a human, I’m boring. I have a demanding job that takes up most of my time, and a kid who takes up the rest. I’m too busy with my own world to make room in it for him. Besides, he hates my guts now, so I’m better off without him.”
Ginette stared at her hard for a moment, her expression serious.
“What?” Rylan asked warily.
“I hate to be the asshole who tells you this, Ry, but it’s not about you anymore.” Ginette nodded toward Trystin, who had moved on to the slide. “That kid right there…he’s the one you should be thinking about.”
Rylan watched her son laughing with other kids, and a cold wave of shame hit her like a wall of concrete. “Of course. How could I… You’re right, Ginny.”
“I know,” Ginette said cheerily, patting her on the back. “Always am. It’s my cross to bear.”
“I can’t believe how selfish I’ve been, only thinking in terms of Thrett and me. That’s the last thing I should be thinking about.”
Ginny frowned. “Wait, I didn’t say—”
“You’re right,” Rylan continued, not even hearing her friend. “This is about Trystin and what’s best for him. He deserves a dad, and if Thrett is willing to be a part of his life, I want that for them both. Of course, the question remains. Does Thrett want that?”
Ginette grimaced as she looked beyond Rylan. “Don’t mean to freak you out, but it looks like you’re about to find out.”
Rylan turned to see what Ginny was talking about. The blood in her veins chilled when she saw Thrett walking across the playground with purpose, coming right toward them.
Thrett would have felt less on edge walking to an executioner’s block. If he were walking to his own death, at least he wouldn’t have had to think about the aftermath of however badly this apology was about to go. Assuming she didn’t just whip out a can of pepper spray.
“Hey,” he opened with a gruff smile. Shit, this was nose diving already.
“Hey,” she replied, brushing a strand of hair out of her face and looking like she wanted to say more but was struggling to figure out what that was exactly. At least he wasn’t alone.
“I, uh,” started the cute secretary from the school. Ginette, if memory served. “I’m going to go check on Trystin.”
Once she’d hurried off, he dug the toe of his shoe into the dirt as Rylan cleared her throat, both blushing as the silence grew more awkward.
“So how did you find—”
“I hope you don’t mind—”
They stopped themselves at the same time again, blushes deepening. Rylan gestured for him to continue with a silently raised eyebrow, and Thrett nodded for her to go on.
See? They could cooperate!
“How’d you know where to find me?” She crossed her legs and perched her chin on her palm, watching him thoughtfully.
She was dressed in jeans and a basic women’s t-shirt, but her auburn hair fell past her shoulders in the loveliest waves. He’d yet to see her hair down at school, so this was a wonderful change.
He chuckled. “Thought I’d finally put some of those resources of mine to use.”
She didn’t need to know that her neighbor had told him not ten minutes earlier that she’d gone to this park.
“Impressive.” Something in her hot-chocolate-colored eyes told him she suspected the truth was simpler than he was letting on, but she didn’t need confirmation.
“Mind if I sit?”
It was time to just plow through the tension and hope for the best. She nodded and scooted over for him, and he ran his hand through his hair as he took a seat. They both watched Trystin and Ginette for a few seconds before he finally summoned the courage to do what he came here to.
“I want to apologize for last night,” he said. “I was an ass, plain and simple. I shouldn’t have freaked out like that, especially not while Trystin was in the house.”
She sat silently and then gave him a soft smile and bumped him with her shoulder. “Last night wasn’t my proudest moment either. I’m sorry too. You deserve to know your son…if you want.”
He took a chance and rested his hand on hers. She didn’t pull away, which he took as a good sign. “I do. I really do.”
Her smile lit his heart on fire. “I’m glad. I sure wouldn’t mind some help raising him. Being a single mom raising a half-dragon baby hasn’t been a walk in the park, I can assure you.”
A sense of shame washed over Thrett