Cocky Notes - Leesa Bow Page 0,43
kitchen table and reach for my phone ready to search for the place on maps where Reef wants to take me this weekend.
“I told Bernadette your boyfriend meets you for lunch. Then she suggested arranging for an Uber to pick me up once a week, so I could see her at lunch. There are plenty of cafés near the beach where she works.”
I take in a breath. “You’re getting serious pretty fast, don’t you think?”
“Not a lot of time to spare at my age, love.” He walks around the table wearing his prosthesis at home. “We get on well. We enjoy each other’s company. She makes me happy. Same reasons you’re with Reef.”
I nod, pushing the thought that he also makes me orgasm more than any other guy I’ve been with out of my head.
“You’ve just met.”
“Did you know Reef before?”
“No, but—”
“Bernadette and I knew each other at school. We actually dated years ago. But your mother came on the scene, and I never saw her again.”
“What? You knew each other?”
“I didn’t recognise her at first with her hair all wet at the pool. It only took her a week to admit she’d always held a flame for me. She said I was the one who got away.” He chuckles. “I didn’t know I could feel like this again.”
I sit down ready to listen to him. “Why didn’t you say something to me before?”
“You’ve been distracted. We both have.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Is it why you’re wearing your prosthesis regularly?”
He nods. “I want to go out with her more. Be the man by her side when we go out for dinner. I don’t want her to assist me.”
My gut drops. I shouldn’t have doubted her. Now I understand why she was all fluttery around him. “I don’t think Bernadette sees you as a man with one leg. If she still holds a flame, she sees Peter Reynolds, high school heartthrob.”
“Doesn’t change the fact I have one leg and can’t do the things I want.”
“But you can do many other things. Modified. And the more you wear your prosthesis, the more capable you’ll be. You made limitations to your life. It’s up to you to break old habits and enjoy life without limits.”
“You should be a life coach or something. And you need to take on your own advice.”
“I try when I’m not busy.” I smile at him and top up his water glass.
“I’m not talking about enjoying life. I’m talking about breaking old habits. No limitations, like the ones you impose for me.”
“You’re not a limitation. We’re a team, remember?” I walk around and pat his shoulder.
“A good team. You’ve been by my side long enough. Bernadette has opened my eyes to what I haven’t been doing and what you’ve been doing for me. Even if she weren’t here as much, I know what I need to do, so you can make a life. I want you to go out more with your friends. With Reef. I don’t want you having to be here checking on me.”
The windows are open, yet it feels like there is no air in the room. My chest is tight. My hand rests on the spot where my heart races.
“Have a drink,” Dad says. “And sit down. You look like you’re going to pass out.”
He pushes the jug of water on the table toward me. Taking a glass from the cupboard, I sit opposite him and glug down water, doing what he asks.
“As much as I’ve appreciated everything you do for me, I know you’ve been hiding away, using me as an excuse. I know because I’ve done it, too. When your mum left, you pushed everyone out of your world and wouldn’t let anyone close. We were both afraid of getting hurt again.”
I pour another glass of water and chug it down.
“We can’t live this way anymore. This Reef, he’s the closest I’ve seen any guy get to you. But I know there’s a ticking time bomb inside you. Know you’re waiting, and soon he’ll be sent packing like the others. If he’s not right for you, then it’s fate. But don’t push him away because you’re scared.”
I drop my head to the table and lean in on my hands under my forehead. Defeated. “I don’t know how to change.” I take in a few deep breaths. “Problem is, he’s only having fun, too. We’re going to both end up hurt, and I have no way of slowing us down. We’re each falling