I sat back as what he said started to make sense. “What about Mo’s reputation? I don’t want to be the one that hurts him.”
“It takes two to tango, Brooke. The minute he got in bed with you, he knew what he put on the line. If he makes you take all the blame for that, he’s a jerk and not good enough for you.”
“But I seduced him—”
“Don’t fall into that trap that men can’t help themselves around beguiling women. Sure, he might have been turned on, and that made his resistance lower, but in the end, he made his choice. He has to own it. It would not be your fault, even if you were trying to lure him into sin.”
“It wasn’t a sin,” I said, not liking his choice of words.
“Then it wasn’t wrong, so what’s the big deal? He’s older. So what? He’s a cliché? So what? Being your boss could be a problem, but you said he wasn’t running for office again, right?”
“Sinclair said he was thinking of resigning.” My heart broke at that.
“Still on him. I don’t think he’s giving you or the town credit for not being closed-minded assholes. Maybe they are. I suppose small rural towns are more traditional, but he’s from here, right? They know him.”
I nodded.
“I’m not a shrink, but his hang-up probably has less to do with age and his position than your father. He probably feels bad, like he betrayed your father’s trust.”
“Yes. I think you’re right.”
He finished his beer and tossed the bottle into the tiny metal trash can. “So, the question is whether or not your father can forgive him and-or if Mo can move forward with you if he doesn’t.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Dealing with emotions and life situations isn’t easy, but it’s not always as complicated as we make it out to be. You have to figure out the core of an issue. For example, if you and Mo decide to be together no matter what, all that other bullshit doesn’t matter.”
“But my father might not forgive us—”
“That’s his problem.”
“The town might think Mo took advantage—”
“That’s its problem. If you want to carry all that and consider it, you can. Or you can say, fuck ‘em, and do what makes you happy. I’ll be here, so you’ll have me no matter what.” He grinned as he reached for another beer and twisted the cap off. “So, what do you want?”
“I want to love Mo.”
“There you go.” He sipped his beer.
“But I also want my father to be happy for me.”
He shrugged. “Now you’re just mucking it up again.”
“They say life is messy.”
“That, they do.” He stood and took my hand, drawing me over to the bed. “Let’s watch a rom-com to cheer up.”
“I should probably go. I don’t want to. I don’t want to deal with my father.”
“Stay here. I’ll sleep on the floor if you want. Or we can share. You’re safe with me.”
“I feel like I’ve been too much of a burden on you already. You’re probably ready to move back to Chicago.”
He laughed. “Not quite. Seriously, stay here. You can help me move into my place this weekend. You can even stay with me until you decide what your next step is. Of course, if Holly agrees to marry me and have my babies, I’ll toss you on the street.”
I laughed. “Well, when you put it that way.” I sat on the bed with my legs stretched out as I leaned against the pillows while Tucker sat next to me with the remote looking for a rom-com on TV. My life still felt like it was in shambles. I needed to talk to Mo, but I was afraid of what he would say. Tucker was right; if I wanted to be viewed as an adult, I needed to act like one, which meant facing Mo. I’d have to tell him how I felt and what I wanted, and hope that he felt and wanted the same.
The next morning, I headed home to steal my phone back while my father was working on the ranch, and Tucker went to do a walkthrough of the apartment. I was then going to meet him to help him with his move.