Page 111 of No Place Like Home

“I’ll be in the car,” he told Juliet before closing the door.

Man, he was such a good guy.

Now that everyone had left, I had nowhere to hide.

“You’re done running?” She cocked her head and raised a brow.

“I think so,” I whispered.

Content with my answer, she came toward me. “She’s beautiful, Jess.”

“I didn’t know I could love like that,” I admitted.

“Kids change us. I know you and Rosie changed me,”

Fuck. I covered my face when I began to cry. Emotions were a good thing to feel. Juliet hugged me once again, and this time I embraced her with the same intensity.

“You love him, don’t you?” she asked as she pulled away.

I bit my lip.

“She’s mad at me, isn’t she?” I asked instead.

This time she was the speechless one.

“She’ll come around,” she told me on her way out. “We always do for the ones we love.”

And I knew she wasn’t just talking about Rosie.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR

I didn’t getone lick of sleep. Part of it was because of what I had found out, but the other part now that I had seen her was the fact that the last time I was in this bed, I was making love to her. And that right there should have been the first clue that I was falling for her.

It wasn’t just sex, and it never had been. My biggest lie was how I’d talked myself into thinking I could have used Jess as a fuck buddy. I was a fucking idiot. She’d influenced everything from my merchandise to my house.

I could have told myself it was guilt, and maybe that was how it started, but it definitely wasn’t guilt now.

Without thinking, I picked up my phone and made a call.

“Can I ask why the hell you’re calling my wife and not me?” Gavin said, answering Scarlett’s cellphone.

“Because I didn’t want to talk to you,” I told him.

He chuckled. “How have you been, asshole? My kid misses his Uncle Cueball.”

“Fuck off, Dunn,” I barked, wondering when was a good time to drop theI have a kidball.

“Gav, give me the phone,” Scarlett scolded him on the other side of the line. It took a minute, but then she was on the line. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Scarlett wasn’t Jess, but I couldn’t help but find some similarities.

“Did you ever regret running away?” I asked right off the bat.

“Why are you asking me this?” she seemed weirded out.

Shit, I would have too, if I’d been her.

Scar and Gav didn’t pry, but they knew shit didn’t end well with Jess. And I knew Gav wanted to tell me to stop being an idiot, but I was finally getting my career back, so I guessed it was one thing at a time.

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