Page 43 of Mister President

On top of that, there was the static with Amanda. I showed my ass the last time we saw each other, and we didn’t do family day because of it last week. We agreed to put our differences aside this week to ensure EJ was able to enjoy his favorite holiday. It was crazy how this had become our normal. We went from being the perfect coparents to this toxic ass shit, and I had no one to blame but myself. If only I would have let her call things off when she tried…

But she told me she loved me.

After twelve fucking years.

How was I supposed to walk away from that?

I told myself I had every right to pursue the family I’d always wanted, but damn if a twisted future with Amanda didn’t have me wanting to change my mind.

“Will you be in tomorrow?”

“Until my son gets out of school. I’ll have him all weekend, so we won’t be able to kick it.”

“Oh.” Her expression saddened as she looked away briefly. “Well…maybe we can do dinner or something Monday?”

“Yeah, that’s cool.” Testing the waters, I said, “I actually have a meeting with your father next week. Maybe we all can do dinner.” She swallowed hard and rubbed her hands up and down her thighs. “The last two meetings we had were mysteriously cancelled. You know anything about that?”

“Um…” Clearing her throat, she shook her head. “N-No. Daddy’s been flying Mommy back and forth home. Her daidí is sick.” That Irish in her came out, which was often the case when she talked about her mom’s side of the family, or she was nervous.

“Mhm. Well, I talked to him this morning, and he said there’s nothing on his calendar for that day, so there’s no reason I should get an email canceling the meeting.”

“F-Fine. I’m gonna let you go. Like I said, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Chuckling, I stood upright. “Aight, baby. I’ll call you later.”

She gave me a forced smile before lowering her shades over her eyes. As she rolled up the window, I tapped the top of the car. Shortly after, her driver pulled off. Fiona was definitely hiding something, and now, I was sure it was me.

Did Declan know we were together?

Amanda hesitantly steppedto the side to let me in. She was dressed in an oversized shirt—myshirt. I didn’t want to let that affect me…but it did. Unable to resist, I pulled her into my arms as soon as she closed the door. I buried my face in her neck and inhaled her scent. Her scent was crisp and clean, like always. She smelled like she’d just taken a bath with the purest soap, and I loved that scent.

“Hey, Ma! I gotta go. Hakeem is waiting for me on the game.”

Amanda chuckled as I released her.

“We won’t be here long,” I told him as he walked down the hall. “One game.”

It was my plan to talk to her tomorrow while he was at school, but all I’d been able to think about was her being in school. Before it was time for him to start getting ready for bed, I decided to pull up on her real quick.

“Is everything okay?” she asked as we headed toward the couch. Amanda had put her old living room furniture from the penthouse here after the Hermes set arrived. She ended up taking the rest of the money and fixing up EJ’s room, then used the rest to take him shopping. I loved how even when I tried to spoil her, she spoiled him. That gave me the confidence to know my son would always be taken care of when with her.

“You’re going back to school?”

Her smile was small as we sat on opposite sides of the couch. “Yes,” she almost whispered, lowering her head bashfully.

“Mandy…” I took her hands into mine as I smiled. “Why didn’t you tell me, bae?”

“It’s online and part time. It’s not a big de—”

“Nah, we not about to downplay this. You’re going back to school.”

She giggled, chest opening up a bit as she relaxed. “I was going to tell you…about all my dreams and plans actually.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“That was the day you were raving about Fiona at the country club. You were so happy I just…didn’t want to make it seem like I was competing or boasting.”

“Would that have been such a bad thing?” Her head tilted and mouth opened partially. “I was sharing my happiness with you. That was the perfect time for you to do the same.”

---