Page 35 of Love Me Not
For the first time, his gaze shifted off of mine. “We got by. He wasn’t the most present parent anyway.”
The little boy was still in there, no matter how hard the muscle bound man wanted to believe otherwise. Reluctant to poke the wound, I changed the subject. “You said she raised three of you. Are you close with your siblings?”
“I am,” he said, relaxing. “We’re each a year apart so we grew up more like triplets. David is in Texas, and Julia lives over in Washington state. We video chat a lot, especially since losing Mom.”
I couldn’t imagine my siblings being so far away. There were times I might wish Joe wasn’t so close, but thousands of miles between us was a concept I couldn’t even fathom. Add losing a parent and my brain could not compute.
“You remind me of her,” he said.
“Your mom?”
“Yeah. She didn’t suffer fools and was extremely independent.” Jaw tight, he added, “I think that’s why Dad had no problem leaving. He knew she could take care of us on her own.”
A rationalization at best. Just because she could do it didn’t mean she should have had to.
“That’s crap.”
His head snapped my way. “What?”
“That’s crap,” I repeated. “Her being a capable woman is no excuse or a free pass for him leaving.” Megan’s mom did the same thing, and though her dad was amazing, being abandoned still messed her up for a long time.
Trey’s laughter surprised me. “That sounds like something she would have said if I’d ever been stupid enough to air that thought in front of her.”
At least he knew it was stupid. “Why do men always give other men a pass like that?”
He shook his head. “I’m not giving him a pass. What he did was wrong, but once I was old enough to realize that being an adult sucks, I considered his point of view at the time.” Leaning on his door, he scratched a nail across the bottom of the steering wheel. “There were factors I didn’t know. His dad didn’t stick around either. He was young. Ill-equipped. It is what it is.”
I hated that saying. “If he was equipped enough to make three babies, then he needed to stick around and help take care of them. Others have broken the cycle and he could have, too. You and your siblings deserved better.”
Grinning, Trey silently watched me. “What?” I asked.
“I’m remembering something else Becca said.”
Why were they even talking about me? “I’m sure in whatever story she told, I was way worse than she made me out to be.”
“She says you’re protective and a staunch defender of your friends.”
Okay, that was accurate. “My rare good qualities.”
“Does that mean we’re becoming friends?”
How did I get out of this one? I wasn’t looking for new friends, nor did I believe Trey and I had a single shared interest between us. Other than teaching, of course. But if he was going to be hanging around with my small group of cohorts, I had to at least learn to tolerate him.
“Anyone with a heart would feel belligerent on behalf of an abandoned little boy. We’re acquaintances and coworkers, and maybe we can work up to friends. How’s that?”
Looking as if I’d given him a prize, he nodded. “I can live with that.”
Chapter Nine
Becca picked up on the third ring. “Hey, there. How did the auditions go?”
“Well, actually.” Skipping to the point, I said, “Why are you discussing me with Trey Collins?”
She laughed. “I haven’t been discussing you. He asks about you a lot. I think he has a crush.”
We needed to crush that crush. “You told him I refuse to date.”
“Of course, I did. Isn’t that what you’d want me to tell a guy showing every indication of asking you out?” I hadn’t thought of it that way. “Linds, Trey is really nice. I think you two could hit it off, but I respect that you don’t want to go out with anyone. I was trying to save his heart, that’s all.”