Page 42 of Anything To Be With You

"Could’ve fooled me."

He shrugs one shoulder like it’s no big thing, however, that small grin on his lips tells me otherwise.

"Tell me about that praying mantis woman that slapped you the other day," I say.

His eyes fly open, and his head turns slowly towards me. "No."

I sit up fully. "C’mon Archer. Tell me about her. It’s obvious that you two have some sort of history."

He scratches his stubble and looks up to the ceiling.

"I’ll tell you about Mason’s sperm donor." I offer.

I wait to see if he’s going to take the bait but after a few minutes I give up and lay back down next to him.

"Her name is Sarah," he finally says. "We dated for four years, and on the night I was going to propose, she showed up with the guy she had been cheating on me with and told me she was leaving."

My jaw drops.

"Closed our joint bank account and cleaned out our apartment while I was at work."

Oh. Oh wow.

"He left once the money was gone, and now she calls me every few days in an attempt to wear me down, so I’ll take her back."

Anger and sadness fight inside me. That was a bitch move on her part and it kind of explains why Luke is a dick sometimes. I wasn't the nicest person after my breakups either.

"What a bitchface."

He chuckles. "Yeah."

I exhale slowly. "Mason’s sperm donor was a horrible guy, who dropped me the minute his daddy told him to, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since. Which is a good thing." I blurt out.

Luke hisses under his breath. "Sorry."

I wave him off. "Don’t be. I had help from my parents and my best friend Erin. Mason knows about his father but has no interest in meeting him." Which I am grateful for every single fucking day.

"It mustn’t have been easy for you."

"Honestly, if I didn’t have help, I don’t think I would have survived."

Luke shifts, moving closer to me. "Is his father still alive?"

I shrug, brushing his shoulder with mine. "As far as I know. Like I said, Mason has no interest in meeting him, so I haven’t been actively looking." I cross my feet at the ankle and stretch. This floor is horrible on my back, but I am enjoying being close to Luke and not fighting.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Oh, God," it takes me a minute to remember. "He left after Mason's first birthday, however we passed him at the Eaton's Centre when Mason was four." I huff. "He didn't even look our way. He acted like he didn't even know who we were."

"Is he the one who gave you those scars and burn marks?" Luke questions.

I freeze, my heart in my throat and my stomach in a puddle on the elevator floor. I try to avoid this question as much as possible. I hate the looks of pity and the ‘so sorry that happened to you’ bullshit.

"No." I lie.

Luke gives me a look but doesn’t push the issue. "Does he pay any type of child support?"

I relax at the subject change. "Fuck no. His family never acknowledged Mason. Said that he was someone else’s child," I snort. "He looks exactly like his father. Has my hair and eye colour though. And personality, thank fuck. Josh was a dick."

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