Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
“With you?”
“No, not me. I’m not that guy. For anyone,” I huffed, shaking my head. “And it’s not like we were in love. We were friends who…”
“Fucked,” Tanner supplied.
I inclined my chin. “And I had my own shit going on. I had a big falling out with my family while I was in college. We’re talking huge. Think of the Christmas from hell and crank it up twenty notches. I won’t go into detail, but the gist or maybe the result is…I don’t do family. At all. I had no intention of ever becoming a husband, let alone a dad.”
“What happened with Mel?”
I took a deep inhale and slowly released it. “She moved to Vegas with her friend Kitty about six and a half years ago. I was working as a bouncer at a club off the strip part-time and finishing my veterinary degree. She called me, but this time she didn’t just want to hook up. She asked if I’d put in a good word at the club for her and Kitty. They both needed extra cash. She was doing well, though. She’d gotten a real estate license and only wanted to bartend part-time. Suddenly, we were living in the same town, working at the same crappy joint till we’d established ourselves. We had a goal in common, and…yeah, we hooked up. Often. But it wasn’t love. It was friendship, and it was easy. Until the day she asked if I’d be a sperm donor.”
Tanner lifted his mug to his lips. “Obviously, you agreed.”
“I didn’t. I said no, and I was pretty damn serious. But drunk me was never the sharpest tool in the shed. That guy forgot to wear a condom and chose to believe that my usually vigilant fuck-buddy was still using birth control.” I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “I’d already moved on to Seattle when Mel called to tell me the news. She was pregnant, I was the dad, but not to worry, she had it under control.”
“She tricked you?”
“Yeah, but it takes two to tango. I was angry at first, but she wasn’t joking about parenting on her own. She’d been raised by a single mom, and she didn’t need or want anyone in her life who wasn’t completely invested in her child. And let me tell you, Mel was a force to contend with. She wasn’t fuckin’ around. I saw her a few times during her pregnancy and once…I asked her to marry me and almost got my bell rung. She threw a paperweight at my head and told me to fuck off.”
I chuckled at the memory.
Tanner smiled. “Sounds like she was kind of amazing.”
“Yeah.” I pursed my lips as visions of my sweet friend hit me like a hammer. Mel in that low-cut top, serving shots to businessmen and college coeds. Mel in my truck, her long hair blowing out the window on a hot summer day. Mel with her head tipped toward the sun, laughing like a hyena. “I was so angry with her, you know. So fucking mad. She betrayed my trust and put me in a position that terrified me. She knew why I hadn’t wanted to be a husband or a father. Fuck, I hadn’t even wanted to be anyone’s boyfriend. She’d taken something I’d never wanted to give, and I was sure I’d never forgive her for it. But I was also torn, ’cause where I come from, you marry the girl, you have the kid, and you try your damnedest to make it work. I was pissed that she rejected my offer…and sort of relieved. We’d reached a truce eventually. Thank fuck. I don’t know what I would have done if…”
Tanner set a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too. She was hit by a drunk driver who’d run a red light. They got her to the hospital, operated immediately, but her lung had been pierced and God knows what else.”
“Oh, shit.”
“They couldn’t save Mel. They saved the baby, though. And overnight, I became a father. Not just a name on a birth certificate, but the guy in charge of…everything. Mel’s mom helped with the infant stuff, and Kitty was a life-saver, too. But Mel’s mom passed away two years ago, and we we’re on our own again. I had no reason to stay in Vegas, and I had itchy feet. I was ready to move on. We lived in Colorado, which I loved, Seattle—too damn rainy, and Portland—same. Then I saw the want ad for a qualified vet for a small office in Santa Ynez. And you know the rest.”
I threw my arms wide as if suggesting I were an open book. False.
I never shared a smidge of my personal life. With anyone. I’d done some good things, had some crazy adventures, a great education, and hell, I had a kid with a former stripper. I could tell stories all night long—some of them so outrageous I wouldn’t believe them if I hadn’t been there.