The Boy Who Has No Hope (Soulless 6)

I nodded. “A few years younger than me, but close enough. And she’s…amazing.”

“I’m so happy to hear that, man. Camille will be thrilled. When can we meet her?”

“Whenever you want.”

“Great.” He continued to stare at me, his eyes wide. “This is great, really great.”

“What?”

“I just…wasn’t expecting that. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect.”

“What do you mean?”

He ignored the question. “Where did you meet her?”

“She’s my assistant, actually.”

“Yeah?” he said with a laugh. “Wait, the woman on a date that one night? The one you were staring at?”

“Yeah, that’s her.”

He whistled quietly. “I approve, man.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, she’s beautiful. She’s got these little freckles underneath her eyes that I love. She’s so smart too. She’s completely turned my company around, got the smell out of my penthouse, and she’s got this really cute laugh. She’s just…really cool.”

Ryan watched me speak, a grin on his face.

“What?”

“You’re really into her.”

“You think I’d be in a relationship unless I wasn’t hooked—hard?” I was obsessed. When I wasn’t with her, I missed her. My weekends were the worst part of the week because I didn’t get to see her. I hated it when my sheets were washed because it took away her smell.

“True. The sex is good?”

I narrowed my eyes at the question.

“What?” he asked innocently. “I ask you that question all the time.”

“About women who don’t matter. But she does matter, so I’m not going to answer that.”

“Daaaaaaamn.” He set down his beer. “You’ve got it bad, man.”

“I do.” I wasn’t ashamed of it. I was happy to finally be in a relationship I truly wanted to be in.

“Then your days of going out are over, huh?”

“They’ve been over for a long time.” I’d tried to force myself to be the man I used to be, but once Emerson was in my heart, I just couldn’t do it. That was my past. Now she was my future.

“Sounds like you’re going to marry this woman.”

I shrugged, thinking about the daughter she had in the background.

“Do I sense hesitation?”

I took a deep drink of my beer before I addressed the biggest problem we had. “She has a daughter.”

Ryan stilled at the announcement. “Shit, really?” He shook his head, as if he were grossed out by the idea. “Man, that’s…rough. I don’t think I could be with a woman who had a kid with another guy. That’s just…too much for me.”

“The guy isn’t in the picture.”

“But still. Is that something you really want to get caught up in? You don’t know anything about kids.”

“She’s not really a kid—she’s twelve.”

“Damn. That would mean…” He rubbed the back of his neck as he did the math. “Shit, she had her young, like high school young.”

“Yeah.” I didn’t judge her for it. Shit happened. I admired her for not taking the easy way out and for raising that baby entirely on her own, while still getting an education and becoming a professional adult and role model to her daughter. That took guts—and she had a lot of them.

Ryan cringed. “Dude, that’s heavy.”

“I know.”

“What’s the kid like?”

“Haven’t met her. We’re taking it slow right now.”

“But do you want to meet the kid?”

“I said I would try…eventually.”

Ryan leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table. “I know you’re happy and everything, but you really want to get wrapped up in that? I guess she’ll be out of the house in a couple years, but you’re going to be with a woman who always has a kid… You’ll be a stepfather.”

“I haven’t gotten that far, Ryan. We’ve only been together for three weeks.”

“But maybe…you should get out while you can.”

I couldn’t do that. “She’s the woman I want to be with. The only one.”

His eyes softened. “That’s deep.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. But for now, it’s just the two of us.”

Ryan was quiet for a long time. “You can think about it this way—the girl will be out of the house in a few years. And since this woman already has a daughter, she’s probably not going to want another one, so you don’t have to worry about having kids with her. So, maybe that’s a blessing in disguise?”

I shrugged. “Like I said, I haven’t thought that far ahead. For now, I’m happy, and I’ll worry about that stuff later.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.”

“So, what’s your news? Let’s stop talking about me.”

“It’s good news and bad news. But I have to deliver the good news first.” He put his beer aside. “So, I’m going to ask Camille to marry me.”

I smiled, knowing they were perfect for each other. “That’s awesome, man. I’m happy for you.”

“She’s been the one for a long time. Finally got my career locked down, got some money in the bank, saved up for this goddamn rock…” He fished into his pocket and pulled out his phone so he could show me a picture of it.