“I did not keep him away because he was rich.”
“But he’s rich, though?”
“He makes good money. I don’t think he lives paycheck to paycheck.”
“Oh my God! Child support, bitch! Hello!” Nia slapped my knee.
“I don’t want his money.”
“Obviously!”
“I mean . . .” I looked down at my wineglass. “I guess I probably shouldn’t tell you he paid all my bills through the end of the year.”
Nia froze. “He did what?”
“I didn’t ask him to. He just did it.”
“Bitch, you said that entirely too casually,” Nia said. “You need to be over there putting that pussy across that man’s forehead.”
“I hate you.” A laugh slipped out. The crazy part was that I hadn’t even argued with him about it as much as I thought I would. Since I was a kid, it had been me against the world. I’d gotten used to carrying everything by myself. The bills. Dakoda. Every emergency that popped up out of nowhere. Now, every time I turned around, KO was taking something off my plate. He’d already paid all my bills, had somebody handling the insurance mess from the hurricane, and he’d somehow made sure I always had a ride while we waited to figure out what was happening with my car. And if I was being honest, I hadn’t realized how heavy everything had gotten until KO started helping me carry it.
“So what’s the plan now? Y’all gonna reconcile and be a family?”
“There is no plan.”
“Bullshit.”
“There seriously isn’t.” I sighed. “I’m just . . . letting Dakoda have his dad.”
“And?”
“And nothing.”
Nia stared at me over the rim of her glass like she knew I was lying, and I looked away because, honestly, I didn’t know what the hell this was turning into anymore. KO had slipped intoour routine way too easily. Like he’d always belonged there. Like there weren’t five years of pain, resentment, and unanswered questions sitting between us. And the worst part was that a small piece of me wanted this to work. I’d spent five years trying to forget him. One week trapped with him had reminded me why I couldn’t.
“You still love him, don’t you?” Nia asked softly, and I laughed immediately, damn near choking on my wine
“Girl, what?”
“You do. Be honest.”
“I do not.”
“Who you trying to convince? Me or you?”
I took another sip of wine instead of answering, and Nia pointed at me triumphantly.
“Exactly.”
“Nia, that man probably hates my guts,” I admitted quietly after a minute. “And honestly? I wouldn’t even blame him.”
“Lyrius—”
“No. Be real.” I looked down into my glass. “I set the damn man up and kept his child from him for five years.”
“You had reasons.”
“I had fear.”
