“So? Did you apologize?” Justin asked, climbing onto the stationary bike next to the treadmill as I approached my third mile.
“I did.”
“And?” he said, starting to pedal.
“And it was fine.”
“Fine?”
I shrugged. “I brought her a Frosty. She forgave me.”
“And that’s the end of the story?”
Increasing my speed slightly, I didn’t say anything.
“Because that doesn’t seem like the end of the story.”
“There may have been an additional chapter,” I admitted. “What do you call those things at the end of a book?”
“An epilogue?”
“Yeah. There may have been an epilogue.”
Justin laughed. “What happened during the epilogue?”
I wiped sweat off my face with the bottom of my T-shirt. “Pretty much everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yeah.”
“Because I’m imagining a lot of things.”
I nodded. “They probably all happened.”
“Well, fuck.”
“We did.”
He laughed. “So did you change your mind about her?”
I crossed the three mile threshold and slowed my speed to a walk. “What do you mean?”
“You said you weren’t interested in dating her because she was too young.”
“She’s still too young, and no—I didn’t change my mind. I’m not interested in dating her.” I wasn’t, was I? How come the answer felt a little muddy in my brain? Was it the blowjob?
“Oh.” Justin was quiet for a minute. “And she’s cool with that?”
“Totally. She’s not interested in dating me either. In fact, she made it very clear she is only interested in me on a physical level.”
“Seriously? So is this like an ongoing thing?”
I gave him the side eye. “Mind your own fucking business.”
“I can’t. This girl has you messed up. I want to meet her.”
“No fucking way.” I stopped the treadmill and jumped off. “Were you even listening to me? We’re not a thing, Justin. I’m not introducing her to my family. That would give her the wrong idea—and you guys too.”
“But you already know some of her family, right? Your friend turned out to be her cousin?”
“That happened by accident. It was a coincidence.” But I frowned, thinking about Chip and wondering how he’d feel about me messing around with Winnie.
“Still coming over Monday for a cookout?” Justin asked.
“Yeah,” I said distractedly. “We’ll be there.”
“Feel free to bring a friend.”
I rolled my eyes and headed for the door. “Fuck off.”
“What? I said friend, not date! I just want to see this girl.”
“No.” If my sister and Justin saw how young she was, I’d never hear the end of it. I did not need to bring her around my family.
Better to keep her separate from the things that mattered.
Saturday morning, as I pulled up in Naomi’s driveway, Hallie came racing out to meet me.
“Daddy!” she shouted, throwing her arms around me as I tried to get out of my car. “You’re here!”
“I’m here.”
“We’re hungry.” She tossed her head back and looked up at me. “Can we go to that bakery again? Where Winnie’s mom works?”
“Maybe. Go get your stuff.”
As she went back in, Luna came hurrying out, dragging her little suitcase on wheels. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Hi, Loony Toon. Let me take that.” I grabbed the handle of her suitcase with one hand and scooped her up with the second, rubbing my scratchy jaw on her cheek. “How are you?”
She giggled and squirmed in my arms. “Good. Can we go swimming today?”
“Sure.”
“With Winnie?”
“We’ll see.”
Naomi came out, already dressed for work. “Hey. Got a second?”
I set Luna down, opened the back door, and told her to get in the car. After stowing her suitcase in the back, I faced my ex again. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to talk about October twenty-third. It’s technically your Saturday, but I wondered if I might keep the girls that night.”
“Why?”
“Bryce and I have decided to get married that day.”
“So?” I said, just to be difficult.
“Dex, come on. I want the kids there.”
“I thought you were getting married next summer.”
“We decided we didn’t want to wait.” She frowned at me. “And what do you care?”
“I don’t. You two can get married tomorrow if you want. But why should I give up one of my nights with my kids?”
“Really, Dexter?” She tilted her head. “You can’t do me this one favor? On this one Saturday night?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “That’s not what this is about. It’s about respecting the time I have with them—and you don’t.”
Her expression softened, and she nodded. “I’ll try to be better about that.”
“No more phone calls checking up on me. No more lectures about allergies or meals or how things need to be done. When they’re with me, they’re mine.”
She took a breath, briefly closing her eyes. “Okay.”
“Seriously? Okay?” I wasn’t sure I believed her. “If I say yes to the wedding day, no more micromanaging from afar?”
“You have my word.” She held out a pinky and offered a tentative smile.
Reluctantly, I hooked mine through it. For a second, I remembered good times with Naomi, and it eased some of the resentment and anger in me. “Thank you. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m trying.”
“I know you are.” She tucked her hands into her back pockets. “And they’re so crazy about you. Honestly, it gets to me. I have to be the mean parent, and you’re the fun one. I take them to get flu shots and school shoes and teeth cleanings, and you take them for donuts and swimming and fire station visits.”
“So give me some of those responsibilities, Naomi,” I said. “I can handle them. Sometimes I feel like you hoard all that shit just so you can complain about me.”
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll make more of an effort to go fifty-fifty on that stuff.”
“Good.” I managed a half-smile. “And maybe let them have a fucking donut every once in a while. It won’t kill them.”
Laughing, she shook her head, her eyes wandering over my body. “I don’t understand how you eat that way and stay so fit. It’s not fair.”
“Have a good weekend,” I said, opening the driver’s side door.
“What are you going to do with them?” she asked.
I gave her a warning look, and she put her hands up.
“I’m just asking out of curiosity! I’m not micromanaging.”
“I’m not sure. We’ll go swimming, probably, and I might take them over to Cloverleigh Farms to go horseback riding.”