is right now. Bitterness because his son promised all of that only to toss me and what we had into the trash.

I wish I could…

But I stop myself from finishing that thought. What’s the point of wishing now? What’s done is done. What’s been promised has been promised. And even if it makes me naive, I’m not quite ready to give up on Nate yet.

“He can’t know I told you any of this,” I whisper.

“I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”

I sniffle. “You’re a much better listener than your son.”

With an apologetic smile, Marcus tilts his head down and places a quick, chaste kiss to the top of my head. “I wasn’t at his age either. He’ll get there.”

I’d prefer not to have to wait twenty years.

I almost voice the thought out loud but manage to stop myself just in time.

“Now let’s both get to bed,” he says. “Things will probably look better in the morning.”

“You think so?”

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