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“Yeah, I gotta keep searching for our new guitarist. Tell Laz I’ll see him at home?”

Atherton waved me off. “Enjoy your night. And feel free to contact me if you want to bring your partner next time. I’ll add them to the list.”

Waving at him, I stopped at the reception area long enough to grab my phone before I teleported home. Hopefully, with Lazon the mend, things would only get better from here. We've had enough bad news lately. We deserved a break.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

ARTHUR

My mind wason Hendrix and what he was up to at the club with Laz when I was tucking Sophie in. I trusted him when he said he was only going to help Laz, but it still felt weird that the guy I was seeing was at a sex club right now. He couldn’t outright say that’s where he was going in front of Sophie, but I got his point from context. Laz was an incubus. If he wasn’t taking care of himself, I had to assume that meant he wasn’t getting the energy he needed through sex. Laz was friendly with me when I was backstage with them, but I did agree that he looked tired lately. I brought him an energy drink before the last show and he looked like he hadn’t slept in a week.

“Daddy? Are you and Hendrix boyfriends?”

Surprised, I jerked my gaze up to Sophie. She was cuddled in her bed, surrounded by her stuffed animals, and watching me curiously.

“I-I, uh… W-Why do you ask, sweetheart?”

She shrugged. “Because you talk about him a lot. Mom talked about Lee a lot before he came to visit too, and he told me he’s her boyfriend.”

That was news to me. I didn’t realize Val was dating. Not that I had any say or any problem with it. It would be unfair of me to say she couldn’t while I was. I couldn’t even complain about the fact that I hadn’t met the man because she hadn’t met Hendrix, either. I’d need to fix that soon. I wanted to be open and honest with Val. If I kept things from her, she’d lash out later. I didn't want her to take away my daughter just because I didn't tell her I was seeing someone. I was a little uncertain about how she’d take me dating a man, though.

Sophie looked at me expectantly, and I knew I wasn’t going to get out of the conversation without answering her.

“Yes… We’ve gone on a few dates. Does that bother you?”

Like my parents, I never talked to Sophie about the different kinds of relationships in the world. Maybe that was wrong of me, but I thought she was too little to have that conversation before now. Luckily, she didn't look bothered by it. She shook her head.

“No. Does that mean you and Hendrix are gonna get married?”

“It’s a little early to know that,” I confessed. It felt awkward talking to her about this, but I didn’t want to ignore the conversation completely like my parents had. “For most adults, they date for a while before they discuss marriage. To see if they’re compatible.”

“What’s that?”

Pursing my lips, I thought about how to explain it in a way she’d understand. “Well, when you first meet someone, you don’t know everything about them, right?” I waited for her to nod before continuing. “Dating gives you a chance to get to know them to see if your personalities and interests match. You go out together, spend time together, and when you and that person arecomfortable with each other, then you start talking about getting married. There’s no rush to get married.”

She frowned. “But Mom and Lee are already planning to get married.”

Stunned, my eyebrows flew up. “She told you this?”

Sophie shook her head. “No. I heard them in the kitchen. Lee doesn’t like it when I do that, but I didn't mean to. I was going to ask for a snack and I overheard them.”

Val never mentioned seeing anyone, much less getting serious. I made a mental note to talk to her about it.

“Well, if your mom and Lee feel they’re compatible, then that’s probably why they’re discussing it. Don’t get ahead of yourself, though. Your mom and I talked about marriage pretty early in our relationship to make sure we were on the same page, but she and I dated a few years before getting married.” But if I knew Val, if she was discussing it, she meant business. The only reason we postponed marriage was because we were both still in college at the time. If she’d had her way, we wouldn’t have waited that long. “How about you wait for them to talk to you about it instead of listening to conversations you weren’t invited into, okay? It’s not polite to eavesdrop.”

“Okay, daddy.” She snuggled down into her bed, smiling when I dropped a kiss on her forehead.

“Sleep tight, sweetheart.”

After tucking her in, I headed to my office for a little while. I debated calling Val to ask her about her new boyfriend, but I didn't want Sophie to get in trouble for eavesdropping. I decided to wait, and bring up the fact that I was dating to Val sometime soon. Maybe if I started the conversation, she’d tell me about her own boyfriend.

I thought it’d bother me, the idea of my ex wife with someone else. We weren’t very compatible, but she was still my wife once. I probably should’ve been less surprised that my only issue withit was not knowing the man who would be spending time around my daughter. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Val and I were both seeing someone, so it didn’t sting as much. But I also wondered if it was because I wasn’t as invested in the marriage as I first thought. I loved Val, but I wasn’t in love with her. I thought that came with time. But now that I had Hendrix, I realized Val and I were both just going through the motions. We dated a respectable amount of time, had a long, but not too long, engagement, got pregnant right away and followed the order that we both were supposed to follow. There was no passion, no excitement.

I wished I would’ve realized it sooner. Maybe I could’ve spared myself a little pain down the line. But if I had, I wouldn’t have Sophie. I couldn’t regret my marriage, not when I had her. And hopefully, one day far in the future, Sophie would find someone who made her as happy as Hendrix made me.

Thinking of him put a smile on my face, and I shot him a text before I remembered where he was headed tonight. I immediately assumed he would get back to me later and hoped I didn’t come off as clingy or suspicious by texting him while I knew he was out. I was stressing about it when he replied to my text a few minutes later.

My heart jumped as I saw his reply, letting me know all was well. He didn’t seem bothered by me texting him and he let me know he wouldn’t have access to his phone once he was there, but that he’d text me right after. It was all very reassuring, and I felt myself relax. If I texted Val when she was out when we were married, she’d always get furious with me and yell at me to leave her alone. I don’t know why I expected the same thing to happen with Hendrix. He was nothing like Val, but I was glad that he didn’t seem to have a problem reassuring me.