Page 13 of Man Advantage

Halting an arm’s length away, he glared at me. “Are you really serious about this? About hiringhimto look after our kids?”

“Yes.” I glared right back at him. “I trust him. And you didn’t exactly give me a ton of time to find someone who?—”

“You could’ve found someone besides him,” Bryan hissed. “When I said to find someone to watch the kids, I didn’t mean your old piece of ass.”

I gritted my teeth. “That’s ancient history. We werekids. And might I remind you that our boys spend half the timelivingwith yourcurrentpiece of ass, so…” I shrugged flippantly.

Bryan rolled his eyes.

“And I’m not dating Cam,” I went on. “That was high school, for God’s sake.”

Another eyeroll, this one accompanied by a caustic laugh. “Yeah, but I’m sure you wouldn’t mind a rematch, would you?”

For a second, panic flared in my chest. What the hell? Had I said something when we’d talked last night that gave away that I was suddenly reattracted to Cam?

Bryan must’ve seen the questions in my eyes, because he crossed his arms and scoffed. “Oh, please. The whole time we were married, all someone had to do was mention his name, and you’d either get all mopey or starry-eyed.” He scoffed. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t jump his bones again the second you had the chance.”

I drew back, startled by his anger but also by how right he was. I didn’t let it show, though, and coolly said, “Even if that were true, that isn’t why he’s here. He’s here because you put me between a rock and a hard place, and I just got incredibly lucky that Cam was also in a bad spot.” I showed my palms. “Go back to our old arrangement, and I won’t have any reason to keep him around. Your call.”

He held my gaze. I held his. My heart thumped against my ribs as my own dare hung in the silence between us. Fuck, what if he took me up on it? What was I supposed to tell Cam then?“So hey, my ex said he’d work with me after all. Here’s some gas money to head back to Seattle.”

Shit. Should’ve kept my damn mouth shut.

“I’m only responding to your ultimatum,” I said evenly. “And if you want to reject Cam and take me to court, you’re going to have to explain to the judge why my high school ex is a problem, but your boyfriend isn’t.”

His jaw worked, and I was admittedly relieved. I had a feeling he knew I’d cornered him, and he really didn’t have much choice. Unless he could come up with some massive dealbreaker of a reason to say Cam wasn’t qualified or safe to watch our kids, he was just going to have to suck it up and live with it.

Finally, he pushed out a sharp breath. “Well, let’s get this over with. I at least want to meet the guy before he’s alone with the kids.”

I was irritated, but I’d still call that a victory. So, without a word, I gestured for him to follow me inside.

Cam was in the living room, sitting on the couch and looking at something on his phone. When we walked in, he looked up, and his nerves were plain to see. I offered a smile that I hoped registered as,Don’t sweat it. We’ve got this.

It didn’t seem to help.

“Cam, this is my ex-husband, Bryan. Bryan, Cam.”

Cam rose, and they regarded each other uneasily as they shook hands over the coffee table.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Bryan said, his tone polite but taut.

“Have you?” Cam glanced at me and managed a nervous laugh. “All good things, I hope?”

Expression sour, Bryan muttered, “He’s never said a bad word about you.”

Cam stiffened, looking at me as if to ask how he was supposed to respond to that. I wasn’t even sure, if I was honest, because I was struggling to keep my temper in check.

Really, Bryan? You want to have this conversation right in front of him?

Some arguments from the past scraped across my memories.

“You two dated in high school. Why do you care so much about him?”

“Yeah, we dated, but he was also my best friend.”

“Right. ‘Best friend.’ Because that”—Bryan had gestured sharply at my face—“is how people look when they talk about their best friend.”

In the present, keeping my voice and face as pleasant as I could—neutral, anyway—I gestured at the couch and recliners. “How about we all sit? Anyone need a drink?”

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