Page 63 of Fate

Of course, on Saturday nights, all bets are off. Saturday nights…those are mine. All six-foot three-inches of hotness wrapped around me from the second he enters my apartment until after breakfast on Sunday.

I hate Sundays. Not only does he leave to go back to her, but it’s their combined family day. Not like he doesn’t have Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Alas, I’m trying very, very hard to accept the things I cannot change. At least right now. I can see that Carson is trying to make the best of a very trying situation, and he doesn’t need me adding to the problems, but damn, I’m tired of seeing him based on scheduled dates.

To: Carson Davis

From: Kathleen Bennett

Wouldn’t you like to know? Let’s just say something saucy, spicy, and mouthwatering.

I respond to his text, proud of my charmingwit.

His response is the emoji with the big heart eyes. Then my phone rings.

“Hello, hot stuff speaking,” Ijoke.

Carson’s throaty laugh rumbles through my body, settling hotly between my thighs. Damn. He can take me from zero to wet with a simple laugh. I stir the marsala sauce I’m making for dinner. It will last me three days. I can’t eat out every night. I’d be as big as a cow. How would I compare standing next to petite, fake-titty Barbie?

“Hey, I have news!” His jovial timbre sets my heart abuzz.

“What kind of news?” I smile, knowing it must be good by the tone of his voice.

“Thebest.”

“Really? Well, don’t keep a girl waiting.”

“I’ve found the perfect place for Misty and Cora. And you’re never going to believe where.”

Just the fact he’s found a place for his house guest—aka Baby Mama Drama, according to my girl Bree—is amazing news on its own. A prickle of excitement skitters along my skin. I turn the sauce down and lean against the counter, pressing the phone closer to my ear. I do not want to missthis.

“Where? Better yet, when is it available?” I ask in a rush. The excitement of getting my boyfriend back all to myself is nudging my exuberance.

“In your building! Chase has an opening. A couple on your floor is growing their family, and they need more than two bedrooms. It’s perfect! And you’ll be right there. Then I can stay over more and not feel like I’m too far away. It’s a win-win.”

In my building.

On the same floor asme.

I clench my jaw and try to sound happy. “That’s…uh…great news, babe. When is all this happening?” I try and fail to sound impressed. I cringe when silence greets me on theline.

“You’re not happy about this?” The question is breathy and filled with concern.

I slump against the counter and let out a tired burst of air. “It’s not that I’m not happy she’s leaving your house. I’d scream it from the rooftops if you’d let me. But moving into my building? On the very floor I live on?” I groan, unable to hold it back. “That’s kind of weird, isn’tit?”

Carson sighs. “Sweetcheeks, I gotta say, sounds like you’re being a little unreasonable, don’t you think? Do you have any idea how happy it makes me to know the woman I love is right down the hall in case Cora needs anything?”

“You mean Misty,” I deadpan.

“Honey. I’m surprised at you. I thought you’d be happy…”

Mentally I chastise myself for being so obstinate. “Ugh. I am happy. I’d just be happier if she was in another building,” I admit rather stubbornly, bordering on bratty.

“You’re just going to have to get over it. You’ll see. Have a good night’s sleep and think it over. This is the best possible outcome we could have hoped for. Really, it is. And besides, before long, you’ll be moving in here, so it won’t matter where she lives in the long run, now willit?”

And there he goes again with the moving in and marriage angle. He hasn’t let it go, but he’s yet to make an official proposal. I think it’s because he knows I’ll decline. We need more time. More time to adjust to this new us. Not just Carson and me, but Carson, Cora, me, and even Baby Mama Drama.

“Can you promise me you’ll think it over? I have to tell Chase tomorrow. Three other couples are on the waiting list for the building, and Chase is doing me a solid by letting Misty skate to the top. I really don’t want to turn him down, and I want to tell Misty what the plan is. If this works out, she could be out of my house by month’s end. Don’t you wantthat?”

I grind my teeth and rub my temples. He’s right, and I hate it. How did I become the adolescent in this relationship? Perhaps it happened when I found out my boyfriend had a child and became someone’s daddy.

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