Page 100 of The Dating Pact

But on the other hand…fuck that.

I’d been living a brittle existence for years, surviving but not thriving. Brooke had sprinkled some Miracle-Gro on me, and I flourished under her sunshine. And now, she wanted to go and do the noble thing? She wanted to force me to cut us off at the roots?

No.

No.

No.

And yet…

“Daddy!”

I spun around from where I stood in the road, the brake lights of Brooke’s truck long gone, and caught Amelia when she ran to me. “It’s getting close to bedtime. You ready for a bath?”

“No. I want to take a shower.”

“Yeah?” I closed and locked the front door then put her down. “You took a shower last night and basically wasted all the hot water.”

“I-I won’t waste water.” She folded her hands together and stuck out her bottom lip. “I swear.”

“You swear?” I laid a smacking kiss on her cheek. “You swear?”

She squealed. “I swear!”

“Okay. Shower it is.” While she skipped into her bedroom to dig through her pajama drawer for the ones she wanted, I turned on the shower for the water to warm up then sat on the toilet while she showered because she still needed help. I needed to make sure she washed everything, including her “pagina.”

“Daddy! Are you out there?”

“Yes,” I droned, typing out a text to the boys to fill them in on what had happened today.

“Can you open the-the shampoo for me?”

“Yeah.” I flicked the cap open for her and squirted some into her palm, waiting until she washed that out since she’d need help with the conditioner too. It took eight more minutes and a dozen reminders on my part, but she finished up, leaving enough hot water for her brother. I wrapped her up in her towel and pointed her to her bedroom, so I could talk to Seb.

“Hey.”

He ignored me, his focus on the Switch in his hands.

“Sebastian. Put it away. Time to get ready for bed.”

He set it down and rolled off his mattress, still not speaking to me.

“How long are you going to give me the silent treatment?”

“How long are you going to let her sleep in your bed?” he shot back, and I briefly wondered if some of his anger sprouted from the idea that he wouldn’t be able to sleep in my bed anymore if Brooke was in it.

“Actually,” I started, setting my elbow on the top of his dresser when he closed the drawer, “she said it would be better if we didn’t see each other right now.” I didn’t want to make him feel bad, but I also kind of did.

How shitty of a parent did that make me?

That I wanted to force him to acknowledge what I had given up and continued to give up for him?

He froze, only for a moment, probably expecting a fight. He wanted an outlet for his pain. I understood that.

Then he turned his chin up to me. “Good.”

“Good? You’re happy that Brooke and I aren’t going to be together?”

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