Page 84 of You Found Me
“Hold that thought,” he says, walking toward the kitchen and that’s when I notice what he’s wearing.
It’s those freaking gray sweatpants. Mia said he would die once he caught sight of my ass, but here I am, no better than a man, because I’m practicallydroolingover this man’s ass.
“Since you’re getting a long look at the goods, it’s only fair I get to do the same,” he says with a laugh.
My eyes fly up to meet his and instead of apologizing, I decide to be bold and slowly turn around. I take a deep breath, letting it out before peeking over my shoulder. Even from here, I notice how his eyes are quickly losing their color. And I can’t control the full body tremor that passes through me. His eyes shoot up to mine, dipping down to my ass one more time, before turning back toward the oven.
“I need you to go sit that gorgeous ass down at the table right now, or the dinner and talk we’re supposed to have will be the least of your worries. I made pasta, a salad, and garlic bread. Do you want a glass of wine? B said it’d go well with pasta.”
It takes me a minute to even realize he asked a question. My mind actually shut down after his comment. I’m affecting him.
ME.
Finally, I nod and croak out, “Please.”
He brings me a chilled glass of red wine. I know,I know.That’s not how you should drink red wine. But it’s the only way I can drink anything. It all has to be ice cold.
However, I’ve never told him that. I’ll need to add him to the small list of people in my life who can read me like an open book.
“Thank you. Do you want any help?”
“You’re welcome. But no, you stay seated, I’ll bring the bread and salad over so you can start eating.”
I don’t feel right eating while he’s still working on the main course but I’m actually starving since I napped through lunch. Being nervous didn’t help with it either.
I place some of the salad on my plate, taking a few bites. He comes back with steaming plates of delicious looking pasta, and beams once he sees me eating. I can’t even begin to explain what that smile does to my stomach.
Once we’ve eaten and cleaned up, it’s time to have our talk. Spencer asks if I want any more wine and knowing what’s coming, I say yes. One more glass will give me the courage to say what I need to without being too tipsy.
When we’re all settled in next to one another, he reaches over and gives my hand a gentle squeeze. He pulls it back but leaves it close enough for me to grab if I need to. And something about that gesture settles me. His gaze and posture are so open, he’s not rushing me, he’s letting me know I can tell him anything, and that he’s going to be here for me no matter what. It makes my heart want to burst against my chest.
“So . . . I should probably explain my relationship with men. Starting with the fact that Andrew isn’t my biological father. I know you wouldn’t know that by how he treats me and that’s because he’s the only dad I’ve ever known.”
“You’re right. I saw how much he loves you and that was just from meeting him the one time. His eyes shine with pride when he talks about you. Did you always know he wasn’t your dad?”
I let out a noise somewhere between a snort and a harumph. “No. I think my mom was waiting to tell me until I was a bit older and could understand everything. When I was nine, I actually heard a few of the old ladies in town gossiping about it in the diner one afternoon. I was talking to Edie when one of them said something along the lines of, ‘you wouldn’t even know she wasn’t Andrew’s kid from how similar they are.’ Edie realized I’d picked up on it, told them to get out, placed a piece of cake in front of me—which I thought was odd since I hadn’t even had lunch yet—and went to my mom to whisper something into her ear.
“About ten minutes later, my dad showed up, kissed my head, told me he loved me, and went to grab my mom. Edie brought out a bag of to-go containers and put them in front of me. My parents came up to me, said we were going home, and that’s how I found out the truth.”
“Did you ever find out who your birth father was?”
“No, not really. First, they told me that Andrew’s legally my father. He adopted me after they got married. Apparently, my mom met my birth father at a hotel in the city when they were both there for different work conferences. She said that he was extremely charismatic and handsome, but that when he thought no one was looking, he seemed sad. And she wanted to know that part of him.
“Thankfully she didn’t go into too much detail, only that they were together for six months. One day he came to her apartment and told her he couldn’t be with her anymore. That some things had come up and he had to do the right thing. He kissed her forehead and told her he wished they could’ve been more and that he was sorry . . . and then he was gone.
“I think he loved my mom—but whatever happened in his life made him push her away. It was only a month later that she moved back to Meadow Springs after finding out she was pregnant.
“A few months after that, Andrew moved back to town and the rest is history. Sometimes I think about looking him up to ask how he could leave someone as wonderful as my mom as well as his unborn child. Like what was so important that he left her? But then again if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have my dad.”
“It sounds like that all worked out for the best, because your parents both seem so happy that it’s nauseating to watch,” he says with a chuckle. “If you ever want to look him up, I’ll be there for you. No matter what happens between us.”
I close my eyes to keep myself from crying. “Thank you. It means so much to me that you didn’t tell me to stop being a baby about it or that I didn’t need to know about him because I already have a dad and not everyone does.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Did Chance say that to you?”
He looks so angry on my behalf and a part of me swoons. No one but my family and friends have ever felt offended by something for me. I know what I’m going to tell him will upset him even more, so I mentally prepare myself.
“Yeah, he did. Multiple times.” I huff out a small laugh. “You’d think I would’ve stopped bringing it up.”
