I shook my head. “He’s the one who made a big deal about it. And I get not needing to chat every day, but he couldn’t call me a few days later or something? No, Carl. I know he’s your friend.” I motioned around, “I know he’s our friend, but he didn’t treat me right.”
Joe winced and gulped down half his beer. “Damn,” he muttered.
“You still should try and get ahold of him again,” Carl said. “Or I can. He should know he’s got a kid.”
“No,” I said, slamming my hand on the table.
Several people in the bar turned to look my way. My friends all stared at me, their mouths open.
“If he wanted to be part of the baby’s life, he should have answered the damn phone the first million times I called or texted,” I said. “I don’t want a man involved with me if he doesn’t even respect me enough to call me back a couple days later.” I locked eyes with each of them in turn. “I need you all to promise me. I need you to swear to me not to say a word to Alex. If he comes knocking just because he has a kid, it’ll not be a good thing.”
“But it’s different this time,” Carl said. “He deserves to know.”
I tried to bore a hole through Carl’s head with a look. “He deserves to know? I deserve not to have a man sleep with me and then pretend I don’t exist.” I stared at Carl until he looked away.
“Okay, I won’t,” he said.
Perri and Joe nodded.
“If you’re sure,” Perri said. She sighed. “If you’re really, really sure.”
“I’m sure all right,” I said.
“Like I said,” Joe said with a shrug. “People change. I’m sorry this had to happen to you this way.”
“It’s okay,” I said with a smile. I reached out and patted Perri’s hand. “I don’t need Alex. I have my friends.”
“We’ll be there for you,” Perri said. “You can count on us.”
Joe and Carl nodded.
“Thank you,” I said, trying to resist tearing up again. Stupid pregnancy hormones.
Chapter 6
Alex
“Mr. Nakamura to the white courtesy phone,” a soft female voice called over the loudspeaker. I couldn’t tell if it was a real woman or a computer-generated voice. “Mr. Nakamura to the white courtesy phone.”
It was like déjà vu as I turned a corner and arrived at the baggage claim of Nashville International Airport. A huge crowd had gathered around the conveyor belt, all anxious for their suitcases and bags.
I chuckled at a sudden thought. So many different people, young, old, white, black, Asian, rich, poor, yet we all stood there waiting for our bags like little kids waiting for a treat. Air travel, the great and annoying equalizer.
I shook my head. I’d never thought I’d be heading back to Livingston after losing contact with Aspyn, but here I was almost three years later. Too bad the whole thing might become the beginning of a huge train wreck.
The last time I’d come, I’d given in to 10 years of lust and slept with her. Now she probably hated my guts and would spit in my face. I almost kind of welcomed it.
The only thing worse than her hating me would be for her to not care at all. I’d thought about her on and off over the last three years, but I’d screwed up. I knew that.
I’d waited too long because I’d been a coward. Because I didn’t want her to know me as the hurt man still dealing with nightmares. I’d even made Carl promise not to tell anyone about what happened once I reestablished contact with him.
The problem was things really were different this time. I wasn’t in Tennessee for only a night. I wasn’t ready mentally to tell myself I was there to stay for good, but I did know I’d be there a while. There was no way I’d be able to avoid running into her.
Damn nightmares. If only I could have controlled them, I wouldn’t have had to come back and face Aspyn again.
“You’ve yet to come to terms with the accident.”
That’s what the headshrinker told me. How the hell could that be true? I thought about it all the time. I even thanked the Lord for sparing me.