Page 25 of Savage in the Sweets
All I have to do is sit back and wait for him to text me because I know better than to make the first move.
Colin
They tellyou that bitter pills are hard to swallow, but they fail to warn you about the sweet ones.
Part of me wants to throw back a shot of whisky in anticipation of what I’m about to do, though I haven’t touched the stuff since Michael was born.
The fateful day that forever changed my life.
Instead, I stare blankly at the text box I have pulled up with Lacy’s number in it.
It would be wrong of me to ask her for any favors after I attacked her business, so I decide on a different approach. One that she might feel gives her a win.
Or…maybe she’ll still want to kill me.
I sit up in bed with my back against the headboard trying to formulate a proper text, and after five attempts, I finally settle on:
Colin:I hope you’ve had a good day. I’m eager to chat.
Less than a minute later, a picture appears in the text box of me with a candy bar in hand, noticeably chewing.
Wonderful…
Lacy:My day was great. How was yours?
Of course she’s smug. She’s probably been waiting to rub that photo in my face since she left the gym.
Colin:Honestly, it could have been better.
Lacy:welcome to my weekend
Colin:If it means anything to you, I have my regrets.
Lacy:you suddenly having regrets after I’ve acquired a damning picture of you means nothing to me
Colin:I don’t think that leverage is going to hold up as well as you believe it will. Sure, it shows me eating a candy bar, but I’m not peddling them to children.
Lacy:What the hell is wrong with you? You think you can just come into the school I’ve been doing business with for years and turn everyone against me? How much are you depending on Wilson’s Grove Elementary to make your own business work? My guess is—a lot. Now, imagine someone coming in and trying to ‘cancel’ you.
For the first time, I really feel the gravity of the situation I’ve put her in. I was so busy demonizing Lacy that I didn’t see her as a person.
Some would call me a bully, but that’s not my true nature. Far from it. It’s just that after Michael came into my life, I vowed to become the best version of myself possible, so I can be who he needs me to be. He doesn’t have a mother, not anymore, and maybe one day a DNA test will point him in the direction of his biological father, but until that day, I’m all he has.
After everything he’s lost, all needlessly, the only thing I want my son to be addicted to is his bedtime stories.
Lacy would never understand my reasons. Heck, I’m not even sure they’re entirely justified.
The only thing that’s crystal clear is that I need to rethink my approach with this woman.
Colin:I understand why you’re angry, although I do maintain that I am right with my concerns on having your business on school grounds.
Lacy:you’re such an arrogant asshole
It’s easy to visualize Lacy’s angry face because she’s so often mad in my presence.
A smarter man than me would be working to calm the waters, but a part of me likes getting her a little riled. Her nose crinkles when she’s offended, and it’s absolutely adorable, and the way her mouth hangs open when she’s at a loss for words, well…let’s just say I’ve been dreaming entirely too much about those lips of hers.
My cock stiffens at the thought of my rival, because it’s a damn traitor. It’s not like me to distract so easily or even fixate on any one woman for too long. Before moving here, my hookups were usually women working the bodybuilding circuit. They came into town for a weekend, we’d connect, and afterward, they’d leave. And I’d never think about them again. My attention is typically laser-focused on what really matters in my life: my son.
