“It’s the right thing to do,” I said firmly. “You don’t know him, and if you did, I think you’d agree with me. He’s really good for us. He makes me feel safe without making me feel like I need him to feel that way.”
“Safe from what?” She frowned. “Is there something going on I don’t know about?”
“Well, yeah, but that’s not really what I’m talking about. I meant it more generally. Chris is loyal to a fault. He’s reliable. He’s fun, smart, and hot. Name a single one of those characteristics that makes you doubt this is the right thing to do.”
My sister’s head dropped to the side, and she studied me with a puzzled expression on her face. “What’s going on? Reliable and loyal used to equal boring to you. Now that’s something you’re looking for?”
“It’s always been something I wanted. I just didn’t find it before. Seriously? Who wants someone unreliable and disloyal? No one.”
“You used to.” She pointed at my chest. “I thought you liked the bad boys.”
“Bad boys are only fun until you realize that a lot of them really are bad. No girl really wants a guy who’s unreliable or disloyal. We just keep hoping that we’re the one the bad boy will turn good for.”
“Fair enough.” She chuckled. “This doctor doesn’t bore you then?”
“Not at all,” I said honestly. “Just because he has a good heart doesn’t mean he’s boring. He has all the attractive elements of a bad boy but none of the shitty ones.”
“How so?” Donning an oven mitt, she pulled the tray of vegetables out of the oven and placed the chicken pieces under the broiler.
I sliced through a tomato, almost cutting off my finger, as lost in thought as I was. “He’s confident, assertive, protective, somewhat mysterious, and lives his life on his own terms. But he’s not arrogant, aggressive, or dangerous.”
“So that makes him what?”
“Perfect,” I joked, wagging my eyebrows at her. “Can we drop this now? I like the guy. Adi likes him and he likes us. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that you still haven’t told me what’s going on that I don’t know about and that two months ago, you were firmly in camp Down on Love.”
“What’s the use of a mind if you can’t change it?” I tapped my temple while sprinkling croutons over the salad with my other hand. “I also never said I was in love with him. Love has nothing to do with this.”
She snorted. “If that was true, you wouldn’t have had a problem with him just being a hookup. Now stop stalling and tell me what’s going on.”
I braced my hands against the counter and lowered my head, knowing that Katie was going to kill me for not telling her sooner. “Craig plans on suing me for full custody of Adi. Long story short, he’s not bluffing and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t lose her, but I also can’t afford a lawyer.”
The string of words that left her mouth would’ve made even the most experienced sailors blush and take cover. She ranted for five full minutes before the timer on the oven cut her off.
After she yanked the chicken out and shut the broiler off, she slammed the tray down on the counter and spun around to face me. “That’s such freaking bullshit. I have some money saved up. We’ll get a lawyer. We’ll get the best flippin’ lawyer we can afford and sue him for child support while we’re at it. If he’s got money for this farce, he can afford to help with Adi’s expenses.”
“That’s a really good point, but we need to get through the custody suit first. Chris offered to help too, and to be honest, I still don’t really know what to do. I’ve been thinking about nothing else for days. I think I just need a night away from it all.”
“Want to have a girls’ night out?” she offered. “There’s karaoke at Bottles tomorrow night. We can call Luna to come with us and get that sitter from your building to watch Adi.”
“Actually, Chris is coming over for dinner tomorrow night. I was hoping you might be able to watch Adi so I could get a night away from it all with him.”
She looked surprised. I didn’t often turn down the opportunity for karaoke. “I thought you’d be all in for a night of singing and drinking with me and