Page 68 of Enemy Daddy Next Door

“No, I just have to assume, given everything.”

I purse my lips.

“We don’t have to talk about it, I just –”

“No, it’s the elephant in the room, that’s for sure.”

Our hands stay folded together on the tabletop. Amy watches my thumb travel across her skin. Back and forth, back and forth… “I wasn’t sure if I’d hear from you again.”

“Really?”

“I know, it’s silly. You made it so clear that it wasn’t a…breakup. But I couldn’t help but worry that you might have gotten scared and had some –“ Amy pauses. “Regrets.”

I squeeze her hand. “No! No regrets. Of course not.”

She sighs in relief. “Okay, good.”

“I was thinking that you might have regrets given how…the other night on your birthday and –”

Amy shakes her head. “No, I don’t have any regrets. Maybe if I hadn’t heard from you, I would have, but…” She wraps her other hand around mine. “I’m glad we did that.”

“Yeah?”

She grins. “Yes.”

“You have no idea how much that means to me,” I say. “Really, Amy. All I want is to make you happy.” The second it comes out; it feels vaguely false. Not that I don’t believe it. But I might not be able to. “It’s just…”

Amy’s face falls. “Complicated right now.”

“Very.”

A lock of her brown hair falls in front of her face as she looks down at her mostly uneaten spaghetti. “I know that Jessica comes first, Hunter. I have no illusions about your priorities. After all, we’ve only been seeing each other for a little over a month. That’s no time at all.” She raises her gaze and says with resignation, “I just don’t want you to forget about me.”

My head bobs back like the words have physically hit my forehead. “Forget about you? How could I possibly forget about you, Amy?”

“You’re a busy man.”

“So?”

Amy takes a deep breath. “I just mean, I’ll wait. As long as I know there’s a place for me in your heart, I’ll wait.”

“I adore you, Amy.”

Her face lights up.

“You’ve got more than a place in my heart. You’re rooted there.”

“Oh…good.”

I shake my head. “You’re unbelievably cute, you know that?”

Her nose squinches up. “Hunter…”

“Sorry, can’t help it. I see it, I say it.”

Under the table, I feel her foot softly caress the inside of my calf. A strange, arousing closeness. Reminds me of my legs amidst hers. “I think I’m done with dinner,” she says delicately.

“I’ll pay the check and I’ll take you home.”

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