Choosing the Right Man - Nice Girl to Love, Vol 3 (Can't Resist #3)(13)

Abby whacked him in the chest and started cleaning up the board with a laughing pout.

“Okay Sky-bug, bedtime.” Brian tugged on Skylar’s braid. “Are you going out with Becky tomorrow?”

“She’s coming over after lunch.” Skylar tucked the board game back on the shelf. “Are you sleeping over tonight, Abby?”

Abby shot a glance over at Brian, but found not an iota of help there. Since starting this whole joint-custody dating arrangement, aside from their snow country trip, she’d made sure to sleep in her own house every single night because the alternative didn’t sit well with her at all. This was the first time Skylar seemed to notice anything different in that department.

“Maybe,” she evaded. “But I have a ton of work to catch up on so I may just head home, too.”

“Okay, well ‘night.” Skylar came over to give her a hug. “Can we hang out this weekend?”

“Of course.” Abby smiled. “It’s a date.”

“Cool. Love you, dad.”

“Love you too, sweetie. Sweet dreams.”

As soon as Skylar’s door clicked shut, Abby felt her nerves buzz to life, rendering her mute. This was the first time in weeks she and Brian had found themselves truly alone together. And all she could think about was how long it’s been since his last python hug.

Before her thought was even complete, she felt Brian tug her close and wrap his arms around her waist.

Never had she appreciated his mind-reading abilities so much.

She sighed and sank into his embrace.

“Is this okay?” he asked, ever the gentleman.

At her silent nod, he squeezed her tighter, whispering into her hair, “I’ve missed having you in my arms.”

She missed it too.

...But not without feeling like she was betraying Connor.

“It kills me that I can’t hold you anymore, Abby.”

“No one said you couldn’t.” She wrapped her arms over his. “Everyone knows you’re a big hugger.”

“It’s not the same.”

No, it wasn’t.

Turning in his arms, she looked up and saw the sadness in his eyes, felt it echo in her heart. “Brian, we don’t have to keep doing this. We can go right back to how it was before Connor came back. Stop this whole joint custody craziness.”

Though in her brain, she meant every single word, the stab in her heart as she said them almost took her breath away.

“Have you made your decision?” The hope laced through his tone tore at her heart.

She dropped her gaze down. “No.” God, she was a horrible person.

“Hey, none of that.” He tipped her chin up and rested his forehead against hers. “You take as long as you need. No feeling bad.”

“How can I not feel bad?” Guilt lanced through her. “You’re hurting. And I can’t even imagine how Skylar’s going to react if she finds out. I feel like everything is changing in a way we won’t be able to survive or undo.”

And it scared her.

Brian pulled her over to the couch. “I told you, honey, no matter what, you and I are going to be in each other’s lives for the long haul. Nothing can ever change that.” He draped back against the cushions and slung an arm around her shoulders lightly. “Case in point: remember the time we got into that huge fight back in college? Just before Skylar was born? And Beth had to force an intervention between us so we’d make up?”

She grinned and settled against his chest. “I remember the intervention. I don’t remember what in the world we were fighting about though.”

“Neither do I.”

“You can’t possibly think this situation is going to end up like that ten years from now.”

“Of course not.” He peeked down at her and raised an eyebrow playfully. “Because ten years from now, we’ll be looking back at what an awesome decision you made by picking me.”

She shook her head, laughing lightly. “You’re impossible.”

He snapped his fingers. “Wait, I remember what we fought about now.”

She drew back. “Really?”

“Yes, it was because of that douche bag you were dating at the time. I told you that I thought he was cheating on you and you didn’t believe me.”

The memories came rushing back. “Oh, you’re right. I was upset because I thought you were just trying to make him look bad and set me up with one of your close friends instead.”

“And I was pissed that you didn’t believe me.”

She frowned. “You didn’t have any evidence.”

“So why’d you go and tell the jerk-off about my suspicions?”

“Okay, so maybe I believed you a little.”

“Not that it mattered. You still took his side anyway,” grumbled Brian.

“Well, he said he didn’t do it.”

“And you kept believing him over me.”

“Again, you didn’t have any evidence.”

“I told you about the pair of panties I found,” he argued back.

“Yes, but you didn’t tell me where you found it. When I pushed you to tell me more, you kept avoiding answering me. That’s when I figured you were lying, which was when I got mad.” She paused. “Come to think of it, you never did tell me where you found those panties. How the heck did we make up without you telling me the truth?”