Page 70 of Mine to Keep

“Sure thing.” Troy set his phone screen up on the table as he moved about the kitchen.

It dinged.

Jamison wished he hadn’t looked since it was a text from his ex-wife. Not that it mattered. It didn’t bother him. Not anymore. He had to admit that when he’d found out, not only was jealousy one of the emotions that’d flowed through his body, but he’d also wanted to beat the crap out of his friend.

“Are you still dating my ex-wife?” It was rare that he and Troy ever spoke about Cheryl and their relationship. When the affair happened, Jamison had been so wrapped up in his problems with his family that he literally hadn’t had the chance to process his wife’s infidelity or his friend’s betrayal. He’d asked Cheryl to leave, which she had, and then he told Troy they were no longer friends.

Troy had respected that boundary and, other than work, they didn’t speak until about three months ago. Jamison just didn’t pay attention to Troy and Cheryl’s relationship. He’d found out later that they didn’t have one at first. That Cheryl had told Troy she wanted to try to work things out with Jamison, and that Troy and Cheryl didn’t become a thing until about six months ago.

“Nope. She wants you back and she says she’s going to do whatever it takes to get you.” Troy put a plate in front of Jamison. “And I’m tired of being second best.”

“I’m sorry.” Jamison took the fork and cut into his after-dinner dinner. “But I’m never going to get back with Cheryl, so you are free to pursue her all you want.”

“I’m honestly done with her,” Troy said, lifting his cell and shaking his head. “However, the last thing you need is to hear me bitch about your ex-wife.”

Jamison laughed. “I’m over it. Really.” He shoveled food into his mouth and chewed. It tasted so damn good. Or maybe it was being able to have this kind of conversation with an old friend that he missed. “If you care about her, and she’s who you want to be with, I support it.”

“I don’t want to have a relationship with someone who’d rather be with someone else,” Troy said. “Although, I’m not sure she has any clue who or what she really wants.”

“You might have a good point there.” That had been one of Jamison’s concerns about getting married. He’d even thought about having a much longer engagement, but his mother—and Cheryl’s—took over. The next thing he knew, he was walking down the aisle.

But he had loved her, so there was that. And for a while, things were good. However, he’d always worried that they’d rushed into things—and he’d been right about that.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think she only wants you back because Steve is rich and she thinks you have a new girlfriend.” Troy set his fork down and pushed his plate to the side. “Do you?”

“I’m not dating Bryn,” Jamison said.

“That’s not what people are saying.” Troy leaned back and folded his arms. “Not to be a gossip, and I’m only repeating what I heard since I was at the party, but the talk is that you and she might as well have been swapping spit poolside.”

“I didn’t kiss her anywhere near the pool.” Jamison couldn’t contain his smile if he tried. He’d had many romantic moments in his lifetime, but none held a candle to the few minutes he’d held Bryn on the beach.

“But youdidkiss her.”

“I can’t confirm or deny.”

Troy laughed. “Didn’t she just have a baby? And didn’t you deliver it? How do you feel about getting involved with a woman who has a kid?”

“I honestly don’t know.” It wasn’t that he had a problem with dating a woman with children. He loved babies. But he wasn’t prepared to deal with families. And hers was a complicated situation because he still didn’t agree with her choice to keep her daughter from her late husband’s mother. Granted, it wasn’t his business.

But if he dated her, he felt it would become his business, and that was an issue.

“Not to bring up another sore subject, but is that because of your personal situation with your dad and Steve?”

“A little,” Jamison admitted.

“I didn’t get any details about the baby’s father, so I’m sorry if I’m asking questions about things you don’t want to talk about.”

“He was killed in a car crash.”

“Wow. That sucks.”

Jamison nodded. “It has less to do with dating a woman with kids and is more that I’m not sure I can be completely present in any relationship with anyone while things are still so fucked up with my family. I mean, Steve plans to propose to my mom, and that just makes me want to run back to the Bahamas. And not because my mother wants to be married to someone other than my dad, but because it’s Steve, and because they keep pushing me to accept him as my biological father. I can’t do that. I might be able to get on board with this if they just back off—”

“I’m going to stop you right there because we’ve been friends for a long time.”

Jamison arched his brow. “Minus a little betrayal.”

“That’s fair,” Troy said. “However, you can’t change what your mom and Steve did, and you can’t change DNA. All you can do is change how you respond to it all. That’s up to you.”

---