Page 70 of Dad Next Door
I hated that I once again had to cover for Simon’s inability to censor himself around our son. He never minced words when he talked about me, but I refused to stoop to his level and made sure not to badmouth him in front of Leo, even when he deserved it.
Lydia came into the kitchen from the back family room and mouthed ‘Nice save’ to me.
“Oh. Okay. Are you and Quinn dating like Dad and Jace were? Dad said Quinn might be your boyfriend now, but he won’t be for long because no one in their right mind would want to date you.” He wrinkled his forehead in confusion. “But Dad dated you. He married you.”
This time my brain didn’t just stutter. It full-on buffered as I processed everything Leo had just said.
“Dad?” Leo asked.
“Sorry.” I shook off my stupor. “It’s like I said, your dad is angry about Jace, and he’s saying mean things about Quinn and me because he’s hurting.”
Lydia rolled her eyes and mouthed ‘He’s an asshole.’
“But are you and Quinn dating?” Leo pressed.
I’d planned on telling him about us this weekend, but it looked like we were having that conversation now and not when I’d had time to prepare.
“We are.” I scrambled to find a way to explain things to my son. “It’s very new, but we’re boyfriends.”
“Cool.” Leo put a wiggling Jinx on the floor so he could run off and chase his sisters. “That means he can come over and hang out with us, right?”
I blinked. That was it? Leo had accepted it that easily?
“He’s really busy right now, but we can hang out with him when he’s got some free time. Do you have any questions about anything?”
“Can I have an ice cream sandwich? I didn’t have one after dinner.”
“Um, yeah. Sure thing.”
He made a beeline for the freezer. I watched, my brain spinning, as he got his dessert and left the kitchen without another word.
“I’m going to strangle him the next time I see him,” I muttered as Lydia came to stand with me.
“Get in line, little brother.” Her eyes were dark with anger. “I’m glad Jace finally grew a set and left his crusty ass, but what the actual fuck is he doing talking like that in front of a nine-year-old? And why is he talking to Leo about you and Quinn in the first place?”
I scrubbed my hand over my face. “I should have seen this coming. Not the Jace thing, because wow.”
Lydia nodded in agreement.
“But the Quinn thing. I should’ve known he’d do something like this as soon as he saw us at the wedding. I thought I’d dodged a bullet when he kept his trap shut, but of course it was too much to hope he’d be an adult about things. At least Leo took the news about us well.”
“He’s nine, and he likes Quinn. I’m not shocked.” She leaned against the counter. “Dinner is in the fridge. We ordered pizza because I burned the meatloaf.”
Still half in a daze, I went to the fridge and pulled three slices out of the box. Stacking them on top of each other, I took a bite of my new giant slice.
“At least pretend like you’re civilized.” Lydia pointed to where I kept the plates.
I ripped off a piece of paper towel and used that as a plate instead.
“Weirdo.”
“Takes one to know one.” I took a bite of one of the slices this time. “Any issues with pickup this week?”
“Nope. He was a dismissive asshole, as usual, but didn’t give me any problems. I didn’t even know about the Jace thing until I was driving Leo home and he told me everything.”
“Everything?” I asked warily.
“Not everything,” she assured me. “But enough to make my cold, dead heart happy.”