Page 284 of Steamy Ever After

“Peyton, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean?—”

“But you did, and that’s the problem. You’ve known Finn for what? Three days? I’m 2,931 days ahead of you.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t ever make that mistake again. Believe me, I absolutely do not think I know your son better than you do. It was a stupid thing to say.”

“Tell you what. When you can give me that speech and actually mean it, give me a call and maybe we’ll talk. Bye, Brodie.”

“Peyton—”

“In the last few minutes, I saw a side of you I’m not crazy about. You eavesdropped on a private message and then called me out on it. You actually told me I wasn’t having dinner with someone. Then you told me how to handle a situation with my son when I did not ask for your advice. I let you take charge of certain things in the past couple of days because I was exhausted and I trusted you. Don’t abuse my trust by thinking you can waltz in here and take over everything, especially my relationship with my boys.”

“That isn’t what I was doing.”

“No?” Peyton went into the kitchen. “There’s this thing I do with my kids, kind of like the thing your mom did with you. When I know they aren’t being honest with me or with themselves, I make them take a time out. I tell them that when they’re ready to take an honest look at the situation, I’ll be happy to discuss it with them. Until then, I’m not interested. So Brodie, right now, I’m not interested.”

Brodie stood and went down the hall and into the guest bathroom. He grabbed his bag, then stopped at Finn’s door and waved.

“Hey, Brodie. Wait!” she heard her son call out.

“I gotta go, but I’ll see you soon, okay? Take it easy on that leg.”

Brodie stopped in front of her, and for a minute, she thought he was going to continue arguing with her, but he didn’t.

“See ya, Peyton.”

She probably should’ve stopped him before he left, and thanked him again for all he’d done to help her and the boys, but hadn’t she already thanked him a hundred times? Instead, she sent a text to Alex.

Call me when you’re done on the trail, she wrote. Need to talk. I think I might’ve f’d things up, she added a few seconds later.

“You weren’t kidding. What did you do to him?” Alex was standing in Peyton’s kitchen, unpacking groceries.

“What is all that?” Peyton asked.

“Stuff.”

“Frozen pizza? Burritos? Mac & cheese?”

Alex put her hand on her waist. “I’m hungry.”

“Is that an apple pie?”

“I’m really hungry. Back to Brodie. What happened?”

“We had an argument, and I asked him to leave,” Peyton admitted.

“The state?”

“What does that mean?”

“By the size of the suitcase he had with him when he left, I think he’s planning to be gone a while.”

Alex was quiet while Peyton told her about the last conversation she and Brodie’d had.

“Well? You’re not saying anything.”

“You’re the one who texted me and said you think you f’d things up.”

“So you agree? You think I was wrong?”

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