Page 63 of The Only Heart that Matters
The drool doesn’t faze Angus as he puts the wet bite in his napkin.
“That’s my boy.” I reach my hands out to take Sawyer, but Angus shakes his head. “I’ll take him while you eat,” I say.
“He’s fine. No dessert for you?”
“Nope, but it is time to work on our story.”
He pulls his spoon from between his lips, his tongue swiping over them as he waves his spoon in the air. I hate knowing what he can do with that tongue, because it’s making this much harder than it needs to be.
“Proceed.”
“Okay, for starters... How did we meet?”
“That’s easy. The truth is all we need. I’ve known you since the day you were born. I was two, our moms are best friends, and we grew up together. What do they call it?Friends to lovers? Don’t think I haven’t heard you and Daisy discussing your books at Sunday dinner. Pervs.” He winks.
Why is he so nonchalant about all of this? Angus McKinnon is not a nonchalant person. He rarely pokes his head out of his hard shell, but since Sawyer’s birthday party, I’ve gotten to know a whole new side to him. His lighthearted take on our situation is throwing me for a loop, and I swear he’s enjoying every moment of this.
“But, if we call each other husband and wife, that is far from the truth. So, we will have to lie at some point.”
“What if we purposely never say those two words? If you never call me your husband and I never call you my wife, technically, we aren’t lying.”
“You are all about technicalities, aren’t you?”
“If it helps you feel better about the situation, I will find every technicality I can.”
I’ve always known him to be a kind person, but lately he’s acting like my well-being is his responsibility. Giving mehis home and pretending to be my fake husband and father to my child goes above and beyond the whole family friend responsibilities. I’m so confused.
“And if they ask, when did we realize we were more than friends?” I push back.
“Well, I don’t know your answer, but I know mine.”
“Have you actually been working on your story?”
“No need to work on anything. Again, all I have to do is tell the truth.”
What?
“What?” I ask, on a confused whisper.
“You don’t remember me telling you about your prom.”
“You meant that?”
“Sweetheart, you will never hear a lie from this mouth.” He bounces Sawyer in his arms. “Like I told you that night, it felt like a punch to the gut to watch you going to prom with someone else, but I knew you could never be mine. I enlisted the next day. Safer that way. You were off-limits and there was no way I was sticking around to watch you with other guys. I had to get out of town.”
“Angus, no. Tell me that’s not true.”
That can’t be the case. He’s been through so much. Horrible things. It can’t be because of me.
“Well, I was ninety percent sure I was joining, anyway. That day solidified my decision and sped things up a bit.”
He takes another bite of his flan, then offers a bite to Sawyer, who shakes his head vigorously.
“More for me.” He kisses my little man on the top of his head.
Sawyer snuggles into him, causing my heart to break a little.
I clear my throat nervously. “I have a hard time believing you have felt this way for so long. I mean, I can’t be that oblivious, can I?”
