“I just want to apologize for any leading on, confusion, or anything I may have caused.”
He looked over my shoulder like he was anticipating someone pulling up. Maybe it was the woman from the other night.
I laughed. “I don’t want to create any drama,” I said. “And I can obviously see you’re expecting someone. I just didn’t want you to see me out somewhere and try to approach me because I will act like I don’t know you.”
I turned to walk away.
“Wait,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I enjoyed my time with you. I feel like we can at least still be friends. One day I want to experience marriage and everything like I told you. I feel like we can learn a lot from each other.”
His words almost sounded sincere.
“I don’t think that can happen, Stacks.”
A car turned onto the street.
“I hope you have a great life.”
I started walking toward my truck when the car parked behind me.
I glanced back at Stacks. He looked tense. Like a man caught mid-sentence in a lie. The car door opened and a little boy hopped out.
My heart dropped.Shit.
The last thing I wanted to do was interact with his child. I didn’t want to blur any more lines. I didn’t want to be part of another messy memory. I turned quickly toward my door.
“Ms. Khloe!”
The voice stopped me cold. My body froze. I turned slowly to see the little boy was running toward me. And when he got closer… I recognized him. My heart started racing so hard I thought I might pass out.
“What the fuck…” I whispered under my breath.
The little boy ran straight into me. Before I could process anything, I bent down and caught him in my arms.
“Hey, baby,” I said, hugging him back. “What are you doing here?”
Footsteps approached. I looked up and my stomach dropped seeing Kemi. She walked toward us calm, composed, like that wasn’t the most chaotic crossover episode of my life.
“We had a pipe burst at our house and I’m getting some things fixed. So, big boy needed to come stay with daddy for a few more days.”
Her tone was light. She wasn’t giving her son anything that would make him question the tension in the air.
She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. “I love you. I’ll be back to pick you up tomorrow evening when I get off work. Go charge your iPad so I can call you later.”
“Okay!” he said happily, running into the house like none of what was happening was strange.
The door closed behind him, and I looked at Stacks. He hadn’t said a word. He just stood there stiff.
I looked at Kemi. “Stacks is your son’s dad.”
Kemi laughed. “That narcissist is my ex-husband and my son’s father.”
My heart dropped. I looked at Stacks. “Wait. You told me you were never married.”
Kemi’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh, he lies about everything.”
Stacks’ jaws tightened.
Kemi continued, unbothered. “He probably didn’t tell you about his seven-year-old daughter either. The one he has with another woman that he doesn’t take care of.”
