Page 12 of My Song for You
“Sure it does. Why wouldn’t it?”
Even though she wasn’t facing me, there was no missing her flinch at my question. “Because the last thing he wanted or needed was a child.”
A part of me relaxed at her words and I released her hand. She hadn’t said that the last thing he had wanted or needed was another child. It meant whoever the father was didn’t already have a child. He wasn’t a family man, but it didn’t mean he didn’t have a wife.
“Is he married?”
Callie groaned and turned to face me. “You honestly think I’d be stupid enough to become involved with a married man?”
“No, I don’t think you’re stupid. Maybe you didn’t know he was married at the time.”
She let out a shaky breath and returned to washing the dishes. “No, he isn’t married. And honestly, Logan and I are doing fine. Better than fine.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
She laughed, the sound a mix of bitter and amused. “I have a four-year-old child, waitress forty hours a week in a diner, study graphic design part-time, attend an American Sign Language class for parents who have a deaf child, and do odd graphic design projects for a handful of clients. That doesn’t exactly leave me time to have a boyfriend. Heck, it doesn’t even give me enough time to date, period.”
“I guess not.” The reality of what she was dealing with made me want to punch the sperm donor’s lights out for his part in Callie’s having to give up her dreams. Not once as a kid had she mentioned that she dreamed of being a waitress in a diner when she grew up. “Which diner do you work at?”
“Blue Star. It’s close to here and my boss allows me to work the early shift so that I’m home more for Logan.” This might’ve been true, but she didn’t seem happy about it.
I wanted to ask about her family, since surely they were helping her out. Her parents were those kind of people—just like my parents were. But I didn’t want to risk her bringing up Alexis. I didn’t want to risk her mentioning what my ex-girlfriend was up to. Alexis and I might not have been anything more than a great fuck, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hear about her life. Maybe I would eventually…but not tonight.
Callie yawned. “I need to get Logan to bed now, then work on an assignment that’s due soon. So…”
“Yeah, I should go,” I said, even though it wasn’t what I wanted. What I really wanted was to hold her, kiss her, and tell her that everything would be all right, but who was I to say that? What did I know about anything?
She walked me to the apartment door, but before I left, I made a detour into Logan’s room to say goodbye to the little guy.
“Are you going to Disneyland with us?” he asked, smiling with the same dimples that my father and I had, which made me wonder even more about his biological father. No one in Callie’s family had dimples. Logan’s had to come from his dad.
“Sweetie, Jared is super-busy with his band. But you and I will have a lot of fun, just the two of us.”
The dimples on his face vanished and he nodded. I nearly told him I would come, just to see his smile again, but I had no idea if I could join them. I didn’t want to make a promise I couldn’t keep. And something about Callie’s attitude made me question if she even wanted me to join them.
I left Logan’s room. At the apartment door, I paused. I knew I should walk away and leave Callie and her son to live their lives while I lived mine, but for some reason I couldn’t. During the past few hours the restlessness had taken a snooze. I had no idea why. Maybe I missed her friendship more than I realized. All I knew was that I itched to spend more time with her, with the girl who once had tried to tag along with Alexis and me because Alexis had told her that we were going bowling. “Bowling” had been her code word for driving to our favorite spot and screwing in my car.
Except now Callie was no longer a girl. She was a woman who had my blood heating in a way no other woman had before—not even her sister.
“I’ll check with the band and see if I’m free next weekend. If I am, I’d be happy to go to Disneyland with you guys.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I don’t want Logan getting too attached to you. He likes you and I can’t risk him liking you more than he should.”
I should’ve accepted what she said, since he was her son, after all. He had nothing to do with me. “Other than your father, does he have any males in his life? Any positive influences?”
A flash of pain crossed her face, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. “He’s fine, Jared. And it’s better this way. Better than constantly dealing with guys letting him down and eventually walking out of his life.” The real reason she didn’t date.
“And you think I’m gonna let him down?”
She averted her gaze. “Goodnight, Jared.”
Chapter 6
Callie
