Page 119 of No Place Like Home

“He’s the reason Jess ran,” was my simple answer.

Dex’s demeanor changed.

“If he wants to press charges, that’s fine, but get him off of my property.”

Dex did just that. He was probably going to convince him that no good would come from him pressing charges against me. He could be civil to that bastard. That was his job, not mine.

I kept holding onto Jess for a few more minutes after we had been left alone. It wasn’t like she’d objected.

Slowly, I removed her arms from around me even though I hated the absence of them. I turned around to face her, and when I saw those almond eyes and how worried they looked, I knew I didn’t hate her. I hated the miscommunications, the missed opportunities, and the amount of time that had passed between now and then.

“This changes everything for me,” I told her honestly.

She looked up at me and just blinked.

“You don’t h-hate m-me,” she stuttered, trying to contain her crying.

Fuck.

How could you hate someone you were in love with? Someone who did the best with all the broken pieces they had?

I grabbed her by the back of her head and pulled her toward me. She seemed surprised by my actions, and I used that to my advantage. I tipped her chin up and kissed her.

Kissing her was like getting a taste of air after feeling like I had been drowning this whole time. Her hands came to my chest, not to pull me in closer, but to push me away. We were both breathing heavily. I could see this had affected her as much as it had me.

“We can’t,” she croaked.

I let my head drop, frustrated, but knowing she was right because there was a sea of unease between us.

“Why?” I still found myself asking.

But then she gave me the one answer that really had me pulling my head out of my ass.

“Quinn.”

I took a deep breath and then pulled away, but not before telling myself that this was temporary. There had always been one thing I was sure of all my life, and that had been football. But now I was sure about her. And if I stopped bullshitting myself, I could see that even if she wasn’t ready to talk about it today, she was sure about me too.

“I have a lot of time to make up for,” I told her as I began to step away.

Simba, who had lain on the ground watching us go back and forth, wasn’t sure who to go with.

“Go rest—and I’ll see you guys tomorrow. We can go swimming.”

Walking away had never been as hard as it was today. But telling myself it was temporary made it okay.

* * *

Beads of sweatstarted to fall from where I had been standing in the sun since the moment it came out.

Stupid, I know.

Jess would be bringing Quinn over today, and I was nervous as fuck. My daughter was coming over to my house. A place that had never felt as empty as it did yesterday.

I loved my house, but after finding out that I had Quinn, I came home only to look at it as a death trap. Unashamedly, I’d called Emma over to help me child-proof the place. Now I was regretting suggesting that they come swimming.

What if Quinn went too far?

What if she didn’t know how to swim?

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