“You can’t do this, Dean.”
I raise an eyebrow in question, “I’m not sure what you’re referring to here, Jo.”
“Swoop in and bond with Justice just to ride out when you get bored. I can’t mess up again.”
I sigh. “Here is the thing, Jo. We don’t know each other well, you and me. I can understand your hesitation. What I’ll tell you right now, I know what it is to have someone you love to get hurt. I know what it is to be a child caught up in adult situations you can’t understand. More than anything, I know that you are a gorgeous woman, an amazing mom, strength like no other, and there is something about you that tells me you’re worth the risk and the fall.”
“I can’t let you in,” she whispers.
“Jo, I know about Jonah. I don’t want to replace him. Can’t compete with a ghost, babe and not about to try. You had it good before and I’m not trying to take his place.”
“You have all these answers and I’m telling you Dean, I can’t,” she takes a deep inhale, “no, I won’t do this with you. Whatever this is.”
While typically I don’t do well with back and forth with women, I understand her situation more than I care to admit. If I push her being too forward, she will build a wall I’ll never be able to climb. She’s worth it, I mean that, but I need her to see it.
I push back from the stove releasing her. “And that is okay too. I’m still gonna be here. For now, you’ve worked all day, I’ve worked all day. I’m hungry and I have a town over there to cruise through with Justice. I think you need to decompress. Let’s order dinner. After we eat, I’ll head home. Nothing more than two adults needing to fuel their bodies while entertaining the coolest kid on the block.”
She gives me a half-hearted smile. “We’re neighbors, Dean not just two adults needing sustenance.”
I can’t stop the smile, “how about friends? Can we be friends, Jo?”
“I don’t know, Dean. You seem to know a lot about me, and I know very little about you.” She counters and she isn’t wrong.
“Not much to know, but anything you ask I promise I will give you the honest answer.”
“Friends?” It comes out as a question rather than a statement. I’m not sure if she’s asking me genuinely wanting a reply or she’s asking herself if we can be friends.
I shrug, “Gotta start somewhere. Not gonna lie though, I want more. In time, we can see where that goes.”
“Friends don’t kiss the way you kiss me,” she challenges and damn, it makes my dick hard, and I want to kiss her again.
I smirk, “I like compromise, friend. We can be friends but ones that really like to know each other close like.”
She shakes her head, “I think that complicates friendships.”
Shrugging, I reply, “Can’t help myself, Jo. You’re one gorgeous woman and the way you kiss, well, I’m not wanting to give that up if I don’t have to.”
She bites her bottom lip as she seems to calm down. “Are you always so blunt?”
“Not really into head trips and don’t like miscommunication. Say what I mean up front, saves some trouble for everyone later.”
With a nod, she mutters, “Justice likes ham and bacon on his pizza.”
I don’t know where this leaves our friendship and kissing, but she didn’t shut me down, so I will take the door opening even if it’s only a crack.
“And you?”
“I eat anything.”
Before she can change her mind, I pick up my phone and order pizza for us and set up delivery. I return back to Justice dropping to the living room floor and picking out a car for me to cruise his town following him with his new bike. As much as I want to pay attention to Jo, I don’t. She needs an opportunity to decompress, and I want to be present with Justice. However, it isn’t long before she sits on the couch in front of us, curling up with a tablet in hand.
Justice gazes up at her and furrows his brows before taking his attention back to me. “Mom likes to read,” he sort of whispers.
“Is that so?” I whisper back.
He nods dramatically. “They make me do baggy books for reading at school. I have to pick a book in my reading color from the little library, put it in my baggy for home. Then I have to come home and read for twenty minutes to mom, and she has to sign a paper.”
“Reading is good, Justice,” I explain. “It’s how we can learn more.”
