Damn, I feel like a terrible man. “Do you really want to leave?”
Jamie rests her head on my chest. “I don’t want to leave you here, but I don’t want to feel like this. My parents make me feel like this, Brent. What am I supposed to do?”
“We go home. We’ve been here long enough.”
“We?” She looks at me with wide eyes.
“You go, I go.” And if she feels like she just had a round with her parents, well, I’m definitely not subjecting her to that for another second. Jamie opens her mouth to object, but I shake my head and rest a finger over her lips. “Wait here while I go say goodbye.”
“Are you sure, Brent?”
Instead of answering, I kiss her softly and walk over to the table.
“Is everything okay?” Gregory asks.
“Just fine. We’re heading home. Thanks for inviting us and having us for dinner.”
“Jamie can’t come say goodbye?” Kayla asks with slight accusation in her tone.
“Oh, you want to speak to her now?” I quip before shaking my head. “We’ll see y’all later.” I turn on my heels and meet with Jamie who’s receiving a receipt for her drink. “Let’s go.”
“Did the goodbye go well?” she asks as we begin to walk out.
“Yes.”
“Dad, wait!” We stop and turn at the sound of Gregory’s voice. “I know you probably don’t want me to crash the rest of your night, but can I stay with you tonight?”
“You shouldn’t feel unwelcome at your dad’s just because I might be there,” Jamie tells him.
“You always leave when I come over,” he points out, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“That’s because she didn’t want to interfere on your time with me.” Jamie nods from next to me. “You can stay if you want.”
Gregory smiles, dashes back to tell his mother, and returns to us. We head out and drive to Shannon’s house to drop him off. He has to grab a few things and he wants his car. Jamie has been sitting with her head resting against the window.
“If you don’t want to go to the wedding, you don’t have to,” I say. We haven’t talked much since leaving the restaurant.
Jamie glances over at me. “I’ll go. Maybe we should meet my parents before the wedding and then I’ll effectively be prepared for whatever they throw at me.” She shakes her head and looks back out the window. “Have you realized in all of this that so far I’m the one being judged and hated? Wonder if it’ll be the same way with my parents,” she finishes, more to herself than me.
“People are jackasses, hon.” I don’t know what to say or how to make her feel better. She does give me a little smile as I pull into my driveway.
“Do you still want me to stay?”
“If you want to, then yes. I’d love to have you stay.”
She nods and I get out to open the door for her. Once we get inside, I park her on the couch and disappear into the kitchen. She seems a little down. She’s probably anxious for a run, but I don’t want her to run this late without me and I can’t go with Gregory coming over. My remedy is to fix her a mug of hot chocolate.
Jamie smiles when I return to the living room, handing her the mug before sitting down next to her.
“Thank you, Brent.”
I pull her into my side, her legs shifting to tuck in next to her. Gregory walks in, says hey, and disappears to drop his things off before returning to the living room and sitting in the recliner.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him. It’s not often that he wants to spend the night during the middle of the week.
“Mom’s freaking out about her low-key, no-stress wedding. I wanted to get out of there for a bit.” His eyes shift to Jamie. “I’m sorry everyone was kinda rude to you, Jamie.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Gregory,” Jamie immediately tells him. “I’ve dealt with much worse, so it’s okay.”
Gregory frowns. “It’s not okay, but I’m glad it doesn’t bother you.”
Except it does. She just doesn’t want him to think it does. I decide to change the subject and ask Gregory how school has been. I already know since he came into the shop this afternoon, but he can tell me again. The best part of tonight is Jamie talks with Gregory and gets to know him better and vice versa. At least one of my kids is being open-minded enough to get to know Jamie before judging her and not letting the age difference bother them enough to prevent that.
When their conversation dies down, Jamie sits up. “Crap. I have schoolwork to do.” She finds her bag and pulls things out. She soon sits with her back against the armrest and her legs stretched out on the couch, her feet resting on my lap. We spend the next few hours together with Gregory and I playing some video game he likes and Jamie doing her schoolwork.
Gregory eventually heads to bed. The moment he’s gone, I reach over and take Jamie’s laptop, placing it on the coffee table and do the same for the textbook on her lap.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
I grab the back of her knees and tug. Her dress slides up her thighs as her butt scoots closer to me. Now that she’s closer, I grab her again and make her straddle me.
“Brent,” she whispers, a warning in her tone. A warning with a hitch of her breath and mixed with desire as her hands rest on my chest.
“I’m sorry you’re the one getting the brunt of the backlash of us, but I love that you’re willing to face them anyway. You shouldn’t have to, though. So,” I take a deep breath, “we definitely aren’t going to the wedding.”
“What? Brent, you’re going to get into trouble!”
I shrug. “It’s not that hard to be nice and civil, hon. Making you feel like an outcast is not nice and civil. You shouldn’t have to prepare to be treated like that and I’m not going to make you.”
“Then go without me,” she interrupts with a plea.
“No.” She can’t change my mind either. “You go, I go. You don’t go, I don’t go. Since I don’t want to take you, I’m not going. They’ll get over it. My ex-wife isn’t a priority here, Jamie. You are. They had a chance tonight to at least make you feel like you were a part of dinner and they didn’t. They didn’t to the point where you wanted to leave early. I’m not giving them a second chance to do that to you.”
“But you told them you’d go,” she whispers, her eyes focused on her hands.
“And I also told you I’d have your back. My word to you is more important.”
“I feel terrible about this.”
I grab her chin and lift her head to cause her to look at me. “Don’t. You haven’t done anything bad.”
She searches my face as if she needs to confirm I’m actually telling her the truth. It feels like she stares for the longest time, but then she leans forward and kisses me softly, slowly. Her fingers curl to grasp my shirt. My hands slide down from her waist to her hips and down to cup her ass, which for some ungodly reason causes her to pull away.
“Thank you, Brent. You don’t realize how much this means to me.” She kisses my cheek. “Let’s go to bed before Gregory comes down for some reason or another and catches us in an inappropriate position.” She grins and I can’t help but return it. Her fingers relax and her hands slide up to clutch my neck. Her smile turns a bit naughty and mischievous. “Aren’t you tired?”
I tighten my hold on her and stand. “So, so tired.”
“Brent! You can’t carry me! What if Gregory sees us?”
“You’ve hurt your ankle.”
“What about my bag?” she tries.
“You don’t need clothes right now. I’ll come back for it later. Stop your worrying and kiss me.”
My woman rolls her eyes, mutters a “Yes, boss,” but she does as I said. Once we’re behind the closed door of my bedroom, we do much, much more.
While I managed to get closer to Jamie that night, I also pissed off Shannon and Kayla the next day when I informed my ex-wife we would not be attending the wedding. I didn’t call because I didn’t want to get dragged
into a long conversation with her. Instead, I sent a text saying I was glad she invited me, but it turns out I won’t be attending. And then I ignored her messages asking why. Regardless of what anyone thinks, it’s the right decision and I don’t regret making it.
But it’s just over a week later now and I’m in the shop working with Gregory, teaching him something new as usual. My phone rings in my pocket. I wipe my hands to get them as clean as possible before pulling it out. Seeing it’s a call from Jamie makes me smile.
“Hey, Jamie,” I answer.
“Hey. Are you busy?” She sounds a little apprehensive.
“Not busy enough that I can’t talk to you. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I need to ask you something and you are completely free to say no, Brent.” She takes a deep breath. “My friend, Erin, has been seeing this guy and she feels like something is up, so she asked me to go on a double date with her. I don’t know where we’d go or anything. And I told her if you didn’t want to go, I’d still go with her, but she’s been bugging me all week about it and I can’t push her off any longer.”
She is nervous, so I decide to tease her and hope it makes her relax. “I thought you were going to ask me something. There wasn’t a question anywhere in there, Jamie.”
She laughs. “Fine. Would you like to go on a double date with me?”
“Would you like for me to go?” All I can hear in the back of my mind is her comment about how she’s receiving all the backlash and I don’t want to add to that unnecessarily somehow.
“I worry you won’t have a good time. What if he decides he wants us to go to a club after we eat?”
“Then I’ll dance with you. If you want me there, I’m there.”
Jamie is silent for a moment. “Thanks. Can you go tonight?”
Of course I can. She lets me know when she’ll be at the house and then I hang up. I have to admit. I’m slightly nervous about going out with her friends. Before Jamie, my life consisted of working, running, and spending time doing whatever my kids wanted to do with me. There were a few dates here and there, too. But I’ve never been to a club.
“Are you okay, Dad?” Gregory asks, snapping me out of it.
“I have a double date with Jamie’s friends tonight.”
“So what? You’re nervous? They’re just like Jamie.”
“No one is like Jamie, son.”
“Well, I’ll text you tonight and if it’s terrible you can show everyone my message and bail. I’ll put ‘This is not a drill’ and you’ll know that I’m lying.”
I laugh. “I’m not bailing unless Jamie wants to.”
He shrugs and leaves it at that, thankfully. We continue working until it’s time to head home. Once I’m home, I shower and stare at my closet. I have no idea what we’re doing and who knows if I’ll be dressed appropriately. Might as well keep it simple, right? Jeans and a T-shirt it is. After that, I have nothing to do but wait and wait until Jamie knocks at my door.
When I swing open the door, I find Jamie, but I also see a car I don’t recognize in my driveway with a man in the driver’s seat and the friend I remember seeing her with in the passenger seat.
“I thought you were coming and we were meeting them there?” I ask as I take her bag and turn around to set it on the couch.
“That’s what I wanted, but the guy, Matt, was so insistent that I couldn’t get out of it.”
“Well, that’s fine. Are you ready?”
“Not quite.” She steps forward and kisses me. “Now we can go.”
We step out, I lock up, and then we’re sliding into the backseat of Matt’s car. Introductions are made as he backs out and onto the road. I don’t know what this night holds, but I hope it goes well.
Our first stop is for something to eat. Matt takes us to a small diner that college students frequent. Brent is easily the oldest customer. We sit in a booth and so far, Matt has been very affectionate toward Erin. I don’t see any red flags as of yet. He seems very nice with manners and like I said, his hands or lips are always on her.
“So, what do you do?” Matt asks Brent.
“I’m a mechanic.”
It’s like a spell is cast over men any time Brent’s around. He tells them what he does, or mentions it in any way, and then all they talk about is cars. Apparently, there’s something wrong with Matt’s and based on what he says, Brent gives him some ideas on what it could be. Before I know it, Matt is scheduled to come in next week to see Brent to get his car checked out.
“Are you boys done talking about cars?” Erin asks, making sure she sounds bored.
“Sorry, baby,” Matt apologizes, leaning over to kiss her cheek.
Dinner is pretty smooth. Matt never directly or indirectly mentions the age difference between Brent and me. He learns more about me since I’m Erin’s best friend, talks about the dates they’ve been on so far, and even insists against Brent’s objections to buy everyone’s meals. And then, we’re on to our next destination. Matt is the only one who knows where we’re going. I tried to ask Erin so both Brent and I could be prepared, but Matt once again insisted on doing things his way and he wanted to keep it a surprise.
We pull in to a roller skating rink and I glance over at Brent for his reaction. He wears a small smile as he looks over the building for a brief moment before getting out and coming over to open my door for me. His lips brush my ear.
“Do you know how long it’s been since I went roller skating?” He chuckles. “High school,” he answers himself.
“Let’s hope you remember how. I don’t want you falling down and bringing me with you,” I tease.
“Wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing,” he says, taking my hand.
We follow Matt and Erin into the building, pay to enter, and rent some skates. But of course, Erin decides now is the perfect time for us girls to take a bathroom break.
“Well?” she asks the moment we’re far enough away from the guys.
“I think he’s great,” I tell her. “He seems to really like you. Maybe you’re looking for something wrong because he is so great.”
“Maybe,” she agrees.
By the time we return, the guys have their skates on. It doesn’t take long for us to follow suit and soon, we’re skating around. Music flows heavily from speakers all throughout the building.
“Did you give her your approval?” Brent asks me.
“I did. Wouldn’t you?”
“Based on this, yeah.”
“Are you having a good time?” I ask.
He pulls me closer. “Any time with you is a good time.” He whirls me so I’m skating backward in front of him, his hands on my waist. “Has your mother called you yet about meeting me?”
“You really want to ruin my night, don’t you?” I wait for him to say something, but he simply watches me and waits. I sigh. “Fine. She called yesterday and asked if we could come tomorrow.” She’s actually been bugging me all week, but I’ve been trying to forget she’s asked every time we talk.
“To Charlotte?”
“That’s where they live.”
A slow smile rises on his face. “Hon, tell her we’ll go.”
“No. You are taking way too much pleasure in hoping they’ll say the wrong thing so you can go off on them. Let me make it clear, Brent, I don’t want you to do that. It won’t help and it’ll probably make it worse. If we go, you have to promise to keep your mouth shut.”
“I can’t do that,” he says immediately in that stupid tone that tells me he won’t change his mind even if I argue until I’m blue in the face.
“Brent,” I protest anyway.
“I said I’d have your back and I wouldn’t let anyone talk out of the way to you, especially about us; that includes your parents. We’re going because you know doing that means your mother won’t bug you and you also know I would never be disrespectful to your parents.”
I don’t have an argument for that, so I turn around. The whole thought of my parents meeting Brent gives
me a bad feeling. The kind of bad feeling I get when I know I’ll be seeing my parents. Brent pulls me backward until my back is flush with his front. He kisses my neck softly and squeezes his hold on my waist.
“You trust me, don’t you?”
“Yes, but it’s not you I’m worried about.” Well, I am a little, but not really. I know Brent will keep his word.
Brent releases his hold on me and comes to skate next to me. “You know what? It’s your parents and your decision. Don’t let me pressure you. If you really don’t want to go, tell her that. If you do, then we’ll go.”
I nod. We skate around for a bit. He holds my hands while I dance in front of him, a smile permanently on his face as he watches me. I fake a pout as he releases one of my hands to reach into his back pocket for his phone.
“Hello?” he answers. Whatever he hears causes him to frown and drag me off the rink. “Okay, son. Text me the address and I’ll be there shortly.” He pauses and sits on the bench along the wall, his phone pressed against his ear and held in place by his shoulder as he begins to take off his skates. “I know. I’m glad you called. Text me the address and stay put. Love you too.” He hangs up and looks up at me. “Honey, I have to go pick up Gregory.”
“Is everything okay?”
“He went to a party tonight and drank a few beers. I’ve told him not to get behind the wheel if he even had a sip, so he’s called me to pick him up.” He fiddles with his phone as he says, “You can come with me or stay here with your friends and come to the house later.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Then hurry up and get your skates off.”
“Yes, boss,” I mutter. He’s in a totally different mood after that call from Gregory. He’s likely worried, which is understandable, and probably upset with Gregory for drinking in the first place. He’s only sixteen.
Erin and Matt skate over as I’m getting my shoes on and Brent is returning our skates. “What’s going on? Are y’all leaving?” she asks.
“Yeah. Something came up with Brent’s son.”
“Do you need us to drive you?” Matt asks.
“I’ve got it covered, but thanks,” Brent says as he returns. “You ready, Jamie?”
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