Page 159 of Tenderfoot

“What?” he asked.

“This is just information. It’s yours to do with as you wish. And again, I won’t judge. Also, it must be said, I didn’t know them very well. But from what I knew, they were nice girls.”

“Yeah,” he murmured, looking to his long legs. “That’s what I got on them too.”

I kept my mouth shut.

“I don’t think I can do it,” he told his legs.

Oh, my Javi.

I knew what he was saying.

“They’ll probably put pressure on me to let him in,” he said.

“Probably,” I agreed.

He looked at me. “And that’s not gonna happen. It just isn’t. They won’t get why, because they didn’t live my life. You can hear it. You can empathize with it. But unless you lived it, you will never get it.”

I fought tears while I nodded.

“So I don’t need that shit,” Javi continued. “And they don’t either.”

“No,” I said huskily.

Hearing my tone, he bent toward me again, this time getting closer.

“Better I save us all the hassle,” he said. “They never had me, I never had them, we’re not missing anything.”

I could disagree.

But I didn’t.

“Another part of it, mi pequeña, is my life will always be something I lived, and they didn’t. They lived something really fuckin’ different. And the gulf between what they had and what I didn’t is too massive to navigate.”

At that, I gulped, because I lived what they lived.

“This isn’t about you, baby. You aren’t my sister,”—his lips twitched—“thank fuck.”

“Thank eff,” I agreed.

He bent even closer and gave me a quick kiss before muttering against my lips, “My good girl.”

Whatever.

He pulled back a couple of inches. “So, to end, you do not have to confront that guy. I’m good.”

I still wanted to tell Austin Atherton to lay off.

But for now, I nodded.

“Seriously, Harlow, let it go,” he ordered.

Shoot!

“Okay, Javi,” I caved (maybe).

He also read the maybe, I knew when he stated, “The decision is made, and you met him, he saw you. He’s retreated for now, but no man alive would look at you and not know where I’m at with you. Especially after, no hesitation, you got between us and sent his ass packing. You go barreling in, stating my case, trying to get him to back off, it’s just gonna solidify what he already knows. I got something serious with a good woman. You think he’s not gonna wanna be a part of that? Get to know you? His son’s woman. The mother of his future grandkids.”

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