Page 71 of Passion and Payback

“Heh,” I said with a wry smile. “My mom had plenty of her own sayings. But those were ways to make me get her drinks.”

“Ah, yeah, Hunter mentioned you two didn’t grow up with the best parents.”

“Hunter is also the master of understatement when he wants to be...namely when he’s talking about our childhood.”

“Well, then, your aversion to children makes a lot more sense.”

“I just don’t think I’m equipped to deal with kids. They’re small, needy, and they’re so helpless. You’re completely in charge of protecting them, teaching them, showing them right from wrong, and dealing with outbursts of emotions while trying to make sure yours are under control. That’s a lot of responsibility I’m not ready for and never will be.”

“Hmm, you sound pretty sure, I’ll give you that,” she said, eyeing me

“Sure enough that I made sure there wouldn’t be any accidental little me’s running around,” I said with a raised brow.

“No shit? You got snipped?”

“The doctor fought me tooth and nail. Wanted me to ‘realize’ it could mean I might never be able to have them because being able to fix that isn’t the easiest thing. And on and on. It drove me crazy trying to get him to listen to me.”

“How’d you get him to listen?”

“Found another doctor who said he wished his parents had made that decision.”

Her eyes went wide. “Wow, that’s...quite the thing to lay on a person.”

“Not really,” I shrugged. “I agreed with him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I’m alive, and I like a lot of things about living, but my parents should never have had me. So I got snipped, no accidents or uh...other things.”

“Other things?” she wondered.

I sighed. “I had this sort of friend. She wanted to be more than...sort of friends.”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “I know what a fuck buddy is, Kai. I’ve had a few of them myself. You won’t be injuring my delicate sensibilities.”

“Fine, yes, she was a fuck buddy,” I said, rolling my eyes right back at her. “But she wanted more.”

“Ohhh, are you a heartbreaker, Kai?”

“No. I told her I wouldn’t ever want more than what we had. I was clear on that. She knew.”

“Jesus, tell me you don’t understand women without telling me you don’t understand women.”

“Then clearly, she didn’t understand men just as much as I didn’t understand women. Because I meant what I said, and said what I meant...though it was only after that I realized I should have seen the signs and bailed long before.”

“Hmm,” she said thoughtfully, leaning in close. “Did she try to baby-trap you?”

I looked at her in surprise. “She did, actually.”

“Don’t look so shocked. It’s not like I don’t know what women can get up to when they’re scheming,” she said with a snort. “And she wouldn’t be the first woman to try to trap a guy with a baby he didn’t want. How’d she do it?”

“Stopped taking the pill. I found out later, but I busted her when she was the one who brought the condoms, even though that was supposed to be my job.”

“Brought the...” she stopped her question, and her eyes lit up, grinning. “You slippery little shit, you never told her about getting snipped.”

“I didn’t tell any of my partners,” I said with a snort. “Not even you, until now.”

She cackled. “So itwasbefore you were with me.”

“It was,” I said, not ashamed of it. “It’s not really anyone’s business.”

“And it also lets you weed out the women who might try something like that,” she said with a chuckle. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not getting on your ass about it. That’s a lot more sly than I expected from you.”

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