Page 97 of Time for Change

We eat together, Christian talking about what he hopes to accomplish today. He has a big afternoon of playing with his cars and watching a movie ahead of him. Of course, I’m hoping he’ll play so hard he wants to take a nap for a few hours. Lord knows I will be desperate for one by that point in the day.

Now if I can just figure out how to make it through the rest of the hours without feeling like my heart is being ripped from my chest. I’m pretty certain that’ll be my biggest challenge. That and not missing her.

I’m not sure I’ll ever not miss her.

She’ll forever be the one that got away.

***

“Hey,” Caden hollers when I get to work Monday morning.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” I reply, setting my travel coffee mug onto my desk and taking a seat.

“One-hundred-percent. That stomach flu is fucking brutal,” he states.

Nodding, I fight the urge to yawn, but when I’m unable to, I cover it with my coffee mug. I’m sure he’ll notice thebags under my eyes and my paler complexion. I look like I’m hungover, and in a way I am. Just not from booze.

Lack of sleep will do that to a person.

Last night, despite being incredibly exhausted, I struggled to settle into sleep. When it did come, it was filled with dreams of Stevie, which didn’t help. I woke missing her even more and incredibly horny. That’s a terrible combination post-breakup.

“Glad you’re feeling better,” I tell him.

“How’d that hospital job go Saturday night?”

I sigh deeply, trying to keep my focus on the job, not on what happened after. “It went fine. There was a short I had to take care of. Took about three hours,” I state, still trying to avoid eye contact.

“I’m starving already. I have that wiring job at the travel agency, but I should be done by noon. Wanna go to Burgers and Brew for lunch? I hear there’s a new bartender,” he says, and I can hear the grin in his voice.

“Uhh, I’m not sure. I have a busy day.” I don’t. I just don’t want to go to where Stevie will be and moon over her like some lovesick jerkoff.

“Since when? The schedule has you in the office this morning doing paperwork.”

I finally look up, meeting his confused, curious gaze. Knowing I’m not going to get out of this, I blurt out, “Stevie and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.”

Clearly, that news takes him by surprise. “What? Since when?”

“Since Saturday night,” I inform him, taking a long drink of my hot black coffee.

“Dude, what the hell happened?”

I sigh, not wanting to get into this, but knowing he won’t let it go until I spill the details. “Gianna has issues with her. I can’t date someone my daughter doesn’t like.”

He snorts, kicking his feet up on his desk. “Of course you can. You can still go out during the week. You’ve been in a much better mood since you started getting your dick played with regularly.”

I shake my head. It always comes down to sex with Caden. “Whatever. That’s not fair to either of us. She deserves more than being a weekday fling.”

When he doesn’t reply, I look up. He’s smiling at me, a knowing, cocky grin on his smug face. “You fell in love with her.”

My mouth opens, the denial ready to slip from my lips, but I’m unable to say the word. Instead, I speak my truth. “Yeah.”

“Jack,” he replies, his voice soft. “I’m sorry.”

Lifting my shoulders, I say, “What are you gonna do? My daughter says she’s mean to her, but I haven’t noticed a mean bone in Stevie’s body.”

“Maybe she just needs a little time to come around. I mean, this is the first woman you’ve really dated since the divorce, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t recall her having any issues with Mya dating. And then her and Cort got married, and I never heard Gianna complain.”

---