Page 93 of Dreaming of Dawson

“Yeah, including their wedding night.”

“Oh.” She frowns, shaking her head. “Did his ex do that on purpose?”

“Of course she did. It’s typical of Sabrina. Anything she can do to screw things up for Tanner, she’ll do it.”

“I don’t understand her. She cheated on him more than once, so why does she keep trying to screw things up for him? She can’t have loved the guy, and surely she’d welcome the freedom she gained from their divorce. It would mean she could sleep with whoever she wanted, without fear of getting caught.”

“You’d have thought so, wouldn’t you? And she’s certainly made the most of her freedom.”

“She hasn’t been short of male company, then?” Macy asks, smiling slightly as she finishes her first slice of toast and takes a second.

“Not at all. But for some reason, she can’t let things go with Tanner. When he and Zara first got together, Sabrina was behind Zara losing her job at the elementary school.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Then she threatened to apply for full custody of Nash if Tanner didn’t agree to stop seeing her.”

“She’s jealous,” Macy says with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Funnily enough, she accused Tanner of being jealous of one of her many lovers, but I think you might be right.”

“Do you think she wants him back?”

“Who knows? It’s not gonna happen, no matter what she wants. Tanner’s in love with Zara now, and Sabrina’s very much confined to his past. I know he’d be a lot happier if he and Sabrina could be more amicable about everything… or failing that, if he could have nothing whatsoever to do with her. But he can’t step away from her, because of Nash.”

“It must be difficult for him, and Zara, I guess, when there’s so much animosity between them?”

“It is.” I let my head fall into my hands, thinking through all the conversations I’ve had with him since he and Sabrina split up, and since Stevie left me, feeling the burden of my inadequacy weighing a little too heavy on my shoulders.

“Hey…” I feel a hand on my arm and look up to see Macy standing beside me. “What’s wrong?”

I put my arms around her. “I was just thinking about how much worse it was for Tanner than it was for me. He said to me once, when I was wallowing in self pity, that I got a cleaner break than he did. Not completely clean – because Stevie left me with so many unanswered questions – but cleaner. I argued that the unanswered questions made it tough. Or maybe it was Tanner who argued that. I can’t remember now, and I was probably too drunk to understand exactly what he was saying. It always seemed to me that because Stevie had fallen in love with another man, while Sabrina had left because of sex, not love, that made things easier for Tanner. But it didn’t, did it? It was still hard, regardless of why they left, and I can see now that, in many ways, I was lucky compared to him. At least I never had to see Stevie again after she walked out, while he has to see Sabrina all the time. He has to meet her new lovers, deal with her games, and wrestle with the way she uses Nash as a pawn. And although I’m not gonna say he took it all in his stride, he handled it a lot better than I did.”

“Maybe. But like he said, it’s not a contest.”

I look up into her face, then reach behind her head, pulling her down into a deep and passionate kiss. She falls into my lap, turning her body to face me, and I hold her there, devouring her sweet lips. She sighs, twisting her fingers in my hair, and I skim my hand down the side of her body, pausing over the swell of her breast, then working my way over her hip, and around to her ass, pulling her onto me.

“Fuck… I want you,” I growl into her mouth.

“I want you, too.” She pulls back, looking up at me, her lips swollen and smiling.

“I thought we were holding the thought?”

“We are,” she says, sitting up and planting a quick kiss on my lips before she stands.

“You’re a tease, Macy Potter.”

“And yet you love me.”

“No. I’m in love with you.”

“And I’m in love with you, too.” She wiggles her ass at me as she walks back around the table, resuming her seat. “Now, stop beating yourself up about the past, and finish telling me about Tanner’s wedding night.”

“He’s not gonna get one,” I say, nibbling at my toast, even though I can think of several other things I’d rather be nibbling. “It’s that simple. Sabrina and her latest boyfriend are going away for the weekend, so Nash has gotta stay with him and Zara.”

“Did they have any plans?” she asks. “I mean, I know they weren’t intending to go on honeymoon, but…”

“How did you know that?”

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