Page 26 of Toy Boy

“They should be.” Her eyes seem to darken a little as she stares into mine. “I come with baggage and complications and…” She drops her gaze, her fingers tightening around her glass. “I’m sorry, you weren’t even talking about relationships, were you? And now I feel a little stupid.”

My hand covers hers, and she looks at me as she slowly pulls her hand away from mine. “You have no reason to feel stupid, Megan.”

I don’t care if she has baggage and complications, it doesn’t matter. She should see the baggage I’m carrying around with me, hers would pale in comparison, I guarantee it.

“None of it matters,” I say quietly, and her eyes are back on mine. “Age, baggage, complications, none of it matters. All I want to do is spend more time with you. If you want to. I can’t make you do anything you don’t…”

“I want to. Of course I want to, it’s just…” She wrinkles up her nose, and it makes her look impossibly cute. “ I don’t know. It feels odd.”

“Why? Because I’m younger than you? Because it’s been a while since any man’s shown any interest in you?”

“How do you know it’s been a while since any man’s shown any interest in me?”

“Well, I don’t, I just…”

“Assumed?”

She arches an eyebrow, but the corners of her mouth are slowly turning up.

“You’re right, though. Ithasbeen a while, but that kind of attention, it’s not something I’ve been looking for.”

Relationships haven’t been at the forefront ofmymind, either, but when I said I was drawn to this woman, I meant it. In reality, though, I should leave her alone. I should. And my head is screaming at me to do just that. But I don’t think I’m going to.

“And what about now? Have you, I don’t know… changed your mind?”

“I haven’t really thought about it.”

She sits back in her seat and sips her drink, and she raises that eyebrow again, and I’m smiling the widest smile because she just makes me feel so damn comfortable!

“I find it hard to believe that any man wouldn’t want to spend more time with you.”

“Watch it. You’re dangerously close to becoming clichéd again.”

I laugh and run a hand along the back of my neck, she’s making me nervous now. Because I’m saying all these things out loud, and I’m beginning to realise how much I mean them. Really mean them.

This wasn’t the plan…

I know…

“We can be friends, Megan. Can’t we?”

This time, when she smiles, it lights up her entire face, and it only makes her twice as beautiful.

“Of course we can.”

And that’s all I needed to hear.

Scott

Who the hell is he? And what the fuck does he want with Megan? I probably should’ve gone straight home, which I’d fully been intended to do, after leaving the hospital, but I’d fancied a drink before heading back to an empty house. I just hadn’t banked on seeing my ex-wife with another man. A younger man. A different man…

He reaches out to touch her hand, and the way she immediately pulls it away from him makes me smile, you can’t win her over that easily… Actually, you can. She fell for me in a heartbeat, once that doctor/patient barrier had been removed. It was a beautiful, whirlwind romance that should never have ended the way it did.

My fault…

I take a step back, sighing heavily, was it really all my fault? Did I, single-handedly, cause the breakdown of our marriage? Was it really me and me alone who did that? Okay, I had a couple of affairs, but people get over those, don’t they? My job’s fucking stressful, I needed an outlet every now and again, I didn’t always want to burden Megan with shit she didn’t need to know about. They meant nothing. I never stopped loving her, and I told her that. Was it my problem she chose to ignore it? Not believe me? What else could I do?

They’re laughing now, and there’s a pain in my chest that’s new and real and it’s telling me something I’ve always known, and should never have walked away from, in reality. Megan Flowers is the only woman I want. Fate brought her to me, and I saved her. I fucking saved her, literally. She’s meant to be with me, I honestly believe that.

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