Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(16)

“Stella’s dad is becoming a rock star in LA,” Addison said, unable to keep the derision out of her tone. “Needless to say, Stella was a surprise to both of us. He wanted to be cut loose, and after about the fifth horrible decision, I was more than happy to make that happen. He signed over all parental rights, and we haven’t heard from him in two years. Not even on the radio,” she said with an eye roll.

Gabe nodded. “Good to hear.”

“That I have horrible taste in men?” she asked. “Shouldn’t that concern you?”

One corner of his mouth curled slightly, the first sign of anything resembling humor since they’d taken their seats. “You seem like the type to learn from your mistakes.”

She nodded. “Definitely. Hence the whole no-more-babies thing.”

“Right.” Something flickered in his eyes. “Thankfully, you haven’t figured out that babies come from sex. Because then I would be concerned. And have a pretty bad case of blue balls.”

She lifted a brow. “I have a very good IUD and always buy my own condoms. And I always put them on myself so I know it’s all done right. In case you haven’t noticed.”

For a second, he looked surprised. Then he looked impressed. “Damn. You do, don’t you?” Then he tipped his head. “Should I be offended that you don’t think I know how to put a condom on correctly?”

She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “I’ll also take it as a compliment that you were so into everything that you didn’t even really notice.”

“Well, you get your hands near my cock and I’m pretty much unable to think at all,” he said, his voice suddenly husky.

And just like that, heat arrowed through her. She swallowed hard. “Anyway,” she said, pushing all images of Gabe’s cock from her mind. Kind of. “Stella’s dad isn’t a consideration in anything. I’m doing it all on my own. Just the way I like it. Yes, it’s hard. But I’d rather it be hard than frustrating as hell when I’m dealing with someone else’s opinions on how I should raise my kid or cleaning up the messes they cause with their decisions.”

Gabe rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, looking frustrated but also a little resigned.

“You must understand,” she said. “You’re doing everything with Cooper on your own, right?”

Okay, yeah, she was fishing about Cooper’s mom, too. Totally.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t imagine that.”

“Oh.” Addison chewed the inside of her cheek. How much did she ask here? Did she have a right to ask anything? She was trying to break up with the guy. A guy who she didn’t even really have a relationship with. Did it matter, at all, what his situation was with Cooper’s mom?

But she suddenly wanted to know everything. Had they been married? How often did he see her? Had she broken things off with him or the other way around? How did he feel about her now?

“I don’t know what I’d do without my mom. And Logan. And my friends. I have a lot of help. It really does take a village,” Gabe said. “Being a dad is hard. I hear you. I don’t think I could do it on my own.”

Okay, red flag. He wasn’t the fully independent, I’ve-got-my-life-under-control guy she’d thought—or hoped—he was. Was he looking for a woman because he wanted someone to make things easier on him? “Your mom and Logan?” Addison repeated. “Where’s Cooper’s mom?” There. Might as well get right to the point.

“Gone,” Gabe said.

Addison gave him an eye roll. There was no way he actually thought that was a good enough answer. “Left or dead?” she asked.

“Left, then died.”

She blinked at him. Oh. “Sorry.”

He shrugged. “She left when he was about one. She had never planned on having kids and didn’t appreciate how much a baby changed her life.” His look was pointed.

Yeah, yeah, just like her. But Addison hadn’t left. She’d done the opposite of leave. She took care of everything in Stella’s life.

“She took off,” Gabe said. “And then was killed in a car accident about a year later.”

“Wow. That’s rough.” Addison wasn’t sure how to read his expression. Was he sad about that? Angry? Indifferent?

“You can ask,” he said after a moment.

“Ask what?”

“If I was in love with her. If she broke my heart. If I miss her.”

She didn’t love that he was reading her emotions that easily. “Okay. Were you in love with her, did she break your heart, and do you miss her?”

“I was not in love with her. We were dating when she got pregnant but had only been together about three months. If she hadn’t gotten pregnant, I doubt it would have lasted much longer, actually. She broke my heart only in the sense that my son will never know his mom. And no,” he said with a sigh, “that probably makes me an asshole, but I wouldn’t say I really miss her. But I do miss having a partner in raising my son.”

Addison realized that feeling relieved that he hadn’t been in love and didn’t miss the other woman was ridiculous. “You have your mom and Logan, I thought.”

He just looked at her for a moment. “And you’re kind of judging me, right?”