Suddenly, the vague haze of post-coital bliss starts to dissipate and disappointment starts welling up. For the first time ever, I don’t want a man to go. I want him to stay.
“So, this is it, huh?” I ask, not liking at all the feelings that are battling inside of me. One part relieved, because I know just how dangerous my involvement with Tenn is, and the other part disappointed, because he makes me start to consider that I might want something more.
“I’m coming back,” Tenn says softly. “I mean… to North Carolina. I want to spend some time with Zoey over the summer before she starts school. I’m actually thinking of relocating so I can be near her.”
“Oh,” I say thoughtfully, wondering what that all means.
“And I’d like to come back here to visit… to see you again,” he adds on.
Yes, I’d like that very much.
I think.
I mean… just for some hot-as-hell sex, nothing more. Because I can’t continue to open up my boundaries to him.
Presumably taking my silence as reticence, Tenn gruffly asks, “Want me to get going?”
I immediately shake my head and wrap my arms around his neck. Laying my head back on his chest, I say, “I want you to stay here… until you have to leave, that is.”
That’s all I’m willing to commit to at this point.
I can’t see his face, but I can hear his smile in his voice. “Sounds good, Goldie. Real good.”
Chapter 10
Tenn
I knock on the door and hear a loud squeal inside, followed by pounding footsteps that get closer and closer. Then the door is thrown open and Zoey is launching herself into my arms.
Best. Feeling. Ever.
Wrapping my arms around her frame, I squeeze gently but firmly… kiss the top of her head… tell her how much I miss her. She’s a tiny thing… just like her mom, but she got my dark hair and blue eyes, and I’m going to have to fight the boys off soon.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she mumbles into my chest, and something about the tone of her voice sets me on edge.
I pull her away from me so I can look down into her eyes. “Everything okay?”
She nods quickly and smiles. “Yeah… sure. Just… we’ll talk later, okay?”
“Sure thing, baby girl,” I tell her as I pull her back in for another hug, closing my eyes and resting my cheek on the top of her head.
“Hi Tenn,” I hear from behind Zoey, and my eyes open to see Brianna hovering a few feet away. She’s trying for sexy-aloof while she stands there with a hip cocked out and watches with jealous eyes as I hug my daughter. Bri could never stand how close Zoey and I are because as sick as it is, she’s jealous that my attentions were always more focused on Zoey than her.
I jerk my head up in greeting and Zoey steps back from me, looking up at me in adoration.
This.
This right here.
This is why I’d relocate to the ends of the earth to be near my daughter.
“What do you want to do today?” I ask her, ignoring Bri as she comes closer to the door.
“Definitely want to ride,” she says eagerly.
Yup… my little girl loves Harleys as much as I do.
“Okay,” I say as I turn her toward the inside of the apartment and give her a push. “Go get whatever you need and we’ll play it by ear, but whatever we decide to do, it will be on the bike.”
“Sweet,” Zoey chirps and pushes past Brianna back into the apartment.
Brianna inches closer toward me until she leans against the doorframe, crossing her arms under her chest so her breasts push up. I don’t even spare them a glance. Not that they aren’t great, because they are, but first, Bri fucked our marriage up so badly that I have absolutely no attraction left for her, and two… they are nothing compared to Casey’s tits. Now those are spectacular and so vivid in my imagination, I don’t need to look at another set.
“That shit wasn’t cool,” I tell Brianna as I level a hard stare at her.
“What?” she asks innocently, batting her lashes.
“Taking Zoey to Florida last week when you knew I was going to be here for her,” I growl with frustration, because she knows damn well what I’m talking about.
“Sorry… it was too good an opportunity to pass up.” Her petulance makes me grind my teeth together.
Leaning in toward her and lowering my voice, I say, “What was too good to pass up? Taking advantage of your newest fuck and his money or making me suffer?”
Bri’s eyes narrow at me, and she hisses, “Both.”
I lean back away from her and mutter, “Selfish bitch. Always looking out for yourself.”
She’s completely unfazed though and as if I hadn’t just called her a bitch, asks sweetly, “So… are you going to move here to be near us?”
“Are you going to stay put here?” I ask her skeptically. “Because I’m not chasing you all over the fucking country just to be with my daughter.”
“You’ll go wherever we are,” she asserts confidently. “You can’t stay away.”
I nod at her in agreement and then lean back in toward her. My voice is steely and dead fucking serious. “You’re right. There’s no way in hell I can stay away from my daughter, but I’ll fight you for custody if you keep playing these sick games, Bri. Take a fucking hint… we are done and I am never going to be with you again.”
And once again proving why I couldn’t stay married to her crazy ass, she waves her hand at me impatiently and says, “You’ll change your mind and I’ll be here waiting.”
I want to punch the wall in frustration, but I don’t. I never do anything outwardly actionable that lets Bri know just how much she gets to me. I’m ultimately saved from further maddening conversation with my ex when Zoey comes running back through the living room. She put her hair in a long braid and has an army-green satchel looped across her chest.
“I’m ready,” she says. She bounces right past Brianna without a backward glance and heads for the stairs.
“What time will you be back?” Brianna asks with eager anticipation. “I’ll have dinner ready for all of us.”
Crazy bitch.
I turn to follow Zoey but swivel my head slightly to look at her over my shoulder. “I’ll have her back after dinner.”
“So what’s the deal?” I ask Zoey as we munch on blue corn chips and spicy salsa. We chose a Mexican restaurant with outdoor seating for lunch.
She shrugs her shoulders and won’t meet my gaze. Her hand reaches for another chip, but I reach out and grab it. Her eyes come to mine.
“I can’t fix it unless I know what the problem is,” I tell her softly but firmly.
Zoey pulls her hand away and then a fountain starts gushing. “I hate it here. I miss you and Wyoming. Mom’s always working and when she’s not working, she’s always with Kip. And she’s doing the same shit—”
“Language,” I warn.
“—sorry, crap that she did with you. Gets pissed if Kip shows me any attention.”
“And what type of attention is he showing you?” I growl menacingly.
“Eww… gross, Dad,” Zoey says with a huge eye roll. “He’s a nice guy. He shows an interest in my schoolwork and my activities. It was his idea to go to Disney, but he said we should wait until after you came to visit me. It was Mom who insisted we go right then… said it was the only time she could get off work, but we both know that’s bullshit.”
My hackles immediately flatten out, and I disregard her curse word. I personally had thought Kip was an okay dude… an idiot for putting up with Brianna’s shit, but he seemed cool. Brianna has been dating him for almost a year and after he got a job here in North Carolina, she used that as the perfect excuse to pack my daughter up and leave with her. As a nurse, Brianna was highly employable, and it was nothing for her to relocate. She easily got a job that paid her way more money than she ever made back in Wyoming.