he was wondering about that himself.
“Do you want her?”
“God, yes,” he said, wishing like hell that he didn’t.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Drew,” Aidan explained, slowly exhaling as he leaned against the windowsill.
“I’m sorry. Who’s Drew?” his father asked, looking confused.
Smiling, Aidan said, “Our son.”
“Drew Bradford,” his father said with a pleased smile.
“I don’t want to mess this up for him.”
“What makes you think you’re going to mess this up for him?” his father asked, leaning back against the other side of the windowsill.
“Jeff,” Aidan said with a heavy sigh as he watched his father frown.
“Trevor’s father?” Ethan asked before shaking his head and explaining, “You could never be like that asshole.”
“I’m terrified of missing out on my son’s life. I want to watch him grow up and I won’t be able to do that if I fuck this up.”
“I don’t know Melanie that well, but from everything that your brother and Rebecca have told me about her, that’s not something that I think you’re going to have to worry about. She loves Drew and wants you in his life,” his father said as Aidan glanced back outside.
“I don’t want her to hate me,” Aidan said softly.
Nodding, Ethan pushed away from the wall with a, “Then don’t give her a reason to.”
Chapter 24
“How are you holding up?” Adam asked with a pitying look on his face as he reached over to-
“Please don’t touch my bitch,” Rebecca, whom Melanie would really like to point out that she absolutely adored right now, said, pushing Adam’s hand away as she smoothly stepped in front of Melanie.
Blinking, Adam noticeably swallowed as he took a step back and started to look over his shoulder only to stop and focus his attention back on Rebecca as though he was afraid to take his eyes off her. “What are you doing here?” Adam asked, noticeably struggling not to look over his shoulder as he took another step back.
“Why wouldn’t I be here, sunshine? Didn’t you miss me?” Rebecca asked, blinking innocently as Melanie stood there, watching as all the blood drained out of Adam’s face as he mumbled something, cleared his throat, and-
“I didn’t hold back,” Rebecca said, shrugging it off as Adam opened his mouth to say something only to decide against it.
With a muttered, “Excuse me,” he fled the room.
“I really don’t understand what you saw in him,” Rebecca said with a heavy sigh as she grabbed Melanie’s hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. Melanie glanced back over her shoulder in the direction of where Adam disappeared and-
Found herself wondering the same thing as she watched him step back into the foyer with Caitlyn hanging onto him. Once upon a time, she’d thought the world of him, but now, Melanie really couldn’t help but wonder why. When she was sixteen, she thought that he was incredibly handsome, sweet, and everything that she could ever want in a man. But now…
She couldn’t help but admit that they’d never had anything in common. While she’d always been happy working on a computer, wrapped up in blankets while sitting in front of the television with a pile of junk food by her side, he hadn’t. He wanted more, wanted to travel the world, and wanted the best of everything. He spent too much money, cared too much about what other people thought of him, and if she was going to be honest, being around him had always left her feeling exhausted.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Mrs. Bradford, or Mary as she’d been asked to call her, said with a polite smile and a nervous glance when they walked into the large dining room, reminding Melanie that she had bigger problems to worry about than a man that really wasn’t worth her time.
“Everything looks wonderful,” Melanie said as she took in all the food covering the large dining room table.
“Thank you,” Mary said after a slight hesitation, making Melanie bite back a wince as she tried to figure out how they were going to get past the fact that Melanie had a one-night stand with her son.
“What did we talk about?” Lucifer demanded as he walked into the room, carrying a foil-covered plate with a glare aimed at his mother.
“Many things?” Mary said as she sat down at the head of the table and absently gestured for Melanie to sit down next to her. Knowing that she didn’t have a choice, Melanie sat down and resigned herself to getting through an incredibly awkward dinner when Adam sat down across from