Man Buns by Shari J. Ryan

Author:Shari J. Ryan [Ryan, Shari J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shari J. Ryan
Published: 2018-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Denver

I’m not sure Kai realizes I’ve been living at the hotel this past week, but the topic hasn’t come up in our passing one-liners, or earlier today when she fell for me—ha—at least I think I’m funny.

“Why are you leaving?” Aya asks. “I thought you didn’t have to work tonight.”

I have spent every moment with Aya in the last week, as I intend to do while I’m not working this summer. Over the last few years, I’ve had to balance my level of guilt between working and trying to be human and have a tiny bit of a social life, but the balance hasn’t worked out so well. I’ve put Aya ahead of everything in my life, but I think it’s okay to take a little bit of time for myself, though I’ll probably feel guilty all night. “I need to do adult stuff tonight, baby. Tomorrow, it’s you and me all day though, I promise, so you better think of something fun for us to do.”

“Fine,” she groans.

“Mrs. Hale, are you sure this is okay with you?”

“Denver, I know what you’re doing tonight, and I fully support your desire to be a happy man.”

I offer her a small smile and place my hand on her shoulder to kiss her on the cheek. Mrs. Hale never fails to treat me like family, and I try to make sure she knows I recognize that. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for letting me share your precious Aya. She makes me feel young again.”

I know Aya enjoys her time with Mrs. Hale, but I’m willing to bet she might be getting bored spending so much time with an older woman who enjoys knitting and TV. Therefore, the guilt holds me hostage.

“I love you, Aya. Go to bed when you’re supposed to,” I tell her, pointing at her to highlight my seriousness.

She rolls her eyes at me like she’s been doing far too often lately, but I’ve learned to ignore it, hoping it’ll fade away, rather than carrying on into her tween years. One can hope.

I head out the door and downstairs to the lobby where I’m meeting Kai. It’s empty at the moment, and I don’t see her anywhere, so I take a seat on the bench in front of the lobby’s koi pond.

Maybe I shouldn’t be dating so soon after arriving here. I’m not even settled with a place to live yet, and I’m diving in headfirst with a woman I fell for way too quickly. Maybe I’m like a bat out of hell after leaving the base. Options were limited, and most women were married where I was. I go back and forth in a debate with myself on remaining single and focusing solely on Aya, but she’s begging for a different kind of life and really wants a mother figure around, so I’m stuck figuring out what’s best for both of us while trying not to hurt either of us. It’s hard shit.

“You have clothes on,” I hear.

Running through the reasons

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