I look at her, then step over and take the two mugs of tea so we can go into the living room.
“I don’t know what to do,” she says softly. “It’s strange. I’ve always been so decisive, so sure of what I want. And now I’m not.”
Doesn’t that mean she was sure when she ran away from me? That’s not promising.
She shakes her head. “Anyway, let’s just drink our tea, then you can go home and get some much-needed sleep. You must be exhausted.”
There’s a part of me that wants to fix everything for her—to take away the pain in her eyes, the lines of her face, and the rigidity of her shoulders. But she’s not the type of woman who would ever let me step in and fix things for her. And I’m far from the right person to take over that role with her. My profession doesn’t allow me to be who she needs.
Even now, sitting beside her on the couch with this small gap between us, all I can think about is how badly I want to close it. I want to take her tea and place it on the coffee table, then press her into the couch with the weight of my body. I want to pull down her pajama pants, put my face between her legs, and eat her pussy.
But it would be a fleeting moment, one night, and then what can I really promise her?
I’m in no place to take on a fatherly role to those kids upstairs.
I’m starting to wonder if our paths just aren’t ever meant to merge into one.
Chapter
Thirteen
Leighton
* * *
I give my coworker the info on all my patients before I grab my lunch. I go to the outside patio and sit at a table away from everyone else. It’s another nice spring day, and I tip my head back to feel the sun on my face before I call Callie. She told me she’d make sure to take a break because it was going to be bestie bitch time.
She answers before it rings twice.
“I miss you. I’m going through Leighton detox. I wish you were here with me.” The sadness in her tone is another realization of how much my life has changed.
“I should’ve been, but then my cousin died.”
“God, Leighton, you just ruined the moment.”
“Sorry.” I sigh and get more comfortable in my chair.
“So, tell me everything.” She jumps to another topic as she always does. “I have your entire lunch hour marked off as bestie bitch time. I’ve told everyone not to bother me, that this time is reserved for Callie and Leighton, and if you’re not named Callie or Leighton, fuck off. So, tell me, how are things going?”
I blow out a breath. “I really don’t want to ruin this conversation with all my drama. I mean, I’m not joking, Callie, it’s a different world. I keep thinking someone should’ve given me a map or a manual. Every day there’s some new crisis. I feel like someone just picked me up and plopped me in some remote place—I might as well be in the middle of the jungle struggling to survive.”
“First of all, did you miss the most important word in our ritual? Bitch. So…” She sighs. “Get everything off your chest.” There’s kindness and genuine love in her voice.
“I thought I knew what Sky’s life was like, but I had no fucking clue. You don’t get a minute to yourself. You don’t even get a second. I was in the bathroom the other day and I’d just gotten out of the shower and Monroe just sauntered in. She opens the door and doesn’t even flinch at my naked body. I reached for a towel so fast?—”
Callie bursts out laughing. “Oh my god. Well, good thing it wasn’t Linc.”
“Yeah. He at least knocks. But Monroe—my god—she thinks every place in the house is hers.”
“Well, she’s six,” Callie says.
“I’m gonna have you babysit for a week, then you’ll understand where I’m coming from.” I stab my salad, wishing it were anything else, like two rolls of sushi.
“All right,” Callie says. “So, Monroe is a little peeping Tom now. What else?”
“And then Lincoln… Your brother was over the other day, you know. By the way—thanks for recruiting him to come help me.” I’m slightly upset she put it on him, but at the same time, he was so much help that I can’t even be that mad about it.
“Oh, come on. I know Hayes doesn’t check the boxes on your Safe Guy Shortlist, but he was happy to help. He needs something to do anyway since he has to be on his best behavior. He can’t go out with the guys. He can’t celebrate in a bar.”
