I chuckled. “Straight talk; give me the tough love.”
She smiled wryly at me. "Chrissy, he's twice your age, and he’s just went through a divorce like five months ago. I mean, he obviously cares about you, and I could clearly see it was a lot more for him than just the ego boost of fucking a young college girl,” she winked at me. “Believe me, I was looking for it.”
This was a sore subject for Anna, who's parent’s had gone through a pretty messy divorce right at the start of senior year back home.
“Look, I’m just saying…” She took a breath and looked at me, biting her lip. “You wanted the tough love?”
I nodded.
“Where does this go, Chris? Are you going to ‘bring him home to meet the folks’ at Christmas? Dude, he’s friends with your parents.” She chewed her lip as she put an arm over my shoulders. “Look, I’m not trying to be a bitch here, but I’m just worried about what happens to you if this all goes nowhere.”
The tears came then, quietly, and she pulled me into a hug as they started to flow. It really was hopeless. What future did we have? I mean even if he and I were to have a-
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“I need to tell you something."
Chapter 16
Tyler
I was pacing the kitchen late at night, letting the sounds of the empty house breathe around me as I ran a hand through my dark hair and let the air out slowly. Jesus Christ, I’d been back home a day since the wild weekend with Christina and I was going out of my Goddamn mind about her. Yeah, it was a lot to take in, even if I wanted to take it in.
Part of me just wanted to say “fuck it” to all the shit I knew that would hit the fan should what was going on between us become public knowledge. Fuck all the assholes who’d snub their noses or raise their brow at the age difference between us. I got what it looked like, but I didn’t care, because that wasn’t it. This wasn’t me “searching for my lost youth” or “trying to feel like a man.” Fuck that. I’d had a great youth, and I’d never not felt like a man, that’s for sure.
Whatever was happening with this girl though…it wasn’t either of those things. I might not know how to label it, but I knew that. And I might not have known what she felt exactly about it, but I knew how I felt. I wanted her, completely and utterly. I wanted to claim her, and I didn’t care who knew. Shit, I wanted to fill her up with my seed so much that it took; so much that her belly grew round with my child.
It was a weird thought, for sure, but also one that got me hard as iron there in my kitchen. Because really, that is what I wanted, and that thought stopped my pacing cold.
Jesus, was that what I saw in this girl? Starting a family? I mean it would be insane, and the blowback would be crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more the idea became more than just my own macho musings and turned into the truth.
Fuck, I needed to clear my head.
I had my gym shoes and sweatshirt on in a flash, and five minutes later, I was halfway around the block running to get my head on straight.
“Hey neighbor!”
I almost jumped out of my damn skin at the sound of Bob Ames’s voice, and I jolted to a stop next to him on the sidewalk outside his house.
Outside her house.
Yeah, so much for clearing my head.
“Uh, hey, Bob,” I said stiffly. Jesus, talk about guilt. Bob was a genuinely nice guy. A little square for sure, but honestly a good guy. Which means I kind of felt like shit when I took his outstretched hand and shook it, because all I could think about was how I was fucking his little girl.
“So, you’re hitting it hard, huh?”
“What?” I almost choked on my tongue.
Bob grinned at me. “The running, I mean. Man, I envy your commitment.” He patted the small beer belly at his gut. “I bet Helen wouldn’t mind if I lost this sometime, huh?” He chuckled as I let out a slow breath.
Relax, man, it’s not like he knows.
“Hey so you were in Boston this weekend, right?”
My blood ran like ice for a second as I nodded, my jaw tight until I remembered seeing Helen near the train station the previous day when I’d gotten off. I told Bob the same thing I’d told her. “Yeah, man, had a little business up there.”
Not the kind of business they wanted to hear about though, that’s for damn sure.