“She might be one of the only people alive who will get Chunk to do whatever he doesn’t want to do. It makes my life easier.”
Against my better judgment, I sit on the porch next to him. I always avoid it because being this close to him feels dangerous in the most intoxicating ways, but I don’t have much of a reason not to with Bernie inside.
His clothes are covered in gray cat hair, and I can’t help but fixate on it. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yes, I will come make sweet love to you whenever you need me to.”
The comment catches me off-guard, and my eyes snap up to lock with his. “You wish.”
“You have no idea,” he says with a chuckle. “You want to know about the fight you witnessed.”
Is he reading my mind? If so, I need to be more careful with my thoughts. “You didn’t fight back.”
“I deserved it.”
That confirms it. “So… you’re the other man?”
He snorts and leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Yeah, I suppose that’s the simplest way to put it.”
“Let me guess: It’s complicated?”
His sigh tells me it’s more than complicated. At least for him. “Chanel and I have been on and off since we were fourteen. She’s the one that got away, and I’m reminded every time she turns up on my doorstep. But she always leaves a few hours later.”
My thinking shifts. I expected Zep to be a playboy, but it sounds like he’s a man in love. It makes him even more endearing. “Why don’t you win her back?”
“Because I don’t exactly understand how I lost her.”
“What do you mean?”
His hands rub along his face, and I almost want to tell him to forget it. The way his body tenses shows just how painful this is for him, but I also want to know. I want to know more about this insanely sexy man I should be running far, far away from.
“Because she was just gone one day. There wasn’t a fight. Not even a conversation. It was just… done. Then, next thing I know, she’s engaged to a man I once called a buddy.”
Okay, this is definitely complicated, and I feel guilty. Both for doubting him and for making him relive this. “I’m sorry, Zep.”
“She’s the only thing I’ve never been able to fully let go with this much time, but I think I have to. I just don’t… I don’t know how to.”
“I can kind of relate. It’s how I felt with Bernie’s dad. There was only one time that happened, though.”
Shifting to lean against the railing, he studies me. His dark eyes make my stomach flip, and I want to kiss him until I’m dizzy.
Being so close to him is definitely dangerous.
“Bernie never really talks about her dad. I didn’t want to ask in case it’s not a good situation.”
And now he’s caring? He seems to be the opposite of everything I expected. Lowering my voice, I make sure Bernie doesn’t overhear us. “I tell her he travels for business all the time, which is why he never comes home. It usually only comes up when other kids have something with their dads, like father-daughter dances.”
“Guessing that’s the furthest from the truth?”
“Yeah. The truth is, he walked away when I was pregnant and never looked back. Except for once.”
His brows lift. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Rolling my bottom lip between my teeth, I keep my eyes locked on his knees as I nod. “It was hard doing everything alone, and then about three years ago, he showed up when she was with his parents. She’s stayed with them over spring break every year since she was four. We had three nights of passion, and he talked about staying. Then he didn’t.”
“Does he help you financially?”
I shake my head. “I never went after him. It would have felt like retaliation for leaving us. If he didn’t want us, I didn’t want to force something. And I don’t want Bernie to learn the truth. It would break her heart.”
