Page 45 of Pelvic Flaws

Carl bent and kissed Charlie’s head and then looked to me as he straightened up. “You’ll sort something then, with Dex, or whatever his name is?”

“Yep,” I replied, hiding my grin at him pretending to forget Dex’s name. “I’ll let you know.”

With a quick glance around the room and a ruffling of Charlie’s hair, Carl left, letting himself out.

“Thanks, Mum,” Charlie said, when we heard the front door close.

“What for?” I asked, re-joining him on the sofa.

“I wanted to stay here and read my magazine.”

“You could have done that at your dad’s. I wouldn’t have minded if you’d wanted to go.”

Charlie shook his head. “No I couldn’t, Jessie would have ended up ripping it. She does that a lot,” he grumbled.

“Well, she’s still only a baby. But maybe leave it here when you go at the weekend.”

Charlie agreed. “Yeah, I will. I can’t believe Dex bought it for me.”

“I know,” I answered, feeling a warm glow. “It was very kind of him.”

“Yeah it was.”

We were both quiet for a few moments until Charlie sat back and snuggled into my side.

“You know, Mum,” he said, lifting up my arm and putting it around him. “I really like Dex.”

“That’s good. I do too.”

God, and boy did I like him.

“Good,” Charlie said. “Because I think he likes you too.”

I looked down at him with raised brows.

“You think so?”

Charlie nodded enthusiastically. “Yep. A lot.”

As he pulled his magazine onto his lap, continuing to read, I just hoped that the saying was right and the truth really did come out of the mouths of babes.

Dex

I couldn’t stop the fucking stupid grin that was plastered all over my face. It was ridiculous. One client had even asked me if I’d been to the dentist and had my mouth frozen. That’s how crazy I must have looked. Truth be told, I didn’t give shit though, it was how Katie made me feel. I felt excited about something for the first time in a long time.

I hadn’t planned on going over to see Charlie, but when I saw the magazine when I was out on the lunch run, I just had to get it for him. I wasn’t even sure he’d be home from school, but thought it a probability. I was glad I’d taken the risk, because it’d been good to see Katie and make sure she wasn’t thinking things she shouldn’t have been.

I’d seen her face when she’d come back into the lounge and when Charlie emptied his guts all over me. She was second guessing everything and coming up with the idea that I didn’t need the hassle that three kids brought with them. But, she didn’t know me, or know that I didn’t get spooked easily – three kids were chicken feed. Yeah, it was very, very early days and I barely knew her or them, but what I did know I liked, a lot.

There was something about her that captured my imagination and had me wondering actually how far things could go. I hadn’t felt like that since Meggie Peters when I was eighteen. We were your typical high school golden couple - me, the Captain of the football team and Meggie, a cheerleader. We dated for almost two years and I planned on asking her to marry me after we graduated. Then she dropped the bombshell; instead of studying education at Houston, like we’d discussed, she was going to Southern California to study dramatic art. We’d planned I’d move to Houston with her and get a job, seeing as I’d decided against carrying on my education. The University of Texas had offered me a full ride on their football program, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I loved playing in high school, being top dog as we walked the corridors of school like we owned the place, but art was my passion and not chasing after a ball.

Meggie tried to say we’d do the long distance thing, but I saw it in her eyes and those of her social climbing folks – the jobless son of a factory worker was not for their daughter. As Meggie never suggested I go with her, I knew we were finished.

If it had been one of the great romances of the world, Meggie leaving me behind would have changed me – left me broken and closed off, but it didn’t. I missed her for about a week, but then my friend Kevan invited me to a party at his new frat house at UT and I welcomed the world of ‘hooking up’ with open arms. College was the best three years I ever had, without even attending.

The point was, I hadn’t even felt like this when I first met Cherry and we lived together. Katie was different than any other woman I’d ever met and I liked it. I liked that she was crazy and wasn’t perfect. I even liked that her kid had puked all over me.

Flicking through our portfolio and marking those designs that probably needed retiring, I didn’t look up straight away when I heard the door to the shop open.

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