Page 69 of Dad Next Door

“It’s hard to explain, but when I watch porn, I don’t picture myself in the scene or fantasize about the models. It’s visual stimulation. A way to get my imagination going and think about things I enjoy. Most of the time, I don’t picture anyone in these fantasies. It’s more about how the act makes me feel and not about doing it with a partner.”

“That’s interesting,” Tristan said thoughtfully. “I kind of use it the same way. I mean, I do put myself in the model’s place, but not in the actual scene or with their scene partner. It’s more to jump-start my fantasies and give me a framework of what I want them to look like.”

We stopped on his front porch. A loud bark, followed by a series of even louder ones, filtered through the door.

“Koda sounds like he’s bigger than Freddie,” I observed. “How does such a vicious bark come out of a little guy like him?”

“That’s the Akita in him. He’s always been a loud boy.” Tristan faced me, his expression shy. “I should go in. They know I’m out here.”

More barks rang out.

“They’re persistent.” Leaning in, I gave him a quick kiss. “Night, Doc.”

“Night.”

I watched as he unlocked his door. A cacophony of barks and meows erupted the moment he cracked it open. He shot me a quick wave and pulled the door open wide enough to slip inside.

“I’m happy to see you guys too, but you gotta let me in,” he said, only half in the house. “Freddie, back. Shadow, stop trying to sit on your brother.”

Snickering, I waited until the door closed behind him then hurried to my house.

14

TRISTAN

“Dad and Jace broke up!”

I paused, my hand on the doorknob and one foot still outside my house, as Leo came bounding into the foyer with three of the cats on his heels.

“I’m sorry?” I squeezed into the house and did a quick round of pets and head scratches as our animals, minus Maple, gathered around me.

“Dad and Jace broke up,” Leo repeated.

I had a million questions, but I kept my mouth shut. As much as I wanted all the details, I didn’t want to put my kid in the middle of adult issues.

“Sounds like you had an exciting week.” I held out my arms for a hug. “I’m so happy to see you. I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” He gave me a big squeeze.

“Are you okay with them not being together anymore?” I asked.

I might still be salty about why Jace lived with Simon, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d been a stable fixture in Leo’s life for the past year and a half.

He shrugged and scooped Jinx up. “Yeah. It’s weird that he’s not there, and Dad was grumpy all week, but it’s fine.” He followed me into the kitchen. “It’s not like he wasn’t grumpy when Jace was there. But why is he mad at Quinn?”

I nearly tripped over my feet, and Mili, who chose that moment to dash in front of me. “Quinn?” I looked around the kitchen for my sister.

“Yeah. He kept saying it’s Quinn’s fault Jace left. And yours.”

My brain kind of stuttered as it tried to catch up.

Almost a month had passed since the wedding, and Quinn and I had settled into a routine that worked for us. During my weeks with Leo, we texted and did video calls after Leo was in bed.

On my off weeks, we tried to spend a few evenings together during the week, but weekends were iffy because of our work schedules. That was especially true for Quinn since he was juggling his new contracting firm, his online work, and his dancing, so he had even less time off than I did.

“And he said Quinn’s a gold digger and you’re an idiot for not seeing it.” He shifted Jinx onto his shoulder. “What did Quinn do? I thought he was our friend.”

“He is our friend,” I said firmly. “Your dad is upset about Jace, and he’s lashing out at Quinn because he’s hurting.”