Chapter 37
Brooks
“I need the competitive analysis for Xavier by the end of the day.”
When I hang up the phone, Addison stares at me like I have two heads.
“What’s that look for?”
“It’s Saturday.”
“And?”
“Well, you seem to be back to normal,” she says in jest.
A new normal, but yes, normal.
“I heard Jessie’s living with her parents now.”
I hope someday I can hear the name and not immediately cringe. Just another issue to add to my therapy list.
“Yep,” I say, smacking the last letter, then sigh. “Presley met her mom for the first time last week.”
“Oh. Wow. How’d it go?”
“Well, I was hoping Pres would scream at her for abandoning her and hate her as much as I do.” I pause, shaking my head with a bitter laugh. “But no, Pres has a heart of gold. And she wants to get to know her mom.”
“You okay with that?”
She knows the answer. Hell no. “I want what’s best for Pres. This isn’t going to be an instant relationship. Jessie’s not a horrible person, she just makes the dumbest decisions. She’s going to have to prove herself. All visits will be monitored, but if Pres wants to get to know her mom, she’s old enough to tell me if something is wrong.”
Addison coos. “My big brother is growing up.”
I flip her off, and she laughs, quickly grabbing my finger so no one else can see.
Presley waves at me from on top of the play structure. My eyes zero in on her wrist to make sure the GPS watch is still there. I wave back.
“Why do we even come to the zoo if all they want to do is play on the jungle gym?” she mutters, leaning over to pull a tumbler out of her bag before taking a sip.
I nod in agreement. If it were up to me, I would’ve opted for something in the air conditioning. At least we scored a shaded spot. I almost bribed some women to move, but luckily for us, they were done.
“We could’ve taken them to a park and saved a lot of money,” she says as Jett comes barreling over, his chunky cheeks rosy and glistening with sweat. He grabs his water bottle and starts guzzling down his drink like he’s been lost in the desert for days, barely pausing to breathe.
“How’s school, little man?”
Jett gives me a wicked grin and nods. “My teacher’s hot.”
I can’t help my burst of laughter. That’s my nephew. Little baller already.
“Jett, we’ve talked about this before,” Addison says, playfully kicking him.
“Hot for the teacher, huh?” I tease.
“Yep. She’s my girlfriend.”
I hold my hand up for him to give me a high-five.
Addison shakes her head and gestures for him to go play. “Go. Find a girlfriend your own age.”
He spins on his toes and takes off, running to the slide, yelling for Presley.
“Please tell me she’s not a crotchety old lady,” I joke, settling back against the bench.
“Nope, she’s young.”
“She hot?”
Addison smirks. “Why? You interested?”
I sip my iced coffee and shrug, keeping my gaze on the kids. “ Maybe . Maybe teachers are my thing.”
Right now, I don’t know what I’m interested in. Gracyn messed me up. I let one of the best things slip through my fingers.
Our court date is next week. Finally . The missed opportunity of what might have been hangs over me like a storm cloud. I’m ready for it so I can move on.
Addison zips up Jett’s Spiderman lunch box. “Syd and I went to lunch last week, and I invited Jett’s teacher. Of course, someone recognized Syd and snapped a picture. It’s on Instagram. Look at it. If you’re intrigued, let me know.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “I was kidding.”
“Whatever. Look. Don’t look. That’s up to you.”
As much as I’d like to say I’m willing to search for someone to fill the void Gracyn left, I’m not. Not even close. I can hardly wrap my mind around moving forward, let alone meeting someone new. Hell, I just hired a new nanny, and that was hard enough. You can bet your ass I made Stone handle the background process. Thoroughly. Down to her blood type.
With my outstretched arm resting on the back of the bench, I nudge her shoulder. “I’ve mastered the reverse psychology trick. Why are you trying to get me to look?”
She laughs out loud, stuffing her tumbler in her bag. “You’re reading way too into this. But…” She nudges me back in the arm. “You’re not getting any younger.”
I smirk, raising a brow. “True, but at least I’m aging like fine wine.”
“Definitely back to normal.” She laughs.
* * *
It’s always night when my thoughts drift to her. The midnight hour, when it’s silent and still, is what lures me back to our short time together. A couple of glasses of wine later, and I wonder if being a single dad is all I’ll ever be.
I was fine being alone before that day in the coffee shop, but now there’s this ache, this knot tightening in my chest every time she creeps into my head.
I miss the feeling of being with Gracyn.
The way she made me laugh. Or how I stared at the cute freckles on her nose and thought they were the sexiest thing on her. Fuck! I shake her memory out of my head, realizing that I need to date other people to move on. I need someone else to focus on.
My therapist agrees. Apparently, letting go takes work. Also, they don’t hypnotize people for that, because I damn sure asked. I think about Jett’s smile—the way it lit up when he was talking about his teacher.
Curiosity gets the best of me, and I grab my phone.
Nothing else.
I just want to see the woman my nephew is so enamored with. That’s all. I pull up Instagram, scrolling through countless tagged photos of Sydney. I find one with Addison in it, taken recently at a restaurant, and my heart slams into my chest wall.
It can’t be.
My pulse races as I pinch and zoom in on the image, making sure that my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me.
Immediately, I fire off a text to Addison.
Me: What the actual fuck?
Addison: Guess you’re interested?