The Wright One

JUSTIN

That guy finally left at eight. Hannah kind of made a point that it was time to leave. Good, because I need to talk to her. I can’t have that guy moving in or some shit if Caden doesn’t like him. Hannah told me to leave too. But I need to talk to her.

I start helping her clean up from dinner. Finally she stops and puts her hands on the counter. “Justin, did Caden tell you something that I should know?”

I sigh. “Where do you want me to start? For one he doesn’t like your new boyfriend. He says he’s weird. His own son says he’s weird.”

“I am not dating Cole. He is overconfident or something. We aren’t dating though.” She says. I have never been so relieved to hear those words in my life. She sighs. “What else?”

“Well, I’m not sure you are going to want to hear what else we talked about.” I’m actually not so sure I should say anything. It was kind of guy talk or father son talk.

She turns and looks at me. “You can tell me. I won’t be upset.”

I shake my head. “I doubt that. He kept asking why we weren’t together.”

She looks down. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him the truth. I was an idiot and did something that I shouldn’t have. And I don’t think that you will ever forgive me. He wasn’t exactly taking that for an answer.” Caden did keep hinting that he would like me and his mother together, no matter what happened before.

Hannah looks up at me. “Do you think that is the reason he doesn’t like Cole?”

I laugh. “No, he just thinks he’s weird. I think he just wants his parents to be together. I told him that probably isn’t going to happen, but I would always be there for him.”

She nods. “That is good, I don’t want him to get his hopes up that we are getting together. I mean we were never really together in the first place.”

That hurts more than it should. “Did I ever tell you I was sorry?”

She laughs. “No. I guess you just figured it was in the past like I did.”

“Well, I am sorry. I did a shit thing. I was never into Candy, just so you know. I just had my rep. For some reason it seemed more important than life. I am an idiot and I am not going to deny it.”

She shrugs. “It was in the past. I am over that. I wish I would have waited is all. But it happened. We can’t change what happened.”

“Do you regret it?” I’m not even sure I want to know the answer to that. I am not so sure that the answer will make me happy.

“Justin, I don’t know if I can answer that. I don’t exactly regret it, because it gave me Caden, I just wish I would have used my head a little more.” That made me feel more like an asshole.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t regret it at all. I regret what happened after.”

She laughs. “Like I said it’s in the past. Nothing we can do about it now.”

I shrug, but don’t say anything, because maybe there is. Maybe we can fix this. Not yet, but maybe someday. Because honestly the more time I spend with Hannah, the more I want to have her in my arms at the end of the day. “Just remember what I said about that guy. Caden doesn’t like him and if you are going to keep him around, you might want to talk to him about it.”

She smiles. “Someone sounds a little jealous.”

“Look, you are the mother of my son, I care who you are with. Am I going to make a big deal about it, probably. I’m a man, it’s a thing.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

She laughs. “What thing?”

“No man wants to see the woman that they have been intimate with, with another man. It’s a thing. You can look it up.” I state plainly.

“That was eight years ago.” She isn’t really protesting all that hard. I think she just thinks it’s funny.

“Doesn’t matter how long ago it was. It’s just a thing.” I give her a smirk. “Plus it doesn’t change how I felt or feel.”

She looks at me with a blank look on her face. “What exactly does that mean?”

I lean a little more towards her. “When we were together I thought you were the prettiest girl that I had ever seen. I wasn’t with you for some game or some challenge. I was with you because I really wanted to be. I was shit about it. That is the biggest regret of my life and I will never forget it.”

She looks up at me and it looks like she is about to cry. “Can you please not say things you don’t mean?”

“I meant every word.” I want nothing more than to kiss her right now. Staring down into her eyes, I seriously think about it.

Caden has other plans though. He runs in the room. “Dad, will you play one more game with me before you leave?”

I smile over at him. “Sure buddy.” Leaving Hannah in the kitchen is fucking hard. Especially when I want to wrap her in my arms. But this is part of being a parent.