Page 12 of Other Side Of Never
For me, Sage Ridge was an easy choice.
For Kian, it was more complicated.
Twenty years ago, he walked away from Wren, his pregnant one-night stand.By the time he got his head on straight and tried to track them down, they were smoke.
When he found Aaron through an ancestry test, he packed up his younger son and moved to Sage Ridge.
It was not the best or most welcoming of circumstances.
It made sense to invite him as he was deeply connected to our ‘family’ through Wren and Aaron.And Wren had encouraged me to reach out to him.She was sure, eventually, Aaron would want to know his father.
I wasn’t so convinced.
Aaron was an incredibly sweet kid.But the Aaron who showed up whenever Kian was in the vicinity was angry, hostile, and barely civil.
So, that was the one half.
The other half, the half of me that was far too interested in making Kian smile, the same half that harboured an increasingly strong curiosity about the callouses on his hands and what they might do to the inside of a girl’s thighs, objected.
Strongly.
But when I came downstairs to Mary Lou’s and found Kian on his knees repairing a loose baseboard?I couldn’t leave him out just because I had a little touch of the hots for him.
I was doubly glad I invited him when Anita told me he refused to charge her anything.
Based on our most recent encounters, I figured he wouldn’t come.Probably wouldn’t even respond to my text.
Who would look after Isaiah?
But I challenged fate and sent Kian an invite.
Fate picked up the gauntlet then danced around it like it was a stripper pole because Kian accepted.
Despite his discomfort, made obvious by his choice of seat and lack of conversation, he looked happy and somewhat relaxed.
When I couldn’t stand his solitary state any longer, I stood and nodded to my girls.“I’ll be right back.”
Do you know what you’re doing?
He’s Wren’s.
Sort of.
My eyes flew to her face.“Wren—”
Wren held up her palm.“Bridge, you go there any way you want to.I told you I have no claim on that man.Not in any way, shape, or form.And I would like to see him happy.I want him to stay for Aaron’s sake.”She smiled.“More, I want to see you happy.”
I drew back, my eyes wide.“We’re not even friends.I barely know him.”
Wren smiled.“But you would like to be.”
I swallowed roughly.Could I admit this?To them, at least?I wrinkled my nose.“Maybe?”
Wren laughed.“Well, go figure it out then.”
Instead of leaving, I sat back down.I had a higher objective in mind than my reawakened and suddenly robust libido.“You wouldn’t mind if he hung out with us?On the regular?Max wouldn’t mind?”
“Not in the least,” Wren assured me.
