Page 54 of Of Course, Cutie

“Bye, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.” I gently tugged on Tess’s ponytail.

“Bye, daddy.” She smiled and then hurried into the house.

I turned to leave, but Lexi stopped me. “Hold on a second, Burke.” She folded her arms and pulled the front door closed behind her. Lexi wrapped her cardigan more tightly around her thin body to guard against the evening chill. “Who’s Charlie?”

I squared my jaw and shoved my hands in the front pockets of my jeans. “A friend.”

“Okay, well, Tess talks about her all the time, like this Charlie person is at your place every time Tess comes over.” Lexi narrowed her cold blue eyes at me. “Do you have a girlfriend, Burke? Do you have some little slut hanging around our daughter?”

“Watch your mouth, woman.”

Lexi scoffed. “Don’t you talk to me like that! I have a right to know who’s spending time with my daughter!”

I clenched my fists and stared up at the darkening sky. “Are you shittin’ me? How many different men have you paraded in front of her over the last few years, Lex? I’ve never even spoken to the asshole that owns this place!” I gestured toward Lexi’s house. “So, if you feel like you have the right to dictate who spends time with our daughter, then so the fuck do I!” I tried not to raise my voice, but this woman got me so fired up in the worst way.

Lexi pressed her lips into a thin, tight line. Then she threw her hands up in the air. “Fine! Fine, Burke, you want to come in and meet Scott? Let’s do it! Right now, let’s go!”

I groaned and covered my face with both hands. “Not like this, Lexi. Not when I’m angry. Tess doesn’t need that.”

Lexi buried her hands in her bleached blonde hair and made an angry little noise. Then she folded her arms again and let out a deep breath. “You’re right. Tess doesn’t need that. I will text you this week, and we can set up a time to meet each other’s significant others.”

I shook my head. “No need. Charlie’s not going to be around anymore. I’ll meet Scott the next time I come to pick up Tess.”

Lexi sighed as I turned to leave. “Burke, I’m sorry,” she called after me.

I waved her off and slid behind the wheel of my car, then peeled out of her driveway. Lexi was damn lucky that I would never hit a woman, especially the mother of my child. But if she ever called Charlie a slut again, there’d be hell to pay.

When I got back from Lexi’s, I saw a man leaning against my front door, staring at his phone. As I approached, I realized it was Evan. I kept my distance and addressed him. “I haven’t said a word to her for over a month. You don’t need to be here right now.”

Evan shoved his phone in his back pocket and held his hands up. “I know, I know. That’s not why I’m here.”

“Then what the hell do you want?”

“To apologize.”

No shit. Sienna got through to him after all. I put my hands in my jacket pockets. “No apology necessary. Have a good one.” A guy could apologize for sucker-punching me. It didn’t mean I could go back to fucking his pretty little sister like I wanted. There was no point in having this conversation.

Evan let out a long slow breath. “There’s more that I would like to say. Can I come in for a minute? It’s cold as fuck out here.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t last ten seconds in Alaska if you think this is cold.”

Evan laughed. “I know. You’re a badass. I’m aware.”

I unlocked my apartment door and went inside, leaving it open for Evan if he felt like he needed to follow and say something else. I headed straight for my kitchen to grab some beers. I had a feeling we were going to need them.

When I turned from my fridge, Evan was standing in my kitchen, awkwardly glancing around. Was he wondering where I fucked his sister? Everywhere, dude.

I handed him one of the beers and took a seat at my kitchen table.

Evan cleared his throat. “Uh, thanks. I’ll just…” He pulled out a chair and sat across from me. “Look, man, I shouldn’t have punched you for so many reasons. First of all, Charlie still won’t speak to me. Uh, secondly, my hand hurt for like a week afterward.”

He smiled, but I stared straight ahead. This wasn’t going to be a light conversation. His efforts were wasted.

Evan ran his hands through his tousled pretty-boy hair and started again, “Okay. I was wrong for losing my shit. I was terrified that Charlie was going to get hurt and pissed that I was blind to it all.”

“What do you want me to say here? If you want my forgiveness, have it. I would have done the same damn thing if I thought someone was hurting my daughter.” I took a sip of my beer. “But if that’s why you’re here, you’re wasting your time. I don’t want your apology, and you don’t need my forgiveness.”

“Fuck.” He rested his head in his hands. When he looked back up at me, he said, “She loves you, man. She’s real torn up right now. I thought she was acting out and that she’d get over everything with you guys in like a week. I was wrong, like usual.” Evan cracked open his beer and leaned back in his chair.

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