8. Chapter 8
It had been a week since Aurora and I ended, and my life was a mess.
I still loved her desperately.
I missed her. I couldn”t sleep.
I was aware that I”d let my temper get the better of me and had said things to Aurora that I couldn”t take back.
Sophia was cagey about what exactly Aurora had said to upset her so much, and I suspected that she”d overreacted. But then, so had I.
It didn”t go unnoticed that Iris was happier than she”d ever been, and Sophia was not having as many meltdowns. Was she doing that just to keep me from seeing Aurora? I couldn”t believe my kid would be that manipulative.
Beau had absolutely no sympathy for me. ”I told you.”
We met for a drink at Rocks on The Roof on the riverfront. My evenings were freer than they had ever been. Sophia was behaving like a normal teenager who went out with friends, and since I didn”t have a girlfriend, I could actually see my friends.
”Told me what? Come on, man, Aurora handled Sophia poorly.”
Beau shook his head as he took another sip of his Lagavulin Scotch. I didn”t know how he drank that smokey, peaty crap but to each his own.
Since Aurora left, I had been nursing Macallan 12, and I was beginning to wonder if I was turning into an alcoholic to dull the pain of losing her.
”Or Sophia made sure of it.”
”She”s thirteen.”
”Whatever you say.”
”Beau?”
He sighed. ”You live with your ex-wife, who wants you guys to get back together. Imagine the pressure on your kid?”
”I”m living like this so Sophia can have both her parents close by. So, she doesn”t have to choose between us.”
However, it was getting tiresome to eat dinner as a family of three when I didn”t want to spend my time with Iris. But it made Sophia so happy that I didn”t protest.
”Maybe you should go on a trip like you used to get your rocks off,” Beau suggested. ”How about New York? I have a meeting there next week. Come along.”
The idea had potential, but in all honesty, I couldn”t imagine being with any other woman. I wanted Aurora. I wanted her breathy moans. I wanted her mouth on my cock. I wanted her pussy. Fuck! I needed to stop thinking about sex with her because even after the stunt she pulled with my daughter, I wanted her. Just the thought of her made me hard.
”I”ll be your wingman,” he continued.
Beau was a handsome motherfucker and the wrong kind of wingman to have. A woman caught one glance at his handsome face and well-toned body and chose him over me. I knew this because it had happened. It wasn”t just about looks; Beau was charming and a proper Southern gentleman. I didn”t have that skill set. I was rough around the edges, as Iris liked to say, and not as sophisticated as was expected by the Savannah society set. Well, fuck ”em. When you were a Rhodes in Savannah, you didn”t have to conform, and thanks to my mother, who was a bit of a rebel herself, neither Rafe nor I had.
”I don”t know. I”ll think about it,” I demurred.
”Too heartbroken to fuck around?” Beau asked.
I sighed. Two women who came into the bar eyed us. Beau raised his glass to them.
”Come on, man, I”m not in the mood,” I groaned.
”Hey, I love a menage,” Beau said.
”You”re such an asshole.”
”Maybe, but I”m getting laid while you”re…moping.”
”I”m not moping.” I was a grown man, and grown men didn”t fucking mope. ”Those two look young enough to be your daughters.”
Since Beau was in his late thirties like me, and these girls looked like they were in their early twenties, it was a stretch.
”I always wrap it up, so I don”t have to worry about that shit,” he proclaimed and grinned. ”It”s been a dry week for me, so I”m going to mosey on.”
I watched him walk up to the bar and chat the women up. He didn”t have to worry about sleeping with women in Savannah. Beauregard Bodine, a notorious playboy, vowed never to settle down and enjoyed the company of women—as long as they weren”t expecting a ring on their finger.
I paid the tab and walked out of the bar, feeling the urge to reach out to Aurora. I had a free evening and when were together, I”d be with her…unless Sophia made sure I couldn”t.
Fuck!I was starting to doubt my daughter. Sophia used to be an adorable, easy-going kid, though the teenager she”d become was alien to me.
I got a text message, and my heart lifted when I saw Aurora”s name. The lasted for a nanosecond when I read her message that simply read: Gabriel. Would it be okay for me to pick up my things and leave yours tomorrow? I can come by your place around 1 p.m.
I felt anger at her message. Here, I was nursing a broken heart, and she was worried about her stuff.
It was unfair; she wasn”t materialistic, no matter that Iris called her a gold digger. The proof was that tennis bracelet that she refused to take, the one that Sophia had found when she”d hugged me. She”d grabbed it and shown it to Iris. They decided that it was too big for Sophia, and Iris had put it on.
”It”s beautiful. Did you get it for me?”
”Ah, it was—”
”Daddy, that”s so sweet of you.”
Sophia hugged me tightly.
I kept the peace and foolishly didn”t protest. I also didn”t admit that I had bought the bracelet to make amends with Aurora, but she turned it down, saying what she really wanted was my time and attention, not a bauble.
I replied to Aurora, annoyed: Sure.
My phone beeped again with a: Thank You.
Just to make sure that Sophia wouldn”t be home at that time, I texted her to let her know that Aurora would be picking up her things tomorrow. Sophia replied with a thumbs-up emoji. Since Aurora and I had ended, Sophia had been in a better mood.
I walked down the riverfront aimlessly, feeling adrift.
I should go home and catch up on work. Or I could call Rafe and see if we could meet for a game of pool. But neither had much appeal. I wanted to be alone and stew in my misery.