Chapter 65
Tristan
Wait, so, his ex-wife threatened you?” Chasten asks, gaping at me over our lattes.
What I told Nick was half true, and I feel a little guilty about the half that was a lie.
Yes, Chasten and I had plans to hang out today, but technically, those plans were my idea. I needed his advice.
“Not ex-wife,” I clarify. “She’s the mother of his daughter, but they were never married.”
“Oh, okay.” He leans back in his chair and shakes his head. “I don’t like this.”
“I don’t, either. Is what she did a violation of the lawsuit?”
“I mean, I’m not a lawyer, but I doubt it. Unless there’s, like, a restraining order involved, I don’t think what she did is illegal. Just, you know, rude and in bad taste.”
He pauses, considering the matter. “Though I doubt a judge would like the idea of her going to you and trying to intimidate you into breaking up with Nick, if that’s what she was trying to do. Do you think that was her goal? Is she, like, still in love with him or something?”
“Beats me. If she is, she’s got no chance. Nick is gay. He says he’s shocked she even got pregnant when they were together—they rarely had sex.”
“TMI.”
“I told you that he pissed in my mouth and covered me in clothespins, but knowing that he and his ex-girlfriend rarely had sex is TMI?”
“I don’t like to think about straight people copulating.”
“I don’t like it when you use words like ‘copulating.’”
He laughs. “Fine. Well, how are you feeling? Both about what the Evil Mother did and about what Nick told you?”
“That he loves me?”
“Yeah, that.”
I busy myself taking a long sip from my latte to give myself some time to think.
“It made me really happy,” I say finally. Even thinking about it makes me emotional again. I wipe at my eyes. “Because I know it’s true. And, Chasten, I think—no, I know—that I love him, too.”
Chasten’s face lights up in a “well, isn’t that precious?” sort of look. “Then you should tell him!”
“What if Raquel meant what she said?”
“Screw her. She has no right to get in the way of your happiness. God knows you’ve earned it. And from what you’ve told me, Nick is a great father. Anyone will see that. And doesn’t his daughter like you?”
“I think she does!”
“Are you ready to be a part of her life like that?”
This is something I’ve been thinking about.
Obviously, if Nick and I take the next steps in our relationship, Abbie will have to factor into that in some way.
“I think I am. I don’t know what that would look like, but that’s something we’d figure out together, right?”
“Look at you. Twenty-eight years old and a stepfather.”
“I’m not a stepfather.”
“Okay, daddy.”
My cheeks flare with heat. “None of that. You know I prefer being called good boy instead of daddy.”
Chasten laughs so hard tears spring to his eyes.
“I think everything is going to be okay with you and Nick. Maybe take some time to think about it and talk to him after your next shift. Or during your next shift. Whatever you think is best.”