Page 52 of CowSex

“Koa.” His name comes out on a whispered breath as I imagine the scene.

I reach my hand out across the table, and he takes it in his. It’s an unconscious action. Once again instinctual, reaching for someone who so obviously needs comfort at that moment.

“Nelson must’ve seen the terror, panic, whatever written on my face and started straight away by saying, “He’s safe Carmichael. He’s in the back of my Ranger. A little shook up, but he’s safe.”

I pull my hand away from his, lace my fingers together, and stretch them up and behind my head in an attempt to let more air into my lungs, but it hurts my wrist, so I bring them back down to the table.

“He’d been here in town, hanging out with a few of the other apprentices and a bunch of girls. They’d been drinking down by the river. Instead of waiting their turn for a ride with the DD, one of them thought he’d be smart and drive back into town after drinking all night. Kai decided it’d be a good idea to ride with him. Austin, the boy driving, only got about a mile before running his truck off the road.”

He puts his coffee mug down and stares at it for a while before looking back at me.

“Neither of them were wearing seatbelts, but Austin was so drunk he couldn’t even keep his foot on the gas. They drove off the road and through some bushes before hitting a tree. They were more scratched up by the bushes once they fell out of the car than by the accident. Unluckily for them, a witness had called for assistance and Nelson was the first on the scene.”

“So, you sent him to your mum’s for punishment.”

“Yeah, pretty much. And for my own peace of mind. I was so fucking pissed at him. After going through what he did with his mom, I thought I could trust him to be a little more responsible.”

“I can imagine.”

“He thinks he’s there for a year, but we’ll see. I believe he learned his lesson as soon as he sobered up, but I’m his dad, and he needs to know that fuckin’ up has consequences.”

Imagining Koa as a dad does all kinds of strange things to my heart, and my ovaries, if I’m honest.

“You told Rebecca that you have two kids, how old’s the other one?”

He blinks a few times, which tells me he’s thinking about his answer.

“Four.”

Fuck. That’s a new one. A baby still.

Wife?

“Boy or girl?”

“Oh,she’sa girl all right. No doubt about that. Four thinking she’s twenty-four. She’d love your hair and your nails, probably your tattoos, too.”

I thought I had his relationship status covered, that was before I knew he had a four-year-old, though, so I dive straight in and ask what I need to know.

“Where’s she live?”

“She’s in Aspen with her mom. My ex-wife.”

Ooooookaaaay. So another ex-wife?

“Another ex, how many exes and kids do you have?”

“Just two. Two wives, two kids.”

“Just two.” It’s not a question, just a statement, I suppose. I’m trying the words out on my tongue. Two ex-wives. Two kids.

“Wasn’t the way I thought my life was gonna go, but it is what it is.”

“What happened?”

He shrugs and looks around the diner.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”