Page 653 of Not Over You

I let myself in, finding Amber in the living room watching TV. “Hey, baby. How was your day?” She greeted, standing up to give me a kiss.

“It was interesting. How about yours?”

Amber was a dental assistant for one of the local dentists in town. She played with the collar of my shirt, smiling up at me. “It was good. Had to get Mr. Jenkins a new set of dentures today.”

I chuckled. “Poor Mr. Jenkins.”

“I didn’t expect you to come home tonight.” She bit her bottom lip, gazing up at me seductively with her hazel eyes.

Crap.

I cleared my throat as I grabbed her hands and led her to the couch. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Her forehead creased in concern, and her grip on my hands tightened. “Oh. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s okay.” I sighed before continuing, “A week or two ago, I got a letter from my daughter, Piper.”

Her brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

I shrugged, dreading the direction we were headed. “Because I wasn’t sure what I planned to do.”

She pulled her hands from mine and crossed her arms over her chest. “So what are you going to do?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Liv and I decided t—”

“Liv?” Amber shrieked, her body stiffening as straight as a board. “When did you talk to Liv?”

My jaw clenched. “Today. She showed up at the farm.”

“And?” Her voice was still shrill and agitated, grating on my nerves.

“And we’re planning to see Piper this Saturday.”

Her eyebrows flew up. “What? Don’t you think that’s something we should’ve talked about first?”

I took a deep breath to calm myself before I said something that I regretted. As far as I was concerned, Liv and I were the only ones who needed to make decisions regarding Piper. “Look, Amber, I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about this first, but this is my daughter we’re talking about here. There is no decision to discuss. I’ve been waiting almost ten years to see her again.”

Her scowl softened, but she still had a look of hurt in her eyes as if I’d betrayed her. She sighed in defeat. “I know. I just feel like I should have some input in your decisions, Lincoln. I’m not just some random hookup; we’ve been dating for almost four years now.”

I exhaled a breath of frustration. She was right, but I couldn’t help how I felt. Or how I didn’t feel. But no matter how strong my feelings were for Liv, I couldn’t just toss Amber aside. She’d been there for me after Liv had left and I needed someone.

I pulled her into me and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I’ll work on my communication.”

She hugged me tightly. “Thank you. I’m just insecure is all. I know how you felt about Olivia.”

I held back a laugh. No one around town called Liv Olivia except her father. I rubbed her back reassuringly. “That was a long time ago, baby. I love you, and that’s what matters.”

“I love you, too.”

Even though I hadn’t planned on it, I stayed with Amber that night. I felt obligated after dropping the Liv bomb on her. She fell asleep pretty fast after we had sex, but I, on the other hand, couldn’t. My mind was too preoccupied with thoughts about Liv. Seeing her after so long stirred up all kinds of feelings inside me, and I didn’t know how to deal with them.

I turned my head to look at Amber, who was fast asleep. She was beautiful with long, auburn hair and bright hazel eyes. She turned heads when we went out and had a kind soul. She hadn’t been part of our circle of friends back in high school, so I hadn’t paid much attention to her back then.

I was a lucky man to have Amber, but I didn’t deserve her. She deserved someone who could give her everything, and that someone was not me. At least not at the moment. Maybe one day, but I felt like I needed complete closure with Liv if I was going to commit to someone else like that. There was still something between us that I couldn’t let go.

I needed to figure out what I wanted before I ended up losing both of them.

LIV

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