“As I keep telling you, I’m not interested, Janelle. In this life or the next. We are co-parents. That’s it.”
She pouts, which I used to find so appealing for some reason. Now I just want to roll my eyes.
“But our parents would be so happy if we happened,” she whines.
I grit my teeth. I’ve been putting off calling Tío Julio, because if he’s known all this time that Janelle had my kid, I’m not sure how I’m gonna handle that.
“Our parents will learn to live with the disappointment.” I stare at Lily, who eyes me warily as she kicks her feet. “She doesn’t talk much, huh?”
That worries me. Because Rider’s kid, who’s barely one—I think?—baby-talks nonstop.
“She doesn’t know you. Give her some time.”
I crouch in front of Lily and smile. “Hey, peanut. How’s it going?”
Her bottom lip juts out just like her mother’s, except then it quivers, and tears well in her eyes.
Please don’t tell me she hates me already.
Janelle pulls me up. “Don’t get in her face.” She hands Lily a baggie of Fruit Loops.
“Doesn’t that cereal have a lot of sugar? Won’t that make her bounce off the walls?” I don’t know much about kids, but my aunt and uncle never had any fun cereal because they insisted the sugar was bad for us.
Janelle sighs. “That’s the point. She’ll wear herself out and take a long nap. Which, FYI, is when you want to nap too.”
Maybe it’s too early in this co-parenting thing to tell Janelle her business, except Lily is my business too, and I don’t want her hooked on sugary cereal. But what the fuck do I know?
I’ll ask Sienna or my sister for their two cents before I make any declarations about what the kid should be eating.
Lily tosses a handful of cereal at me like she’s warding me off.
As I pick the food off the floor and look for the nearest trash can, I get the impression naps are not in my future.
I text Sienna as we wade through the checkout line.
Incoming.
12
BEN
I unload the Target bags from my Rover and pray this doesn’t go sideways. Sienna’s been through a lot lately, and I hate putting this on her too, but she promised this wasn’t a big deal.
Janelle smiles at me as she bounces Lily on her hip.
I can’t deny this situation feels surreal. This right here, a family with Janelle, is everything I thought I wanted in high school. Someone I could devote my heart and soul to, someone who would have my back.
Not having my parents and sister in my life fucked me up, and I guess I figured having a family of my own would fill that hole.
But when I look at Janelle, that brick wall I erected after she dumped my sorry ass is bigger than ever.
I feel... nothing. Not anger or hatred or pain or affection. Just this empty space she used to inhabit when we were kids driving country roads and sharing our hopes for the future. Who says apathy is bad? If it’ll protect me from this woman, I’m down for apathy.
My only worry is that I won’t know how to let anyone else in. Like my daughter.
When we get to Sienna’s front door, I knock, and Janelle gives me a look.
“Don’t you have a key?”
A key would be helpful in making this convincing, wouldn’t it?
Before I can respond, the door opens, and Sienna gives me a wide smile that brightens my whole day.
“Damn, you look... beautiful as always.” I want to say ‘edible.’ ‘Stunning.’ ‘Mouthwatering.’ But this is supposed to be fake, and I don’t want to weird out my friend.
Sienna’s sporting some skintight yoga outfit, which reminds me that Winston is a dumb motherfucker. The bandage on her head is gone, and her hair is up in a ponytail that hides the stitches. And the shiners are gone, which must be makeup because when I checked in with her yesterday, she still had bruises under her eyes.
The final result definitely has my attention.
Even my dick sits up and takes notice of Sienna.
She’s lean and toned everywhere. Sleek. Her breasts might be on the smaller side, but it fits her gorgeous body. She’s like a sculpture. A goddess. All I can think is that I’d like to take her sweet nipples in my mouth and lave them with my tongue.
I can only hope she knows what Destiny said was bullshit. Because her body is perfection. Much like her sunny personality.
Here’s the truth. A lot of women are beautiful, but it’s what’s on the inside that takes someone to the next level.
There I go, sounding like some Hallmark shit.
Sienna’s smile widens, and she steps up on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek, but I don’t notice until the last moment and swing around to enter her house, which lands her mouth on mine.
Our eyes connect, and hers widen for a split-second before she closes them and runs her hand through my hair. “Missed you,” she mumbles against my mouth, obviously for Janelle’s sake, but damn. I can’t deny how much I like being greeted by her like this.
It’s a quick kiss, but her soft lips on mine are enough for me to wonder what it would be like to really plant one on her without an audience.
Sienna plays off the awkward situation like a champ. Like we do this all the time.
Then she notices Lily. “Oh, my goodness. Is this your daughter? She’s such a beauty!”
Lily jams her thumb in her mouth and buries her face in her mother’s neck.
Sienna smiles at my ex. “Hi, you must be Janelle.” Sienna’s naturally friendly demeanor doesn’t exude even a hint of cattiness, which I appreciate more than words can say, because I have a feeling Janelle has more than enough attitude.
Janelle gives her a tight-lipped nod.
When she doesn’t say anything, Sienna ushers us in. “So you knew this guy in high school? Was he a hottie then too?” she asks with a chuckle, and for some reason, my ears get hot.
Janelle gets a blasé look on her face as she bounces Lily again. “As example A suggests,” she says as she waves her hand over our daughter, “he was good in the sack.”
We were both virgins, so I don’t know how truthful that statement is, but it’s obvious she’s pointing out how we fucked first.
This is getting awkward fast. “Let’s set up all this shit so I can take you back to the motel.”
I throw open the door to Destiny’s old room. It’s in the front of the house, which means the street noise will probably wake up the kid. “Fuck, I forgot to buy a sound machine.” Gabby and Rider swear by that thing.
“Why is your stuff in here?” Janelle asks as her eyes dart around the sparsely decorated room. There’s just a queen-sized bed, a side table with a lamp, and two duffle bags with shit I thought I might need on nights I had Lily.
I shrug. “Just because I sleep with Sienna doesn’t mean I have to take over her room too. This way, my crap won’t get in her way.”
I’m grateful I’m wearing jeans because the semi I sport at the thought of sleeping next to my neighbor would be instantly visible in gym shorts.
Sienna, like the sweetheart she is, starts unpacking the Target bags, pausing to compliment a few of the outfits. “This is adorable.” She holds up a light green hoodie combo I picked out that has a football stitched on the front that I snatched from the boy section.