Page 44 of Flirt

“Can you have a baby for us? I’d be the bestest sister. I’d hold it even when it cried. And feed it.”

“Whoa, sweetie.” For the first time since I left the hospital, I smiled without having to force it. “I know you would be an awesome sister and very helpful, but that’s not a good reason to have a baby.”

“Okay,” Sawyer said on a sigh, then yawned.

“Go to sleep, sweetie, and I promise to take you to see the babies as soon as Sami and Luna are home with them.”

“I wish I could go to the hospital with you tomorrow,” she said as she snuggled under her covers.

“I’m not visiting tomorrow, sweetie. I told you I was going because I’m the babies’ doctor. Trust me, they aren’t going to be in a good mood after I see them, and they are only going to want their mommies.”

“I know. They got to get the boy proceeds done,” she huffed, and I tried not to chuckle at her mispronunciation.

“Yes, the procedure. Circumcised,” I corrected and reached for the bedside lamp.

“Glad I don’t got a penis,” she said and rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. My girl was too smart for her own good.

I turned the lamp, leaving her room in the soft glow of the nightlight, and walked out. After a stop off in my room to change into a pair of sleep pants and tank top, I made my way barefoot through the quiet house. A quick stop in the kitchen for a glass of wine, and I ended up on a corner of the couch with my legs tucked under me. I took a healthy gulp of the wine, then set the glass on the table, and gave into the emotions I had been holding at bay. As the tears flowed, I was struck with the strongest of the feelings—loss. The loss of what Max and I shared together. The loss of what was growing between us. And the loss of the piece of my heart Max already held.

The tears slowed, and the anger set in along with the question—Why? Why keep his identity from me? I thought with the time we spent together outside of Whispering Nights, we were building up to more than just sexual partners. I thought maybe we were falling in love.

While I wondered what bothered me more—the embarrassment in how I found out or the hurt of thinking that I meant so little to him—I rested my head against the couch cushion, closed my eyes, and let the exhaustion pull me under.

My eyes popped open, and I jerked my head upward, which caused me to slap my hand on my neck as pain radiated due to the fast movement. The pain resulted from the stiffness in my neck, stemming from dosing off in an awkward position. I hadn’t had to wait long to find what startled me awake—knocking at the door.

I stood, rubbed my neck, then walked to the door. I don’t know why I bothered looking out the peephole when I knew who would be on the other side. Standing at the door, I debated yelling for him to just leave before the adult in me kicked in. It had turned out to be a craptastic evening, so why not deal with it face to face and be done?

“Gabriella, open the door. I know you’re standing on the other side. You need to let me in. I am not going to leave until we talk.” At Max’s words, I squinted my eyes and glared at the door. Seriously? No,sorry. No,I have been a complete ass. Not even a simple,pleasewith asking to be let in...

I flipped the deadbolt and the flimsy lock on the doorhandle in one move while using both hands, then swung the door open. “How did I not realize you are a bossy buffoon with no manners?” I spouted, and the slight twitching of his lips did nothing to calm the anger brewing inside me. Anger, I could deal with. It beat the hell out of crying and berating myself.

When Max didn’t respond to my snarky-ness, I stepped back and allowed him to enter. After he walked in, I closed the door, inhaled deeply, and blew the breath out before I turned around to face him.

“You can take a seat in the living room,” I waved toward the room, “while I check on Sawyer to make sure she is still asleep.” I didn’t wait for him to reply. At Sawyer’s door, I peeked in, and after verifying she wasn’t faking, I pulled the door closed. When I reached the living room, Max stood at the table that showcased various framed pictures in assorted sizes.

“This is you at around Sawyer’s age, isn’t it?” he questioned and moved to the side so I could see which picture he was pointing at.

“Yes,” I replied as I moved further into the room.

“Christ, I knew the resemblance was strong, but looking at these pictures side by side—she’s your doppelganger. Now, I am questioning why it took me a minute to place her as your daughter,” he stated, then shook his head and turned around to face me. “I met her the day after our first...physical encounter at Whispering Nights. She fired questions at me, then informed me you were single, too.” Max chuckled.

“Yes, Sawyer is always full of questions. Which isn’t a bad thing. She just hasn’t learned the difference between what is intrusive and what’s construed as being an inquisitive little girl,” I said, then continued to stand in the middle of the room, at a loss of what to say next. It was Max who was set on getting it all out. He wanted to explain, then he could get on with it. And if he was waiting for me to ease his conscience, it was going to be one long ass wait for him.

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I wouldn’t have if I had been honest from the start.” He closed the gap between us until he stood in front of me. Close enough, I was able to see the regret in his eyes.

“Yes, I believe you are. I won’t lie; I was hurt and embarrassed. But also confused. When you found out who I was, why didn’t you mention it to me? I realize Whispering Nights leaves it up to their members to share personal information, outside of health issues, of course, with whomever they have partnered with. However, I’d wager there have been members who have run into other members outside of the club at some point. So why not come clean. I mean, big deal. I hadn’t used an alias when I joined. We had an ongoing arrangement to meet at the club. Which at any time, either one of us could have chosen to put a stop to it. We probably should have kept our...interaction strictly to the club and not spent time together outside it. We can chalk it up to an oversight.

“Now, if it was to do with me coming to the compound, then you only had to let me know. I could have limited my time there or, at the very least, texted you when I was going to be around. Then maybe you wouldn’t have felt the need to hide. I know how to be discreet. Good grief, what did you think I would do if I ran into you at Black Hawk? Say no introduction needed; he has been helping initiate me into the kinkier side of sex and fucking me senseless on a regular basis,” I stated, proud of myself for keeping my voice level and my focus on getting everything out and over that I missed the expression change Max’s face reflected. Instead, I continued because the quicker I finished, the quicker he would leave my house. “Honesty would have definitely helped the situation. You wouldn’t have had to duck out doors, dart around corners, or hide in the shadows when I was around. I guess it was better late than never. From now on, I’ll be sure you’re notified prior to me visiting the women or when I’ll be swinging by to pick up Sawyer. Hopefully, that works for you. We are adults, after all. I think we can act accordingly, and even though we will no longer be involved, it doesn’t mean it has to be awkward when we cross paths at Black Hawk or at Whispering Nights. Though, I want to ask you to please not treat Sawyer any different if you happen to run into her at Ally’s.”

“Is that it? You finished?” Max asked in a deceptively low voice. The regret from earlier gone from his eyes and replaced with anger. Since he was essentially getting what he wanted, I didn’t entirely understand his anger. I made the break simple for him. My emotions were my own problem. I would get over him eventually.

“Yes. Though I was upset at the hospital, I do appreciate you stopping by. We did need to clear things up. Now that we have, we can move on without any regrets.” With the intention of walking to the front door to let Max leave, I started to turn, only to have Max grab my arm.

“Yeah, that shit isn’t going to work for me.”

“Why are you mad? I made it easy for you. You’re getting what you want.” I jerked my arm out of his hand and glared at him.

“That’s the problem. You don’t have a fucking clue what I want!” Max said with his voice growing louder at the end.

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