Page 72 of Easy Out

Once she texts Syd, I show her the bathroom and give her a spare toothbrush. Glancing at her one more time in the mirror, I leave and let her have some privacy to do what she needs to and wait for her in my room.

I’m staring at the ceiling when the door clicks shut. Lauren’s hair is tied in a knot on the top of her head. Her face is scrubbed free of makeup. Not that she wears a lot of it anyway.

She tucks something into her clothes I left on my dresser. Then walks to the opposite side of the bed and slides under the covers. She’s as far away from me as humanly possible.

“Don’t be shy now. I didn’t ask you stay the night to have you sleep on the other side of the bed.” I scooch toward the middle of the mattress then reach out for Lauren. My arm snakes behind her back and I cradle her against my chest.

Lauren melts into my skin. Her lips press into my ribcage. It is soft and sweet but has the power of a jackhammer cracking open the heart beneath the surface.

“What happened to your biological dad?” The question comes out of left field but then I remember I promised to tell her before I became an insecure and jealous asshole.

“He left. Started a new family.” Lauren’s fingers trace the tattoos on my chest.

“When?”

“I think I was nine or ten the last time I saw him.”

“But your mom and dad have been together since you were little.” I glare down at her.

“How do you know?”

“Your mom may have showed me some pictures.” Shit. “She’s really proud of you.” Lauren lifts her head. I hate it. I want her to lay down and never leave. “You were so cute.”

“I’m never leaving you alone with her again,” I grumble. Lauren giggles. “My biological father was never committed to my mom. He was married to baseball.”

“He played too?”

“He tried. He had a good run in the minor league but never got called up. James Jackson wasn’t stable enough for the majors. He loved the lifestyle more than he loved the game.

“I think he thought I was a mistake, a problem from the beginning.” I take Lauren’s hand in mine and intertwine our fingers. “He looked at me like I was a burden. And when he discovered I couldn’t talk, he became cruel.

“Dad, Stephen,” I add so she knows who I’m talking about. “He gave James an ultimatum. Either love me unconditionally or leave. He left.”

“Fucking asshole,” Lauren murmurs with vitriol. It makes me fall for her even more.

“It was for the best. James would show up at my little league games making a scene. Dad had enough. He may not look like it with his Clark Kent glasses and khaki pants, but he is protective as fuck. Especially over his family.”

“I’m happy you have him.” Her voice is laced with an emotion I can’t figure out. Sadness? Loneliness? Neither one works for me.

“What are you thinking about?” Lauren’s warm breath tickles my skin as she exhales.

“How similar we are. Absentee fathers. Feeling like we have to prove ourselves to get love. Not wanting to talk. Our reasons may be different, but the outcome is the same.” She squeezes my hand and my lungs simultaneously. I’m finding it hard to breathe as she lists off all our similarities. Lauren is essentially making a case why she is meant to be mine without realizing it.

Lauren snuggles deeper into my side. “I won’t call you James if you don’t want me to. I get it now.”

“I like it coming from your lips, brujita.“ I kiss those lips I’m always desperate for.

“If you say so.”

“I do. Now turn around for me.” Her eyebrows raise. “Por favor. Necesito sentirte cerca de mi." Lauren rolls over and I pull her backside flush against me. “Fuiste hecha para mí, cariño,” I whisper over the top of her head.

My fingers slip under her shirt, my shirt, and caress her rib cage as she slowly drifts off to sleep.

“Please don’t leave me behind,” Lauren says sleepily, as she burrows herself deeper against my body.

“Never, cariño." I kiss her goodnight one more time on the back of her head.

17

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