The Dragon's Fate - Roxie Ray Page 0,13

you’re coming from.” I crossed my legs and looked out at the kids playing. “I really do. But my heart isn’t into it yet. Damon really did a number on me. But I’m okay with where I’m at. When I’m ready, it’ll happen.”

“I mean, you don’t have to date to get things taken care of. Just do a good job picking out men, better than I did, anyway.”

That made us die laughing again, but my laughter was a little forced. I felt bad for Jace and couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been rude because he’d thought I realized what he’d gone through. I wasn’t laughing at his personal problem, but more at how relatable it was that so many men were unable to bring women to orgasm when all they really had to do was listen to us to find out how to do it.

I also laughed because casual sex was such a foreign concept for me. All I’d ever known was commitment. Being single had been freeing, really. I loved the idea of getting into another committed relationship, this time with an actual good human being. But the prospect of something without stress or strings did seem a tiny bit intriguing. Lisa caught on to my small bit of interest. “If you’re ready, or when you get ready, I know a guy.”

I smiled and nodded. “Okay. I’ll think about it. And you’ll be the first I tell.”

We let the girls play as long as we could stand sitting at the park shooting the breeze. “Want to take them for pizza?” Lisa asked.

Our town had a pizza buffet with an arcade. Hayden loved going there, especially if she had a little bit of pocket money. “Pizza Inn?” I asked.

Lisa grinned. “Is there anywhere else?”

We hauled the girls up, who complained like crazy until we told them where we were going. The restaurant wasn’t far from the park, and it took longer to get the girls’ hands washed than it had to drive from one place to the next.

As Hayden and Tori ate their pizza, I realized my phone was buzzing quietly in my pocket. I hadn’t heard or felt it in the loud atmosphere of the buffet. They always had music playing and gaudy lights. And given the lack of options in town, they were always booming with business.

I checked my phone to find the number said blocked.

My heart sank. I knew what that meant. Damn it. Only one person would call me and block their number.

I turned off my phone and muttered a curse under my breath which was swallowed by the music in the restaurant.

I knew the cycle. He’d keep calling until I eventually picked up. I was going to have to change my number again; I’d lost count of how many times I’d had to do that. I’d started giving out my parents’ number to important places like work and the doctor’s office. No doubt he’d find a way to get a hold of their number too, if I didn’t answer this one.

But Hayden was having a great time, so I shoved my phone in my back pocket and smiled at her as she chattered at Tori about a new toy that was supposed to come out in time for her birthday. I logged it away for birthday shopping.

By the time the girls spent the money we allocated for them to spend in the arcade, the sun was starting to sink in the sky and Hayden had begun yawning big time. By then, my nerves were shot all to hell.

We walked out of the restaurant with the girls holding hands between us, already trying to talk us into spending the night with each other. “No,” I said as I laughed at them. “You’ve got school tomorrow. What in the world made you think we’d ever go for a sleepover?”

My voice faded as I stopped short. I slammed my hand down and gripped Hayden’s shoulder so she wouldn’t go any farther.

Damon stood beside my car, looking down at his phone. Fear spiked in me, making the back of my neck tingle and my flight response came out. I stepped forward and around my daughter, trying to stop Hayden from seeing him. It would be far better if I got us out of this without confusing her with her father.

I wasn’t fast enough. “Daddy?” Hayden said in her shrill, loud tone.

His gaze jerked up from his phone and landed on us. Damon’s face split into a big grin