Page 31 of The Single Dad Dilemma

“I really don’t think you know what this means to me,” I say, exhaling possibly the first sigh of relief. “I could hug you.”

“Okay,” she says, turning toward me with her arms open.

Oh. Um. I hesitate. I was saying it more as a figure of speech. You know, just one of those things you say to show yourappreciation. I didn’t actually expect her to accept a real hug. Still, I can’t help myself.

I lean in and wrap my arms around her, careful not to grip too low. Her hands land on my back as my senses are overrun with her sweet scent. Her head rests against my shoulder as I dip down and squeeze her tight, savoring this tiny little moment the universe saw fit to gift me. I can’t imagine there are many moments when this would be appropriate in the future, so I’ll take advantage of this one.

After a few moments, I release her and we say our goodbyes. She leaves, reminding me one last time to text her the details for the morning.

The door closes behind her, and I place my hand against it, my forehead following. I inhale slowly, the remnants of her scent still lingering.

Mentally, I kick myself. Because that right there is a damn fine woman. And I can’t have her.

FIFTEEN

DARCY

Yes, I may have taken advantage of Ridge’s figure of speech and snuck in a little hug. I needed to smell him, okay? Maybe I should start by saying that yesterday was absolutely horrible. Not because of Lou. If anything, she was the only thing that made it good before Ridge got home with his offer.

Tyler had texted me literally all day, hinting that I should go out to the bars this weekend and meet up with him. He even had the audacity to recommend a sleepover and say there was no reason we couldn’t have an “exes with benefits” situation.

But there are maybe three hundred fifty-seven I can think of off the top of my head. Like the number of times he lied to me about being out with his friends, who are all single. Or how he told me I didn’t dress sexy enough and how I should ditch my glasses for contacts. One time, he told me I was bad at blow jobs. Another time, he said I don’t give him enough blow jobs. The list goes on.

I had refused to let it ruin my day with Lou, so I’d let myself have like, a three-minute cry in the bathroom, and then I was done with it. Tyler has a way of manipulating me and I don’teven know it’s happening. Even though I know better. But if I’m not here this weekend, I can’t get sucked in. God knows I could use a little distance.

Last night when I got home, I told Lyric what Ridge had asked of me and she got very excited that I had agreed to do it for him. When I brought up what Tyler had been doing all day, she took my phone from me and threatened to flush it down the toilet if I didn’t block him on everything. So I did. It was long overdue, honestly. I don’t know why I hadn’t before. I’d just insisted to no one but myself that we could be friendly and agreeable. And yes, that’d been really stupid of me.

Lyric also may have insinuated a thing or two about me and Ridge, but I just rolled my eyes and then immediately left the room. I didn’t mention the part of the conversation between us about begging or how I was obviously and accidentally flirting. He didn’t seem to pick up on it, though. I doubt he sees me in that capacity, so the part of his brain that identifies flirting behavior is probably turned all the way fucking off when I’m around.

But god, with the way he smiles at me sometimes, I swear it’s like I can almost believe he’s attracted to me. Maybe. Probably not. See how that works? I almost believe it’s possible and then doubt sets in.

I’m in no condition to date a man anyway. And he’s a whole-ass man who doesn’t seem like he’d half-ass anything. It reminds me of something Lyric said once. We were drunk and in the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour diner, waiting for our Uber. We’d just eaten the greasiest things on the menu and scarfed down a bunch of carbs too, to make the morning a bit more tolerable.

She’d uncharacteristically bummed a cigarette from someone, and all I could see was her silhouette and the bright red cherry at the end of it. She leaned over toward me a littletoo far, almost losing balance. Her face got very stern as she pointed her cigarette at me and said,“Darcy, there are men and there are boys. A boy will bed you for his pleasure, and after he leaves, you’ll shamefully whip out your vibrator and crack out an orgasm on your own. But a man takes you to bed with one agenda only. Your pleasure. Oh, and he’s sure as fuck not going to leave after.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I really took that to heart. Tyler fell deep into boy territory, while I’m quite sure Ridge is all man. It’s just the vibe he gives off.

The point is, I packed my lemon. Sometimes I call him Sir Clit Suckerton, but no one needs to know that. Ridge assured me I’d have my own room and that when we checked in, he’d take care of all of it. So I figured, why the hell not? I don’t really want to explore the city by myself, but a nice long masturbation session on fresh white hotel sheets followed by a long bath and a good night’s sleep on fancy hotel pillows sure sounds magical to me.

Code Red. I repeat, this is a Code Red situation. Turns out there are no more hotel rooms in this entire place. Not a single one. There also aren’t any rooms with double beds that he can exchange his single king-size bed for. The gremlin in my head is laughing at me.

Ridge swipes the key card, and after a little clicking sound, he steps to the side as he holds the door open so Lou and I can step inside. It’s a large room. One could even argue that it’s big enough for a second bed, but what would be the point?

There’s a small area with two comfortable-looking chairs and a table in front of a television, then there’s the bathroom to theleft. Inside, there’s a large soaking tub and shower combo, and I die a little inside knowing it would have been quite possibly the perfect bubble bath.

And finally, the bed sits on the left wall. Its crisp white linens went from bringing me peace and joy to being a very loud siren. It’s wailing,Hey, bitch. Where are you going to sleep?Good fucking point, crisp white linens. That’s a good fucking point.

“Where’s the other bed?” Lou asks, unaware of this new development.

“There was a mix-up with the room and there’s only one.” Ridge sighs, scratching at his jawline.

He looks so stressed right now. And he’s given me two sideways oh-my-fucking-god-I’m-so-sorry looks. Poor guy. I mean, I’m not thrilled about this arrangement. It’s nowhere near ideal. The only thing that would make it worse is if the air-conditioning went out or—oh my god… how the hell am I going to poop in here?

“I’ll sleep over here,” Lou says, pointing at the two chairs in the sitting area.

I assess them. They are a little divided away from the bed area. It’s almost like the bathroom juts out into the room and acts as a wall between them. Which probably means I should sleep in them.

“No, I can sleep over here,” I say. “You and your dad can take the bed.”

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