Page 63 of The P Arrangement

He held his hands up. “But where Daddy?”

“He’s at home. He’s working there today so he can see you.”

My sister was right. Preston and I were going to have to figure things out with Paxton, or he was going to be really confused when we moved out.

When we got to Preston’s, he came out of his office, and Paxton greeted his dad with the same enthusiasm he had greeted me with earlier.

After Preston set him down, I said, “We need to talk about him.” I tilted my head toward Paxton and avoided saying his name.

“Go and play, buddy. Your mom and I have to talk.”

“Okay,” Paxton said and ran toward the family room.

“What’s up?” Preston asked when it was just the two of us.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m worried we’re going to confuse Paxton with me staying here.”

“How so?”

“He might think we’re together if I’m sleeping in your bed every night.”

“We are together.”

“You know what I mean.”

We had an arrangement. We weren’t dating.

Preston’s mouth pressed into a tight line. “You’re staying here.”

“I know. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere else.”

He visibly relaxed.

“But I was thinking maybe I should stay in the guest room.”

“No.” Preston turned and headed toward the kitchen. “You’re in my bed every night.”

“I don’t mean for real,” I said, taking off after him. “Just pretend. Like we can put my luggage and clothes in there.”

Opening the fridge, Preston peeked inside. “No. I don’t want to lie to him.” He grabbed the eggs and went to the stove.

“Won’t he be confused when I move back out?”

“So, don’t move out.”

Preston’s back was to me, so he couldn’t see my mouth drop.

“Okay, I think we need to have a way bigger conversation than the one we’re having now.”

He spun around. “Why? I want you here, and you want to be here. Right?”

“Yes, but…”

“But nothing.” He kissed me and yelled over my shoulder, “Paxton, Daddy’s making eggs. Do you want some?”

I sighed. It was more than nothing. If we were going to have a real relationship, we needed to talk about the past. However, I realized I had only been at his place one night, and I didn’t have the mental energy to get into why I’d left him and where our marriage had gone wrong.

If I stayed, we could have that discussion in the future.

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