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“Fuck no, but I’d pay money to see it,” Stef replied, her eyes dancing with amusement.
Our food came before we could say any more and once Brayden had gone again, I just sat there, looking at my plate. Stef instantly sobered. “What is it?”
Letting out a sigh, I grabbed a chip from her plate. “I’m just so fucking confused.”
“That’s fair. It’s a weird situation.”
“Right? Like, he’s being such a good friend, and he makes everything so much easier for me and it’s all amazing. But he doesn’t touch me, try to kiss me, or take me out without the kids. Nothing like how it was before.”
Stef’s eyes were drenched in sympathetic understanding and it encouraged me to go on.
“I don’t know what his game is.”
“Maybe there is no game.”
That made me frown. “Then what is he doing?”
“Looking after you.”
“That’s it? Just being my friend?”
She shrugged. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“I don’t know. I’m just confused. Happy, but confused.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
My rejection of that idea was visceral.
“Oooh, okay. What’s this about?”
“What?”
“You just went deadly pale and looked like I’d kicked you in the guts. All because I said you should ask him what’s going on between you two.”
I leaned back in the booth, folding my arms defensively across my chest. Yeah, what was that about? This was the crux of the matter for me, and I needed to figure it out. It’s why I’d asked Stef to meet me today, after all. Staring out the window, I tried to calm my tumultuous thoughts. “I don’t want to know,” I blurted out.
“Huh?”
“One way or the other. I don’t want to know what he thinks is happening here.”
“Now we’re getting to it. Why not?”
“Because I’m afraid.”
“You’re the bravest person I know. What are you afraid of?”
“Of letting him in.”
“That’s fair.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. Look at you, Esme. Raising four kids on your own for over half your life, because everyone else left. It’s perfectly reasonable for you to expect Wolfe to do the same.”
I stared at her for the longest moment. “Fuck, when did you get a psych degree?”
Stef shrugged as a shadow passed over her face. “I know a thing or two about being left, I guess.”