The Dragon's Fate - Roxie Ray Page 0,12

woke up, I was upstairs on my couch and both Sammy and Anthony were in the living room with me.

“Damn it, Sammy.” She should’ve let me die.

“It couldn’t be ignored. You were radiating distress.”

I cursed again and realized the pain had receded some. I could breathe again. That much was a relief.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I shook my head. But then I realized I did have a question. I looked at Sammy. “Why did it hurt so much more when the child showed up?”

Sammy sighed. “It’s because Briana and Hayden are a package deal. If you turn your back on your mate, you turn your back on her child. Are you sure this is what you want?”

I thought about the pain of losing a child. Then I nodded my head. “Yes. I’m sure.” I refused to enter a child’s life when I wasn’t sure that I wouldn’t be just like my father and take off anyway. “I’m doing what’s best.”

She shook her head. “You’re missing out on a future that would have fulfilled you in ways that you can’t even imagine.” She tossed a bottle at me. “Drink it. It’ll snap your connection with Bri.” She pointed at me. “It’s going to hurt like pure unadulterated hell. But at least it won’t be dragged out any further.” A loud crack filled the air and she disappeared.

“Shit,” I muttered. Looking down at the stoppered bottle, I thought about the day my dad left.

“I gotta ask one more time,” Anthony said. “Are you absolutely sure?”

“I remember how bad it hurt when my dad decided he couldn’t be a father. When he turned his back on us. I won’t do that to anyone else.”

Anthony paused. “I’m sorry, man, but it doesn’t feel like that’s all. Is it her? ‘Cause what she did to you, when we were young and stupid,” he said, refusing to say her name, as we’d promised each other over a decade ago, “Briana won’t do anything like that to you. Briana is the real thing. She’s meant to be.”

“It’s not in me to be a dad. I won’t break their hearts that way.” I pulled the cork on the bottle and downed it before he could say another word. I was ready for it to be over and for the pain to stop, both physical and emotional.

5

Bri

As Hayden ran off, I sat down on the bench beside Lisa, the mom of a girl in Hayden’s class. The girls had schemed and worn us down until we’d agreed to do a playdate.

As soon as I stepped foot onto the mulch that covered the playground area and spotted Lisa, my stomach had dropped to my knees. It was the woman from the bathroom stall.

“Well, this is awkward,” she said.

I pursed my lips sympathetically. “Not at all.” I stuck my hand out. “My name is Bri. It’s nice meeting you for the first time ever.”

She gave me a grateful smile. “I’m Lisa, and single parenting and trying to date is incredibly difficult.”

I burst out laughing. “That is the stone-cold truth.”

We watched the girls play for a while. “So, what you’re pretending you didn’t see the other night was the first date I’ve gone on in months. And it was an epic fail.” She sighed and shook her head. “We tried to have a little, uh… well, you saw.”

I nodded. “I did.”

“But he couldn’t get into it.”

I raised my eyebrows at her. “No, really?” This was interesting.

“Yes.” She leaned closer. “What you heard was him trying and failing.”

I tried not to let my jaw drag the ground. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope.” She sipped her coffee, which made me wish I’d stopped for one. “It’s been so long since I had an orgasm that I wasn’t responsible for.”

I couldn’t help but think about Jace and how I would’ve never expected that from him in a million years.

“Well, I haven’t dated since I divorced Damon,” I said. “I can’t relate. And I’ve been responsible for my own orgasm for my entire life. Having Damon didn’t help.”

We dissolved into giggles and the girls ran up. “What are you laughing about, Mommy?” Hayden asked.

That made us laugh even harder. “Nothing, baby. Or nothing you’ll need to worry about for an awfully long time.”

“Never, if you’re lucky,” Lisa quipped.

We laughed and waved the girls away.

“Remember, you’re more than just a mom,” Lisa said when we both calmed down. “You’re a woman, too. It’s okay to want companionship other than an almost seven-year-old.”

“I get where