Page 44 of Tempting Him

Jay’s shoulders drop as he makes his way to the other side and gathers his trash.

“Oh. Calvin. How are you?”

Jay’s bulging eyes find mine, his lips parting as he realizes his dad is on the phone.

17

“Sorry to botheryou on the weekend, but I figured this would be the best time since you like to work yourself to the bone during the week,” Calvin says with a jovial chuckle.

“You’d be right, but I happen to be at work now.”

“Jesus, Alek, you need to learn to relax a little.”

My brow arches as I watch Jay bend over to pick up a napkin. “I’m relaxing a little.”

Jay spins around and shakes his head, amusement in his eyes.

“That’s good. I just wanted to check in about Jayden. Make sure he’s doing what he’s supposed to.”

“He appears to be well-liked, and he’s not slacking off. He’s a good worker, Cal.”

“Good, good. I’m glad to hear it. I can’t thank you enough for letting him get a spot. The kid is smart, but he loves to party. I just want him to be prepared for adulthood. Sometimes I’m not sure he’s aware his college days are almost up.”

Something akin to defensiveness rears up. I feel the need to stick up for Jay to his own dad, when clearly, his father should know more about him than I do.

“Regardless of what he does in his free time, he’s giving a hundred percent here. I wouldn’t worry.”

Jay shakes his head a little, a small smile on his lips like he’s used to his dad being this way.

“All right, then. I don’t want to take too much of your time. Go home. Take a nap. Have a drink. Enjoy your weekend, Alek.”

I chuckle. “I’ll try.”

Calvin laughs. “I’ll take it. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

“Well, talk about a boner killer,” Jay says from his seat. “He worried about me not taking this seriously?”

“He’s just being a good dad, I suppose.”

“Guess I’ll get back to work.”

“No, it’s fine. You can leave. I didn’t intend on you staying the whole day.”

“You sure?” he asks.

“Yeah. I’ll stick around for a little while but I’ll be heading home soon.”

“Okay then.” He pauses, his eyes flickering to me. “I guess I’ll see you Monday.”

He doesn’t form it like a question, but it is one. I can sense he doesn’t know how to treat our situation. We’ve never embraced or kissed, so there’s no need to do that as we go our separate ways, but I have a feeling it’s an alien thing to Jay. He itches to be affectionate.

I reach into my desk and pull out a card. I scribble my cell number on it and hand it to him. “Text me after your pool party.”

His face lights up with a wide smile that reaches his eyes. “Yeah? Okay.”

I grin as I watch him walk out, not entirely sure that was the smartest decision I’ve made, but excited to see him later nonetheless.

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