Adored (Masters and Mercenaries #8.5)(55)

“Nice. We can sue the school, too.” He kind of wanted to. He was sure the school had brushed off the fishing thing as nothing. To them it would be something to work out between the kids. They would likely say that working it out among themselves would prepare them for adulthood, but adults who acted like *s got fired or shot. There were consequences for adults. “I can talk to him. I can be persuasive when I want to be. It sucks to be a kid.”

If anyone did something like that to his kid, they might not get the courtesy of a lawsuit.

“It sucks to be human sometimes.”

Maybe Flynn didn’t have it so great. “I’m sorry about punching you.”

Flynn touched his jaw gingerly. “For a lawyer, you know how to throw a hook.”

“I’ve found beating the shit out of my friends makes me feel better. In the ring, of course, and with rules. A couple of the guys I hang out with work out this way. You should try it sometime. Don’t tell your girlfriend though. They get weird about it.” It made perfect sense to him. You put on gloves and took out your aggressions and everyone was bruised and happy, but he’d learned to never mention it.

“Like I have time for a girlfriend.” Flynn sobered a little. “I’m sorry about yours, man. That was some kind of argument. You should know nothing was going on between me and Laurel. She’s a very nice lady and it’s obvious she cares about you. Why did you freak out on her like that?”

“I don’t know.”

“She’s not Margot.”

“I know that.”

“Do you? If I’d been through what you have, I don’t know that I would truly understand that Laurel’s different.”

“I know she’s not Margot.” But he’d gone to the worst place he could. It had taken him a couple of minutes, but he’d finally arrived at the most improper conclusion he could have about Laurel. He’d basically called her a tramp when she’d only been having lunch with Flynn.

And then he’d questioned her loyalty.

He pulled his phone out. No calls. She hadn’t called or texted. Not that he expected her to. She likely wouldn’t ever speak to him again unless he forced her to.

Maybe it would be better this way. He wasn’t cut out to be a father or a husband. He wasn’t ready for any of it. He definitely wasn’t ready for her. He’d hurt her and he would do it again if she stayed with him.

What the hell should he do?

How could he let her go? How could he keep her? This was everything he’d feared from the moment he’d met her. He’d known it wouldn’t—couldn’t—work. He’d known there was no way and now there was a baby involved.

Did he even deserve to be a dad? He had no idea how to be one. Would it be better to let Laurel find someone ready for the job?

“Are you going after her? I think you should. I think you should find her and apologize,” Flynn said.

“And after that?” He’d tried to live in the moment but the truth was the future was almost here. Oh, it might be a few months away, but it would catch up to him. It would get him in the end. “No. I need to figure a few things out.”

Lonely. He was going to be so f*cking lonely without her.

“Like how to sue her so she comes back to you?”

Mitch frowned. When he put it like that it sounded really bad. “We do have legal things to work out.”

Despite the thoughts playing in his head, he knew he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t walk away. Not from her. Not from their kid.

Flynn leaned against the car. “Let’s go and get a beer, which I will buy since I kind of damaged your car.”

“I damaged your nose.” When he thought about it they were kind of even.

“True. You can buy the second round and we can talk about less litigious ways to get your girlfriend back. I might not have a girl right now, but I’m pretty good with them.”

“I’ve ignored you for years. Why would you help me?”

Flynn sighed and put a hand on his back. “Because you don’t know this yet, but that’s what brothers do.”

He wanted to go after her. He wanted to stay away from her.

He wanted…f*ck, he just wanted.

He nodded and got into the car because maybe it was past time to confront all his fears. It seemed he had nothing left to lose.





Mitch pulled up to the driveway but couldn’t manage to hit the button on the key fob that would raise the garage door. He didn’t want to see the empty spot where her car should be. It was funny the things a man got used to. He was used to opening the garage door and seeing her piece of crap nestled in there. He’d fully intended to replace said piece of crap with a car that had all the up-to-date safety features as soon as Laurel would have the conversation with him. She’d been all independent and hadn’t budged on it.

Would it have been different if he’d been smart enough to convince her he wanted to marry her in the beginning? Would she have taken the car and his crap for a little while longer?

He turned the engine off and got out. A few hours with his brother had been somewhat illuminating. Flynn didn’t seem to have Mitch’s “the world is half full of *s” philosophy of life. He seemed to think if Mitch got on his knees and begged for Laurel’s forgiveness, she might think about it.