Page 41 of Rise & Fall

“Wait, did you show up to my house?”

“No, Nolan. I didn’t show up at your house.” She rolls her eyes. “But what if I did?”

I look over past her, over at the construction site where I see Mitch working hard with the boys. I remember the night he told me what had really happened with Jessica. He’ll never know this, but I’m grateful that he came clean. It gave me the out I was looking for. Nothing with Jessica felt right after Aria was born.

“Nolan, we’re a family.” I can tell she’s starting to cry, or at least trying to. Nothing this woman says is anything I’ll listen to.

“Werea family. You lost that right when you cheated on me with my brother. Is there anything else you need from me?” I’m not letting her affect me. I won’t let her manipulate me like that.

“I guess not,” she says as she looks down at her feet.

“Well, I’ve got shit to do. Don’t do this again, Jessica.” I open the bed of my truck, grab my tool belt and walk away.

But before I get too far, I turn to her one last time.

“You know that little girl loves you right? She needs her mother, Jessica. Don’t lose sight of that. Please.” And then I head toward the site.

“Goodbye, Nolan.” It’s barely a whisper from her, but I don’t look back as I hear her footsteps receding in the other direction.

No one said co-parenting was going to be easy. Especially when one parent is still attached to the relationship in an unhealthy way. But it’s all I can do to make sure my daughter knows that I’m trying.

Mitch immediately tries to duck down, shooting a nail gun into parts of the frame in an attempt to avoid me after he realizes I am approaching him fast.

“Did you tell her I was on a date last night?” I ask, hovering over his crouched body.

“Dude, I didn’t mean to. It slipped out. She was yelling and—” He stood up and put out his hands in defense.

“Why did you even answer her call?” I wonder.

“Carrie made me do it. She saw my phone ringing, saw it was Jessica, and demanded I answer it in front of her,” he answered me, referring to his wife. I don’t blame her for putting him on the spot like that.

“Don’t do that again. She doesn’t need to know what’s going on in my personal life.” I walk past him and go deeper into the building structure.

“Well, how was the date?” he asks, following behind me.

“It was fucking great.”

“Yeah? Do tell.” He stops and leans up against one of the framing boards.

“The whole not-needing-to-know-my-personal-life also applies to you. You’ll know what I want you to know,” I speak to him as I assess the work that’s been done this morning. The construction is in a much better place than it was last week.

“Whatever then.” I can hear him roll his eyes at me.

“Get back to work, Mitch.”

After work, I head back home. I need four more cold showers and a beer. Even sunburnt and annoyed with the conversation that took place between Jess and I, nothing is overriding the feeling that Dakota left behind.Insane desire.

Did I ask her out on a date with the intention of eating her out relentlessly in her bed halfway through the night? Absolutely not. I didn’t even expect a kiss from her, and I would have been satisfied with spilled popcorn and getting shushed all night.

But then the kiss. The fire between us. The look in her eyes when she begged me to come up to her room. Then she was telling me to control her, handing over the most vulnerable part of her. And then I sat her down and made her come. God, did she taste so fucking good.

Did I purposefully leave her wanting more after giving her two orgasms because I’m a selfish prick. Not entirely. In fact, I think leaving when I did—even though I was hard as fuck and she desperately begged to take care of me—was the right thing to do.

I’ve never in my entire life been so comfortable with what happened last night.

But now…now I don’t know how to feel. Regret? Hell no. Maybe a little bit of disappointment in myself.

I went animalistic on the poor girl. Disrespectful even. But she saidcontrol meand I lost it. I’ve never known myself to be that way. Ever. It was liberating, freeing. Why? Because I could see how much power it gave her and that turned me on.