Page 37 of Bonus Daddy
“What’s got you up so late? And don’t try to downplay it. For the twenty years I’ve known you, you’ve always stuck to a strict sleep schedule.”
I huffed. “Not so strict.”
“Please. How many times have you lectured me about sleep hygiene? Even in law school, you tortured me with it. And you’d set Sully’s alarm to wake me up at the crack of dawn.”
“You’re a wild night owl who used to write briefs at one a.m. And it’s critical to eat a good breakfast on important days. Like when you had exams,” I argued. “You weren’t complaining when you graduated at the top of our class.”
She stuck her tongue out at me. “Yes. Beating your ass was deeply satisfying.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I teased, keeping my tone soft so as not to rouse the baby. “Spare me.”
“So what’s eating you?”
I avoided her eye, choosing instead to examine Tia’s perfect little nose and eyelashes.
“Get it off your chest. There’s no sense in hiding it. You’re distracted, not sleeping, working out like a fiend and…” She opened the cabinet next to the fridge and pulled out a nearly empty package of cookies. “Back on the Oreos?”
Chin lifted, I turned, still swaying evenly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You sneak Oreos the way a nicotine addict sneaks cigarettes. So spill it.”
I groaned. It was annoying how well she knew me. And unlike Sully, who generally let me spiral in peace, she was not going to let this go.
“It’s late,” I hedged.
“I’ve got time.” She put a hand on her hip. “She’s gonna want to eat again in like twenty minutes.”
Maybe it was because I was exhausted, or maybe holding thisperfect little baby weakened my defenses, but I found myself giving in.
“It’s Jess.”
A wide smile spread across Sloane’s face, and she bent at the knees, bouncing without lifting her feet from the floor. Then she whisper-squealed, “Brian likesa girl.”
I snatched the Oreo bag from her and shoved one into my mouth while she did a celebratory dance around the kitchen.
“Youloveher.”
“Stop that.” I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled loudly. “My world has been off-kilter since the day she walked into my office. Like my life isn’t my life anymore. Everything has changed, and I’m thinking things and feeling things I don’t understand.”
Sloane came to a stop, her eyes wide. “This is awesome. Don’t you see? You’re growing.” She patted my bearded cheek, her dark eyes twinkling in the moonlight. “For more than fifteen years, I’ve heard story after story about Jess, the one that got away. The blond goddess with the dimples you fell madly in love with in college.”
That was an overstatement. Had I thought about her from time to time since our lives had diverged and we’d broken things off? Yes. But I hadn’t spent the last two decades pining after her. I’d moved on.
“And you never went on more than a few dates with anyone. Though I can’t blame you. Every one of them was a bore.”
“Hey,” I said. “You introduced me to Deborah.”
“Yes. And immediately regretted it.” She picked up her water again. “Cal tried to disown me when I brought her into our lives. Remember that time we all went to Montauk for the weekend?”
I flinched. That had been painful.
Deborah was a tax attorney. Sloane had met her at a law conference and invited her out with us a couple of times. She’d asked me to dinner, and because I admired her confidence, I said yes. She was intelligent and obsessed with her work, and so it made sense to date her.
Sadly, her idea of fun was debating the tax code, and pretty much nothing else.
“And Viola?”
I winced. After I’d broken it off with her, she’d broken into my apartment and stolen all my left shoes. That was weird.
