Roommate Arrangement (Divorced Men's Club #1)(6)

I reach their place and pull up by the curb before grabbing the things I’ve brought with me on this trip. Most of our furniture I left with my fuckhead ex, so the things I do have are minimal. And there’s no way I wanted to take that bed.

I let myself inside with the key they gave me.

Lizzy’s on the couch flipping through the TV, while the girls are playing at the LEGO table behind her.

“Uncle Payne!” Bridget cries and jumps to her feet. She throws herself across the room and into my arms. I melt, and holding that much pure sunshine reminds me my life is still awesome.

“What are you guys building?” I ask.

“A military base. The aliens are coming.”

“We better get to work, then.” I spare Lizzy a quick smile as she watches on with amusement, then slump down next to Soph, who’s eyeing me strangely. It always takes a minute for her to warm up. “Remember me?”

She drops her head and watches me from under her eyebrows, and it’s so adorable I do my best not to laugh.

“Is this a new one?” Bridget asks, angling my forearm to see my most recent tattoo.

“It is. I made sure it had lots of detail, just for you.”

Her face lights up. “I’m going to grab my markers.”

“You okay?” Lizzy asks the moment Bridget is out of the room.

“As well as I can be. It still hurts sometimes, but I’m ready to move on from it all.”

“Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”

“Careful. I’m getting a whole single bed—you might never be rid of me.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I really do appreciate this.”

“I know you do. I still can’t believe—” She cuts off, face tense, and I know the only reason she’s holding back her thoughts is because of the girls. Lizzy has subjected Marty and me both to long rants about that fucker.

Listening to her swear like a sailor has been enjoyable, at least.

Bridget returns with a pencil case full of markers, so I yank my shirt over my head and lie facedown on the floor. I guess the aliens have been forgotten about already.

Soph eventually joins her coloring in, and I’m so peaceful while they work that I start to drift off. That is until Soph speaks. “Where’s Uncle Ky?”

Urg, straight to the heart.

Lizzy jumps in to explain that Uncle Ky won’t be around anymore while I bury my face in my folded arms.

I’m one hundred percent over him.

Mostly.

But in moments like this, all I can think of is why?

He destroyed our lives.

And I’m the one left to deal with the fallout.





2





Beau


Wow, am I a bumbling idiot or a bumbling idiot?

Thirty-six. I’m thirty-freaking-six, and I still trip over my words when Payne is around, like I’m going through puberty again. It definitely doesn’t help that the years have been kind to him.

Instead of looking older, he looks manlier. Broader and scruffier. From the short beard to the messy hair, to the way his shoulders strained that T-shirt.

I was caught totally off guard.

Normally, when he visits, it’s for a family thing. One of the girls’ birthdays or Christmas or something so I’m able to prepare and psych myself up. Plus, being married put a damper on things, to the point I’d thought my crush was on the way out. But nope. Still here. Still strong. Still want to lick his neck.

I clench both coffees tighter as I reach the place where I’m meeting Marty. Every Friday, we catch up for his lunch break and take a walk around the lake. It gets me out of the house and socializing because if I’m left to my own devices, weeks could pass before I realize I haven’t spoken to anyone in that time.

I’m … well, lonely isn’t the right word. I like my space and solitude, but some days I wish I had someone to live alongside me. Someone who won’t interrupt while I work, someone who accepts my quirks and won’t make me feel weird about them.

But apparently that someone doesn’t exist.

Or, if they do, I’ve probably been set up on a date with them and forgotten about it.

I’ve been called scatterbrain too many times to count, but this morning, I’m not the one who’s conveniently forgotten something.

I pin Marty with a look as I approach. He has the same light brown hair as Payne, but unlike his brother, it’s short, he doesn’t have tattoos, and he’s clean-shaven. Plus, Marty has lines around his mouth and eyes where Payne’s skin is still mostly smooth. And gorgeous. They might look similar to most people, but I don’t see it.

For me, Marty is like an annoying brother.

Payne is like … a wet dream.

Marty goes to smile when he spots me, but it dies before it can properly take hold. “Uh-oh. What’s wrong?”

“Oh no, no, nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Something’s telling me not to believe you.”

I hand his coffee over. “Apparently Payne is moving back?”

“Oh, that.” He gives me a weird look. “Yeah, he and Kyle split. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just surprised to see him, that’s all.”

Marty looks confused, and I don’t blame him.