Ember. Her bed was technically a mattress on the floor. She’d admitted to me that when the twins outgrew their cribs, she’d sold them and her bed frame in order to get their bunk beds.
“They deserve to have as normal a life as possible,” she’d explained when I asked why she was sleeping on a mattress.
It never ceased to amaze me how she did without when other women her age always seemed to want more—especially from me.
“Tripp!” the twins greeted. They were both snuggled together on the bottom bunk in matching, albeit slightly small, cartoon pajamas.
Molly held out a book. “Here, read this one,” she said.
Goodnight Moon.
My mom had read this to me when I was younger. I wondered who had read it to Ember? Somehow, I couldn’t see either of her parents reading her a bedtime story.
The twins made room for me to sit beside them, and damned if it didn’t make my heart melt the way they had their arms wrapped around each other. How their parents could fail so spectacularly when they had such wonderful children, I didn’t know.
I began to read, and by the end, their eyes were already drooping. “Again!” they demanded. I didn’t mind. At the end of the second read through, they were fast asleep. I carefully got to my feet and tucked their blanket around them. They were still snuggled together, inseparable even though they could each have their own bed.
“They do that so easily for you,” Ember complained from the doorway. She must have snuck up during the second read-through. “They always fight sleep when it’s me.”
“It’s my charming demeanor,” I told her.
“Right,” she drawled. “Speaking of, shouldn’t you be out somewhere on a date or something?”
“And miss Tequila Tuesday? Not a chance.”
“I thought it was Taco Tuesday this time?” she said quizzically.
“That was for the girls. I brought the tequila for grown-up time.”
She smiled, but it faltered. “You could always go now,” she said softly.
I snorted and went to the counter to make more drinks, this time with margarita mix and a healthy dose of tequila. I thought we both needed it. “There isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be,” I said.
She shook her head but accepted the drink I handed her. “I don’t get you.”
“What’s there to get? I’m not a complicated man.”
A blush painted her cheeks. “Never mind.” She drank deeply from her margarita. I tried not to stare at the way her tongue flicked out to lick away the salt on the rim of the glass.
Instead of thinking about it, I mixed up my own and did the same.
Two hours later, I realized my mistake.
I should have left them after dinner, gone back to my apartment, and locked the door behind me. That would have been the smart option. But no, now I was stranded in my own special version of hell.
Ember stripped off the t-shirt she was wearing over a camisole. It wasn’t a designer label—Ember dressed more for comfort than for style, but she could have worn a potato sack and looked sexy as hell. I drank thirstily to keep from staring too hard.
“I thought I was a good girlfriend,” she was saying. “I helped with his schoolwork. I treated him to dinner when he visited or when I went down to visit him. I took care of presents for his mom and sisters when it was their birthday or his parents’ anniversary. I always helped tidy and organize his place when I stayed over. I don’t get it. I thought he loved me.”
The raw pain in her voice chilled all the heat I’d been stewing in ever since I had made our fourth round of margaritas. I shook my head to clear away the thoughts of her stripping off the rest of her clothes.
Get it together, Wilder.
“You know I’ve never thought highly of Chris. He was never good enough for you. So take my opinion with a grain of salt. It sounds like you mothered him. Not that it’s an excuse for what he did to you. But a man should be able to take care of his own shit, not make you do it.”
At my words, she blinked rapidly, and I hoped she wasn’t going to cry.
She took another sip, then inhaled deeply. “I can’t believe you said that.” I opened my mouth to apologize, and she shook her head before I could get the words out. “Don’t apologize. You’re probably right. You know he never did any of that stuff in return? He