Page 33 of Third Time's the Charm

Well that was nice.

I think.

Maybe?

It was nice to be needed.

But if that was true why did it make me sad? I needed him too. He was the calm in my life. We balanced each other out. That’s why we worked.

“I don’t think this is an issue, but I’ll put some serious thought into it before I say for sure.”

He smiled. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Chapter 10

You’re doing it wrong

Jack

“What’s the sudden urgency anyway?” Erik asked.

He was across the counter from me in the kitchen pouring wine. Zoe stood beside him. Ma sat beside me.

“She’s getting married,” Ma said quietly.

“Oh,” Erik replied.

I felt like crap.

“And so you think smothering her is going to win her back before she walks down the aisle?” He slid a wine glass my way.

I shrugged. “It feels like a last ditch effort.” Like my life was slipping through my fingers and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop it from happening.

“Do you?” Zoe scowled. “Do you really want to get back together?”

“Well yeah. She’s the love of my life.”

“Why?”

Of course the romance writer would have questions. Shoulda seen that one coming. “They used to call us Fire and Ice. She was the fire and I was cool ice. We shouldn’t be compatible, but I swear she’s the only person on the planet who can keep up with me.”

“Except she didn’t.”

I wasn’t so sure I liked Zoe anymore. “She did though. That wasn’t the problem in the end.” Fuck this was hard to talk about. “She was working just as hard as I was. But she was still there for me. She came to my games, but I didn’t have time to read her papers or go to her talks. I stopped livingwithher and was only living for myself. This is all on me.”

Ma sipped her wine silently as she traded a look with Erik. Meanwhile Zoe’s brain was clearly working overtime. It looked like steam might come out of her ears.

“So ultimately the marriage fell apart due to lack of partnering.”

“Yeah.” Where, oh where was she going with this? I braced for the inevitable.

“Do you like Ryker?”

His polo shirts and khakis flashed through my mind. “Not really. He’s stuffy.” I cracked my neck from the frustration of thinking about him with my woman.

A woman I let get away because I was a complete and total dumbass.

I’m sorry,jackass.

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