Page 43 of Instinct & New Identity

She made no verbal response, but there was a tiny flinch in her mouth, soIknewI’dguessed correctly.EventhoughI’dguessed that might be what this was about, having her confirm it only made my chest hurt more.Iwas pissed she thoughtIwould actually be the kind of guy who would walk away from a responsibility like that.

“Before you make any other rash judgments about me, let me show you something,”Igrowled asIpulled out my phone, my anger clearly showing.

AndIwasangry.Iunderstood being upset whenTracytold her, but the fact that she just believed it without coming to me and getting my side of the story first hurt.

WhenIfound the photoIwanted,Iflipped my phone to show her.Thephoto was one that my dad had sent me a few years ago.

“This isLauraLynnand the daughterIwas supposedly the father of.”

She looked at the photo for a few seconds.Thenrealization kicked in.LauraLynnhad bright blonde hair, and it was natural.Ialso had light hair.Herdaughter had a dark olive complexion and black hair with brown eyes.

“She’s not yours,” she surmised, her voice quieter.

“No, she’s not,”Iconfirmed, my voice still bitter. “WhichIwould have told you had you simply asked me.”

“Vince,” she said, her voice sounding defeated.

I interrupted her, wanting to make my point. “Whatbothers me the most is that you actually believeIwould have walked away from that kind of responsibility.ThatIwould just be a deadbeat dad.”

“Tracy said you found out she was pregnant, and the next day, you left for theArmy,” she said. “Thetimeline matched, soIdidn’t think…I’msorry.Ishould have asked.”

“Yeah, you should have, becauseIwould have told you thatIwas already signed up for theArmyweeks before that.Ididn’t sign up because she told me she was pregnant soIcould run away.Iwas already leaving the next day.Which, by the way, she did on purpose.ShethoughtIwouldn’t question her because there wasn’t time to, andIwould just send her money back home, and then by the time the baby was born, she would have figured out a new plan.”

She cursed, then bowed her head in defeat. “I’mso sorry,Vince.I’msorry she did that to you, andImade assumptions and didn’t come to you first.”

“You should be.”Iknew that wasn’t nice to throw back in her face, especially after she had apologized, butIwas still pissed.

She looked me in the eyes now, irritation filling them. “IsaidIwas sorry,Vince.Whatelse do you want me to say?ThatI’mconstantly paranoid about people and trusting them?MaybethatIwas irrationally jealous becauseTracysaid you didn’t do relationships andIsecretly hoped for one with you?”

Her voice started to rise as she ranted and paced in my room in front of me. “OrhowIpictured myself with kids one day, kids withyou, only to find out you already had one that you didn’t tell me about.Yeah,Vince, it bothered me.AndIdidn’t handle it well.Idon’t have a lot of experience with having friends or dealing with hot men.I’msorry.I’llleave you alone.”

She said that last part directly to me, angry but slightly defeated, andIdidn’t think she realized everything she’d just announced.Shebegan to walk to my closed door, likely to leave and head to her own room, butIwas not letting her out before we discussed these new revelations.

She pictured having kids with me?

I knew there were other things she’d said that were also important, but my mind seemed to focus on the fact that she had thought about a future with us.Arelationship.Onewith kids.

Up to this point,Ihadn’t pushed her too much becauseIwasn’t entirely sure how she felt about me.Iknew she found me attractive from the looks she sent me or howIwould see her staring at me when she didn’t thinkIcould see her.ButIhadn’t known if her feelings were any deeper than lust.

NowIknew she felt more.JustasIfelt more for her.Youdidn’t picture having a future with someone you simply lusted over.

Game on.

I chose not to waste this opportunity, soIreached for her and pulled her back to me.

“You want a relationship with me?Kidswith me?”Allanger was gone from my voice asIasked.

Her face changed instantly as she realized what she’d shared.Hercheeks grew red as she stayed silent.

“That’s good, sweetheart, because the feeling is mutual,”Itold her asIpulled her close to me.

I cupped her face with my body flush against hers.

“I’ve pictured those same things, too, and now thatIknow it’s reciprocated,I’mnot letting you walk out of here angry.”

“I’m not the only one who was angry,” she pointed out, andIknew she was on guard from my sudden attitude change.

“Yeah, andI’mnot thrilled you believedTracywithout coming to me first, butIalso realize that if you didn’t care about me, you also wouldn’t have been as upset as you were about what she told you.”

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