Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Funny,” Camden says dryly. “Speaking of Friends… How was lunch with my sister?”
Declan clears his throat, his demeanor going serious. “Good. We went to La Grande. She mentioned meeting us at the club.”
“That’s good. Well, you guys have fun. Make sure you’re ready to go in the morning by nine. We have the panel at eleven and the meet and greet afterward.”
“Yes, Dad,” Braxton says, mock saluting him.
Gage kisses my temple, then leans in and whispers, “Go easy on our boy, yeah? He’s been waiting for you for a long-ass time.” Then he releases me and follows Declan and Braxton out, leaving Camden and me alone.
Once the guys are gone, Camden turns his attention on me. “What would you like to order in? We have pretty much anything available.”
“Chinese?” I suggest since I know we both love it.
“Sure, I know a good place,” he says, pulling out his phone and then handing it to me so I can see the menu. After I tell him what I want, I excuse myself to try to call David again so I can talk to Felix.
“Mommy!” Felix shouts, answering the phone.
My heart swells, and I release a breath of relief at his voice. “Hey, sweetie. How are you?”
“I’m good.”
“Yeah? What are you doing?”
“Talking to you.” He giggles, making me laugh as well. “Are you having a good time with Daddy?”
“I’m bored. When can I come home?”
My heart falls. “Did you guys go to the park?”
“No, Daddy had to work. We’re at his office. It’s borinnnnnggggg. He let me watch videos on his phone.”
That must be why he answered it when I called.
“Where is your dad now?”
“He’s…” There’s shuffling, and then Felix says, “It’s Mommy!” He must be talking to David.
“Hello?” David says.
“Are you seriously at the office?”
He sighs. “I know you don’t understand this since you’ve never worked a day in your life, but some of us have responsibilities. Something came up, and I needed to handle it.”
“You told Felix you were going to take him to the park.”
“And I’m going to… tomorrow. Is this what you called for, to nag the hell out of me? If you’re so concerned, how about you stop acting stubborn and let me put our family back together?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you again. Let me talk to Felix so I can say goodbye.”
“Mommy!”
“It’s me. I love you, sweetie, and I’ll see you in two days. Okay?”
“Okay. Love you. Bye.”
The call ends, and I sigh in frustration.
“Everything okay?” Camden asks.
“Not really,” I say honestly. “There’s some stuff I need to talk to you about. The reason I abruptly ended our kiss.”
“Then let’s talk.” He guides us over to the couch and sits down, pulling me with him, so I’m sitting up against him.
“I’m a little nervous,” I admit, pulling back slightly. “I know you say you like me, and while you might think I’m still the same person I was five years ago, a lot has changed. I’m a mom now, and with that comes a lot of responsibility.”
“Layles, I know you’re a mom, and I know you’ve changed. We both have. But that doesn’t hinder my feelings for you. Spending the day with you showed me that we’re still as compatible as we were before, and if anything, seeing you be an amazing mom to Felix the few times I’ve been around you guys only adds to your appeal.”
I can’t help but smile at his admission. “Thank you. But thinking I’m a good mom is different from being part of our lives. And unfortunately, that also will include David. And after what I tell you, you might want to kill him, but you won’t be able to because he’s Felix’s dad and… yeah.”
I exhale a harsh breath and then just say what I need to say. “The reason I ended our kiss, which I was enjoying, is because when you pulled my hair, it brought back horrific memories of when”—I clear my throat—“David raped me.”
Camden’s eyes bug out, and his jaw ticks. “He did what?”
“It’s why we got divorced. He found out that I saw you at the concert. A picture went around of us.”
“Yeah, I saw it. When I briefly spoke to you as I was walking off the stage.”
“He’s always been jealous of you. Even in high school, we would constantly argue about me spending too much time with you. Anyway, between the picture and the tattoo, he flipped his shit. He spat at me and slapped me and then forced himself on me. Today, when we were kissing, you tugged on my hair, and without meaning to, that day flashed in my mind. When he was forcing me to give him head and then raping me, he kept pulling on my hair. I have nightmares sometimes about it, but I didn’t realize being sexual with someone would trigger a flashback.”