Page 144 of Lace 'em Up

“And I know I’m not my father?—”

“Your father’s not perfect, honey.”

I jump.

King jumps.

Stella’s standing in the doorway, her expression worried as her eyes come to mine and hold. “I was…” She exhales, shakes her head slightly, drawing the adoring gaze of Zeus, who’s sitting at her feet. “Concerned,” she says. “After what happened and what you told me.”

King goes still next to me.

Stella exhales again, head dropping for a second. Then her stare comes back to mine.

And I get it.

She needs to talk to her son.

I press my lips to King’s. “I’m going to take Zeus for a walk.”

Another walk. Not that the pooch will mind.

He frowns. “Princess?—”

“I’ll be back, okay?”

I wait until his gaze comes to mine and he nods, something settling in me. Not leaving. Not forcing him to stare at my back as I walk away.

Be brave and kind.

“See you soon,” I murmur and then I’m pushing out of his hold, walking over to Stella, taking Zeus’s leash.

He gives a little happy dance, those tiny feet tap-dancing on the hardwood floor.

We walk out the front door.

And I leave Mama Bang to work her magic.

Thirty-Nine

King

I grind my teeth together, biting back the urge to call out to Rory.

To beg her to stay.

I just want to pretend it didn’t happen, to go back to loving my woman?—

Except, I haven’t been doing a great job of that, have I?

Freaking out and running away when she’d been through the shit. Again.

Not doing anything about it. Again.

You’re not your father.

A pain splinters through my head and I rub at the ache, trying to shove it all down…to forget, to focus on all of the good I’ve found despite?—

“You know your father is my best friend,” my mom says, sitting on the step next to me.

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