Page 83 of Don't Remind Me
Oliver kicked in his swaddle, the little lumps of his arms and feet moving beneath the blanket before stilling again.
“So, Dani,” Alec said, tugging Oliver’s cap down where an earlobe had peeked out. “That serious?”
I shifted in my seat and took a deep breath. I guess we were doing this now.
“’Cause it looked serious,” he said, sounding way too amused by my discomfort. “Steph and I were standing in the hallway for a good ten seconds before I said anything, and you had no clue.”
My eyes fell shut. “Great.”
“We could have twerked circles around you, and I still don’t think you would have noticed.”
I rested my elbows on the arms of the chair and pressed my fingers against my temples. “Point made, thank you.”
He gave a quiet laugh. “So? What’s the deal?”
I dropped my hands and picked at my thumb. “We haven’t really talked about it yet. I don’t think either of us knew how to navigate the fact that she’s your ex.”
His brows pulled together. “What does that matter? It was years ago. I’m married with a kid now.”
I shot him a look. “It’s awkward, and you know it. Just because you’re apparently a saint who has no qualms with it doesn’t mean that’s how most people would react. Plus, Mom’s all protective of you…it seemed like it could get messy.”
He tilted his head. “I guess.”
“And to be honest,” I said, studying my palm so I didn’t have to look at him while I said it, “I’ve always been a little insecure when it came to you. And knowing she’d been with you…a part of me worried I wouldn’t be enough to live up to what you two had.”
I locked my fingers together, pressing my thumb to the center of my hand, bracing for his response. There came a strange sound, and when I swung my head his way, the tension in my muscles dissolved into confusion.
He was laughing.
Head thrown back, eyes squeezed shut, lips rolled together to keep quiet, full-on laughing.
He lifted his head to catch his breath and caught my perplexed stare. “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you, it’s just—” He gave another soft chuckle. “Shedumpedme.Iwasn’t enough for her. I don’t even think she knew why at the time, but as much as it hurt when it happened, she was right. We weren’t right for each other long term. And her gut told her that. I would have married her, been oblivious, and never had the life I have now with Steph, and it would have been all wrong, because you can’t convince me this isn’t where I’m supposed to be.”
Affection flooded his eyes as he cast his gaze to where Stephanie slept, then down to his son. It struck me then: this life he’d carved out for himself that so perfectly aligned with my parents’ vision—it was the one he genuinely wanted. Not one he’d forced himself into to make them happy, like a part of me had always wondered. A part of me that felt like a failure for not being able to force myself to do the same. And if I couldn’t, then I must be a worse son. The one not trying hard enough or not willing to sacrifice as much.
But that wasn’t it. It was what he said—this was where he was supposed to be. And all I could feel was relief that his happiness was truly his.
“So as far as I’m concerned,” he continued. “If Dani’s gut is telling her she should be with you? I don’t see any reason you shouldn’t trust it too. Unless it’syourgut telling you it’s wrong.”
“No,” I said right away. For all my doubts and fears, my gut had only ever told me one thing when it came to Dani: not to let her go. Even in the beginning, being with her had felt like waking up and coming alive. Finally.
And what Alec said…I hadn’t thought of it that way before. That our differences might meanIcould give her somethinghelacked, something she needed but he wasn’t able to give. That, like Dr. Ohara had said, my being different from Alec didn’t have to mean I wasless.
I met his gaze. “It’s serious.”
He grinned. “Glad to hear it. I really didn’t want Gabby coming to Christmas.”
My stomach dropped. “Mom wouldn’t.”
“She was already talking about it the day after the shower.”
I let my head fall against the recliner. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about her.”
“It’s them, right?” Alec asked.
I raised a brow.
“Mom and Dad are the reason you felt insecure around me?”
