Page 20 of Winning the Dad

My heart rate tripled. What was I saying? “I don’t want to?—”

A firm knock on the door startled us. I frowned. “Are you expecting anyone?”

Sawyer sat up. “No. It’s probably housekeeping. Just ignore it.”

But another knock came, and then a voice. “Dad? Are you up?”

We both froze. Lucas.

Fuck.

Panic filled Sawyer’s eyes. “What do I do?”

I took a deep breath. “Don’t lie. We’ll never come back from that.”

He slid out of bed and put on underwear. “One second.”

I also got out of bed and grabbed a pair of athletic shorts. No way was I facing whatever lay ahead of us naked. Sawyer waited until I was dressed and had stepped aside so I was at least out of sight before he opened the door.

“Is everything okay?”

“Romero is sick, so we’re still here. I texted you, but you weren’t responding, so I figured I’d tell you in person.”

Romero was sick? Without thinking, I hurried to the door. “Is he okay?”

Lucas’s mouth dropped open.

Oh shit.

But then my son-in-law’s face lit up, and he grinned widely. “I knew it. I told Romero something was going on with you two.”

“I’m sorry,” Sawyer said. “This wasn’t how we wanted you to find out.”

“Is Romero okay?” Yes, we needed to talk about Sawyer and me, but first, we had to focus on the most important thing.

“He’s been throwing up. I’m fine, so no idea what caused it, but we decided to stay an extra day to give him time to recover.”

Poor kid, and on his honeymoon. “I’ll stop by in a bit.”

“Maybe you could both come…and in the meantime, get your stories straight on what you want to tell us.”

Sawyer held out his hand, which I took immediately. “The truth. There’s nothing to get straight, kiddo.”

“Okay.”

With a last look, a shake of his head, and a broad grin, Lucas walked away, leaving Sawyer and me staring at each other. He closed the door and leaned against it. “That wasn’t what I had in mind for today.”

“No kidding.”

“You want to tell them the truth, huh?”

“I’m not lying to my son. I already feel bad about pretending we were barely more than strangers yesterday.”

“So what is the truth, then, Jack? What do you want to tell them?”

He was scared, fear shimmering in his eyes, his expression closed off, his shoulders tense. And after what I’d learned about his ex, I understood. I would have to take the first step.

I tilted up his chin. “I don’t want to say goodbye tomorrow. That’s the truth. I want to see you again.”