Linc got the message after that and stormed out of my backyard. His car screeched away from the house soon after. Less than a minute later, I burst into tears. Crying over Linc wasn’t something I was in the habit of doing, but dealing with his shit had become a heavy burden to carry. Usually I just got on with it, but there was something about having King’s support that affected me. I didn’t feel so alone with this now.
“Fuck,” King muttered, pulling me into his arms. “Don’t let that asshole get to you.”
His arms around me felt good. Soothing. I buried my head against his chest and took a moment to gather myself. King was right—I wouldn’t let Linc get to me—but it didn’t hurt to let my emotions flow rather than bottling them up like I had been.
I took a deep breath and lifted my head, looking up into King’s eyes. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t do much, Lily.”
I smiled. “You did.”
The last three years as a single mum had been a hard slog, but if I were honest, the few years before that were just as hard, even while still married. People often said to me how difficult it must be to raise my kids on my own, and sure, it was, but what they didn’t realise was that even when you were in a marriage, it could sometimes feel like you were doing it all alone. Linc had checked out of our marriage long before he’d cheated on me. He also hadn’t been the kind of man who was always there for me as a husband or a father when I needed him to be. I’d learnt to rely on myself pretty early on. King didn’t understand that in the short time I’d known him, he’d come through for me in ways my husband never had.
“Morning,” Zara said sleepily, wandering into the kitchen. She eyed King, and I waited nervously for her reaction. I needn’t have been worried. She hardly acknowledged his presence before grabbing a drink of water and wandering back out of the kitchen.
I made our coffees and as I was finishing up, King moved behind me, placing his hands either side of me on the kitchen counter. With his mouth to my ear, he said, “I need you tonight. Can you make that happen?”
I nodded, my body shivering just thinking about it. “Yes.”
My need matched his, and I would do whatever it took to make that happen.
“I owe you big time,” I said to Brynn over the phone later that day as I watched Robbie geeking out over stuff at the science centre. We’d had a busy day between grocery shopping, housework, karate and now the science centre. Brynn had just agreed to babysit the
kids tonight so I could spend time with King, but I was wondering if I’d even have the energy that sex with him demanded. The man was brutal in both how he fucked and for how long he fucked.
“I’ll sleep over so you don’t have to worry about getting home at a certain time. And then tomorrow we can go to that farmer’s market I’ve been wanting to go to for ages.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. I was so not a market girl, but Brynn loved them and was always trying to get me to go with her. “Really? That’s how I have to pay you back?”
“Is King not worth the market?”
She had me there. Sex with King was worth all the markets. “Fine,” I grumbled. “We’ll do the market tomorrow. And you can tell me all about your hot fishing date on the way.” We hadn’t found the time yet to talk about her date with the prostitute. I was hanging to hear all about it. “Did you ask him how many women he bangs in a week?”
She laughed. “Let’s just say we had other things to do rather than talking about that.”
“Oh my God, Brynny! You fucked him?”
“That will have to wait until tomorrow to be discussed. You need something to look forward to if you have to go to the market.”
“You are so right, but this is gonna be the longest wait of my life.”
“Okay, I’ve gotta go. I’m going to cook the kids something special for dinner, so I’ll be at your place from about three, okay?”
“Sounds good. They’ll be excited,” I said before ending the call.
Robbie came running over to me, excitement plastered over his face. “Can we stay for at least another half hour? They’re doing a special show soon, and I really wanna see it.”
I smiled. “Of course, baby.”
He threw his arms around me and hugged me. “You’re the best mum!” And then he was gone again.
I would miss his affection when he grew out of it. I definitely missed Zara’s. She still hadn’t completely forgiven me for the boyfriend thing, but she’d definitely calmed down over it. That kinda made me nervous, though, because I wondered why. I made a mental note to follow up on that tomorrow. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down for one second with that child.
But for the rest of today, I was focused on myself and getting laid. I sent King a text to let him know tonight was on.
* * *
Me: Babysitter sorted. Let me know what time to come over.