Page 13 of I've Got You

He gave a noncommittal shrug. “Not especially.”

“What, no wo—” Slamming my mouth shut, but not quick enough, I changed route. “Yeah, days like that are good. I’m trying to take on a new hire so I can take a few more hours off, and hopefully the weekends off too.” While I hadn’t lost Scott completely, he was definitely more closed off. There was a tightness in his shoulders that hadn’t been there a few moments before. “It makes juggling work and parenthood tricky at times, you know?” Holy crap, how the hell would this guy know anything about kids and balancing work?

To my surprise, he leaned an elbow on the bar and turned a little toward me. While he was still guarded, something else flashed in his eyes. Curiosity? Understanding? Interest? I had no idea, but I hoped to find out.

“Yeah, my sister works full-time and has two young children. My nephews are only five and three.”

I tilted my head in surprise at what he was sharing. And a sister? From the secondhand info I had of Scott, I’d deduced several things, none of them especially pleasant, if I chose to ignore the hot-as-hell kiss we shared and the kind things Carter said. As well as arrogant and a dick, I’d also assumed he would be a spoiled only child. My powers of deduction were worth shit, it seemed. That actually boded well for Scott, and I relaxed a bit more, liking that he’d shared something personal about himself.

“Is she a single mom too?”

“Too?” he asked, his brows dipping.

My lip quirked. Confusion looked good on him. A flash of the extreme confusion that had plastered his face at Tanner’s party invaded my thoughts. That confusion wasn’t quite as hot, admittedly. “Well, yeah, but exchange that with single dad.”

His eyes sprung open even wider. “You’re a single dad?”

I nodded, my gaze roaming his face. I’d figured he’d known, but then remembered, unsurprisingly, that there was no reason for Carter and Scott to talk about me. Carter was the only loose connection I had with the guy. Come to think about it, he had been surprised as shit to discover I was a dad in the first place. “Yeah.”

“Wow.” My chest puffed out when I saw something akin to admiration in his gaze. “That’s something.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t looking for an ego boost for simply taking care of my daughter. She was my world. I didn’t need any approval or praise from anyone. “It just is. I’m her dad. It’s my role, you know?”

“So…” He chewed on his bottom lip a moment. “Libby’s mom?” The question was tentative.

I understood why he would be confused. Between the two of us making out and the rarity of single custodial dads in the world, let alone bisexual ones, it could paint a confusing picture. Carter had called me a rare magical unicorn once. Tanner had sensibly taken that moment to usher him out of my home before I’d jumped all over that bullshit. While I didn’t generally tell anyone my business—though I rarely had to tell it due to the gossip in town, especially after Libby’s mom left—I was happy to share some of myself with Scott.

While his dick status hadn’t completely been swept clear after how he’d treated Carter, Carter had insisted on a second chance and a clean slate. Plus the dude looked like he was in serious need of something: a friend, maybe, normalcy—hell, talking about someone else’s shit rather than his own? All of the above were genuine possibilities.

“She gave up legal custody when Libby was born.”

His mouth gaped. It took him a moment to ask, “So you and her…?”

And there it was. The question that regularly left me rolling my eyes. Scott’s tone, though, teamed with his hesitant eyes, stopped me from sighing or sneering, and instead I overshared the fuck out of my history.

“We just had a one-night thing. Nothing more. That night resulted in Libby. I moved here as this was where Tanya wound up for one reason or another. From the beginning, she made it clear she didn’t want to be a mom. She agreed to have Libby and signed all parental rights to me the day Libby was born.”

“And you haven’t seen her since?”

One good thing about chatting this way was that Scott appeared relaxed. No longer was he peering around or stumbling or pausing over his words. Instead, he seemed to be intently listening to all I had to say. It gave me a moment to pause and consider him.

He was good-looking, there was no doubt about that. He seemed as if he came from money, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on the reason behind that. It wasn’t his clothes or even the way he spoke. Maybe it was more to do with the way he carried himself, his mannerisms. But who the hell knew? I wasn’t from money. I hadn’t been poverty-stricken as a kid or anything, but with the loss of my parents when I was at college, I’d had to fend for myself and work my ass off. There were many days I worried about keeping on top of payments and wondering if I’d done the right thing venturing into a new business with a baby, but I’d decided the moment I knew I was going to be a dad, I’d do everything in my power to ensure I gave my child everything they needed. That didn’t involve just the material shit, or the important stuff like love, but also things like a work ethic.

On too many occasions over the years, I’d witnessed silver-spooned assholes not appreciating all they had, yet still taking advantage of everything they were given or thought they deserved. And I hoped to God Scott wasn’t one of those pricks. He didn’t seem like it. Maybe he had been once, but with all of the changes in his life, I hoped decency and common sense overruled the rest.

I completely lost track of Scott’s question while I debated who he was and where he came from. Though I supposed the latter didn’t matter. It was the now that was important. The now I was becoming increasingly interested in.

“Nope,” I finally answered. “She has no legal rights to Libby. We didn’t mean anything to each other.” I didn’t intend for my words to sound harsh, as I had zero animosity about my situation. I also knew a lot of people didn’t understand how a mother could leave her child, but Tanya had her reasons, and neither she nor I ever needed to explain them to anyone, other than to Libby one day.

He tilted his head as if studying me. “And you’re okay with that?”

I nodded without hesitation. “Of course. I have my girl. There’s nothing else I need.”

Scott straightened up a little at that, and I considered how my words could be perceived. Hell, I didn’t really know the guy, so sharing with him my plans for the future on top of my place in the world seemed like I’d be pushing it a little too much.

“Right,” he eventually said. “That makes sense.” He nodded and picked up his beer and took a drink.

And we were back to awkward again. Maybe I was best off taking the moment as my out and heading back to Lauren. She was a cool chick, uncomplicated. I enjoyed her company, so had no question we’d have fun tonight, yet my ass decided to make a decision for me and planted itself on a barstool next to Scott.

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