Page 98 of Mr. Infuriating

“Of course I did.”

“Oookay, but then out of nowhere, you just up and leave? Why? Because he was naked? Little kids do that. Your kids didn’t do that?”

“Of course they did. That’s not why I left.”

“So, what is your problem with my son?”

He shook his head. “I swear to you, I don’t have a problem with Jake. I think he’s a great little boy.”

“So why?”

Gabe gave me a patient smile.

“If you’d stop talking, I’ll tell you.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Gabe

Gretchen was in tears within five minutes of my story, and I’m man enough to admit a little water leaked down my cheeks when I talked about the things that Jake did that reminded me of Bodhi.

She squeezed my hand when she said, “I’m so sorry, Gabe. I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been—how it must still be.”

“Thank you. I’m working on trying to focus on the good memories. I went back to my therapist after how shaken up I was when I first met Jake. Obviously, I hadn’t dealt with it as well as I’d thought.”

“I’m sure meeting Jake had to have been a shock to begin with.”

“I’ll admit—that was a surprise. Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

She shrugged. “Why would I have? We both agreed it was a weekend-only fling. I didn’t see the point. Especially after what you said about how crazy your brother was for starting over. I knew we didn’t have a future.”

She wasn’t wrong, yet I didn’t like hearing it out loud.

“I understand.” I broke into a grin. “Kind of. Just so you know, it wouldn’t have mattered; I still would have wanted to spend the weekend with you if you’d told me you have a son.”

“You say that now…”

“I would have said it then, too.”

That was true. I would have still wanted to sleep with her. The only difference if I’d known about Jake is I probably wouldn’t have considered dating her.

And I wasn’t even entirely sure about that.

“Well, I won’t make that mistake again. I will be forthcoming next time.”

It took me a second to realize she was talking about thenextguy she slept with. I didn’t like that.

At all.

Yet, I knew there wasn’t a damn thing I could say about it, considering our circumstances.

She touched my hand.

“Thank you for telling me about Bodhi. I know it must not have been easy for you.”

“It wasn’t. But you deserved to know why I reacted the way I did. It had nothing to do with you or Jake.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

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