Page 38 of Just Another Chance

She frowns and squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry, this is coming out all wrong. I never meant to insult you. It’s not that I thought you’d leave; it’s that I hated the idea of forcing you into something you might not want or be ready for. I guess what I’m trying to say is I want to give you an option.”

“You’re the only option I want.”

She nods and gives me a half smile, but she doesn’t look convinced. In fact, she seems very uneasy, and I can’t quite figure out why.Cat’s out of the bag, right?Now that I know she has a child, what the hell else could she possibly be hiding?

Fuck.Nothing, I hope.

“Does Owen like ice cream?” I ask carefully.

“He loves it,” she answers, face brightening.

“Then let’s go out and get him some.” I stand up. “C’mon. I’d like to get to know him better.”

Addie looks up at me, eyes shining again with unshed tears. “Really?” she asks softly.

It hurts that she seems so unsure of me and my intentions now that I know she has a son. I stifle a sigh and nod. “Well, yeah. Let’s go.”

The dynamics have changed slightly now that we’re carrying a toddler around with us, but for some reason, it feels right. And while we’re eating ice cream and talking at the little cafe down the street, I am enjoying our little dynamic immensely.

The kid’s a riot. He’s smart as a whip and always smiling and laughing. Addie tells me he’s almost two years old which instantly sends bells ringing in my head. That means she would’ve slept with someone else right after leaving me.

Apparently, Owen is the result of her rebound.

I don’t like thinking about that for too long. So, instead, I concentrate on getting to know Owen better. There’s just something about him that tugs on my heart strings. Hard. I can’t stop staring at him and, for some odd reason, I feel a connection to the little man. I don’t know if it’s because he isn’t going to have a relationship with his father and neither did I. Or because the more I look at him, the more similarities I see…to myself.

Straight up, the kid looks like me. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. And I know everyone says all babies look the same, but his mannerisms are starting to freak me out. He tugs on his ear and my mom used to always scold me for doing the same thing when I was younger. He also does this squinty-eye thing that I do when I’m thinking something through and weighing my options.

And then it hits me like a bolt out of the blue.

Could Owen be mine?

Addie and I were always pretty careful, but accidents happen. And, truthfully, there were a couple times that she could’ve easily gotten pregnant because we got sloppy. Sometimes the heat got too intense, and our passion overruled everything else including common sense and condoms.

But if Owen is mine, why wouldn’t she have said so? I’m so confused by the time our evening is over and Addie tucks Owen into bed. It’s a little after 7pm and I’m not sure if she wants me to leave or stay. God knows, I want to spend the night.

We walk out of Owen’s room and my mind is buzzing. Addie must sense it because she turns to me and eyes me closely. “I know this was a lot tonight. What’re you thinking?” she asks softly.

“It was a heavy evening,” I admit, “but in a good way. Owen is a really good little man.”

A smile lights up her face. “You think so?”

“He’s great. You’ve done an amazing job raising him.”

“Thank you. That means a lot. It wasn’t always easy.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t.” I clench my jaw, wanting to ask her questions about the father, but I’d rather take her to bed.

“Will you stay the night?” she asks quietly as though reading my mind.

“I thought you’d never ask,” I say and sweep her up into my arms. As I walk back to her bedroom, she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me hard. There’s a passion burning between us that warns me things are about to get intense.

I toss her on the bed and quickly undress. I’m not playing games tonight. Especially since we might get interrupted by the little one at any point. Addie is on the exact same page and sheds her clothes even quicker than I do.

“Is he a good sleeper?” I ask, dropping kisses along her neck.

“If we’re lucky, he’ll sleep until six or seven.”

I let out a low groan as she wraps her hand around my raging erection and starts caressing and squeezing. “Perfect,” I utter, moving my hips. I was referring to Owen sleeping in, but now it’s the way her hands are teasing, slowly driving me into a frenzy. Then she moves down my body and when her warm, wet mouth wraps around my cock, I nearly lose my mind.

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