I nodded. Since it was off-season, I had more time with Jordan. I set up my schedule to be local for the next two and a half weeks, but gave Zoey’s parents a week of my time because Sarah wanted to show him off to her family down there in South Carolina. It wasn’t my preference, but I’d do anything for Sarah and I knew that made her happy.
“When she came to me and asked, I told her it was your time. She then asked what I thought you’d say.” As she spoke a few guys were carrying a folded table into the room, making us back up from where we were standing. We ended up near a loveseat where I gestured for her to take a seat. She did without breaking the conversation. “I told her you’d likely say no because of how attached you are to him. I honestly thought you’d scheduled a getaway by then.”
“I could understand her wanting to show him off. I do it every chance I get,” I muttered as I observed her smoky eye makeup. Sitting that close to her, I saw the soft details in her beautiful face.
“Yeah, I see him on Facebook. Those pictures are so adorable. Looks like you two have a blast,” she giggled.
I nodded and chuckled at a memory. “You see the one of him in my sneakers?
“Yeah, he looks so tiny in your shoes. I was like, ‘Is that my baby?’ Those things swallowed him up!” She laughed this time.
“Yup. He actually pulled them that close together to put them on himself.” I couldn’t fight my proud smile. “I had to snap a shot at that one.”
A waiter came by with more champagne. I took a flute and Zoey exchanged her empty wine glass for one. I couldn’t believe she was drinking socially. This fact reminded me of her maturation. What I’d missed. I questioned my old rationale of not taking on the relationship I wanted with her a few years ago. Isn’t this what I wanted for her, to develop and see the world at her own pace? I knew the feisty and adventurous Zoey wanted to take on the world on her own terms. She wouldn’t have wanted that while under the arms of Stenton Rogers. I wanted her to blossom and mold without my influence. And clearly she had.
But why did I feel so snubbed about that?
What I learned in that brief time with her was that our conversation flowed so easily and naturally. We talked about something we were equally passionate about and loved just about more than anything else in life: our son. Because we weren’t raising him under the same roof, it became interesting to conclude the same revelations of Jordan’s development. It was lighthearted and neutral. It didn’t involve the pain and confusion that always loomed over the two of us since we met.
We talked for a while, about Jordan, of course, but also about her work and things she’d been working on to grow her business. I was so fucking proud of Zoey’s ingenuity. She was such a force when she wanted something, similar to when she wanted to have sex the first time. With me. I couldn’t fight my arousal from her. Although it couldn’t be seen easily through my jeans, I knew I had to control my subconscious thoughts as I examined her sexy eyes or the way her breasts bounced a little when she laughed.
And we did a lot of laughing and eye excursions. Several times I caught Zoey checking me out, taking in my shoulders, my arms and even zooming in on my lips. When we were there for a while with still no mention of a significant other, I knew I’d have her beneath me that night. Quite honestly, I couldn’t give a fuck if she had a man or not. There would always be a part of Zoey that was reserved for me, similar to that part of me that no woman but Zo controlled. The only difference was I’m sure she had a bigger part of me than I had of her. I’d fucked up so much.