Unexpected Eva (Triple Trouble #3)(43)

It took every sheer bit of willpower within me not to kiss Eva right there in the parking lot of the police station before she jumped into her canary-yellow car and drove away.

I made a promise to myself not to act too keen, scare her off, or stifle her, but we’ve been texting back and forth several times a day and I can’t get enough of our textual foreplay.

Never one for virtual relationships, now that I have Eva at my fingertips, my phone has been firmly glued to my hand. Checking it every two minutes, waiting for a text, replying straightaway, distracted in meetings. I'm beginning to understand the obsession—to phones and to her.

She makes me feel like a giddy schoolboy. It’s a foreign feeling that’s new to me.

As if the lights have been switched on again in my life, this thing between us, whatever it is, excites me; it feels good, great even.

But it scares me.

More than I care to admit.

I gave myself to Olivia and in the end, it caused cataclysmic heartbreak for me, more for Lincoln than for me. Pain for the absence of a mother in his life.

Thoughts of her have faded to a splintered memory now. It took me a very long time to be able to say her name without it causing somber thoughts.

Letting Eva into my life, both physically and emotionally, I’m not prepared.

Eva probably isn’t either. Cutting emotional cords with someone you’ve been with for years isn’t easy.

Ewan is finding it hard to let her go, too. That’s why he’s playing up.

Trust me, I know.

Many years ago, I found it very difficult to let go, and then I couldn’t let anyone into my life again. Even now, I still struggle and have reservations.

Following our short three-month marriage, Olivia left, severing all connections to me and Lincoln. She sliced a knife through those ties and never looked back.

Me, on the other hand, I held on to her, emotionally, for longer than necessary.

There were no birthday or Christmas cards. It was as if Lincoln didn’t exist to her.

It fucking destroyed me. Made my heart ache for my motherless baby boy.

Lying awake in bed during the nights, I beat myself about it way too much; she fucked us both over and I was a stupid prick for not seeing it sooner.

One of the positives to come from it all; I discovered who my friends were during my time of uncertainty.

My high school friends, Corey and Shane, stood by me and never faltered. Through thick and thin, they were always there for me. Even when they went off to university and medical school, they stayed in touch and visited me as soon as they were home between semesters.

Innocent, wet behind the ears, and still a teenager, I felt like a complete failure before my own life had even begun. It fucking killed me inside. But I grew up fast. It wasn’t just me to consider anymore because I had a little person to look after.

While my friends gained their degrees at university, I earned mine at the University of Life.

Juggling a baby, learning the hotel business from my father, as well as navigating being a dad and a mother. All the while studying for my hospitality management degree via distance learning.

My long days were consumed with a multitude of weaning, potty training, profit-and-loss sheets, marketing strategy, learning all the roles of each employee in the hotel, and doing them, too. Hospital corners? Nailed those. Towel origami? I’m your man. It was all part of my father’s plan—learn the business top to bottom.

Every night I went to bed exhausted, but I lived every day to the fullest and to the best of my ability for my boy.

Over time and with age came enlightenment.

In my twenties, I realized I had no control over Olivia’s actions and the decision she made to follow the path she felt called to walk along.

She was chaotic. Obscenely bodacious. She was flamboyant, impulsive, and energetic. It's what drew me to her. She was everything I wasn’t. She was exciting at first. But selfish.

It took me a while, combined with hours of therapy, to figure out that Olivia and I were never a good fit. Not even a smidge.

Olivia wanted to travel, see the world, and explore. Experience life, backpacking and winging every day, never sure of where the next penny or bed would come from.

She sure as hell never wanted to be tied down with a baby.

Our little oopsie in the back of my dad’s car inside his garage when we turned seventeen changed the course of both of our lives. Forever.

I always knew I wanted to take over the family business. Go to university. Earn my degree. Settle down with the love of my life and one day have a family. Exactly like my father did.

My father is an incredible man. He and my mother helped me raise Lincoln. They both love him like he’s their own. They never judged me or chastised. A parental coax here and there and a slither of advice when I needed it was everything I required. To this day, I am grateful for their love and support.

My mother and father are an inspiration to me.

One summer vacation in Athens, my father fell madly in love with my mom. She’s his everything, from sun up to sun down and vice versa. He moved mountains for her and him to be together.

Eventually, she moved to Scotland. My father maintains she teased him, made him work that bit harder to prove his love for her. But we all know the truth; she loved him as much back then as she does now.

My grandfather, her father, was against her leaving Greece. But she stood in her power, followed her heart. She changed her life, forged her own path, and moved to Scotland to be with my dad.