Stassi didn’t play hooky. Ever. Not once in her thirty-one years on this earth…but there was a first time for everything.

Yep. That’s right. She’d called in sick to work. Truth be told, she had been ill yesterday, and there was little doubt her body needed some more rest. So all in all, she felt it was justified.

She tipped her head back, delighting in the way the sunshine warmed her face. She’d already gone to the grocery store and picked up some wonderful fresh produce for her mother, as well as flowers, and a few lemon cookies from the bakery. Mmm. Lemon cookies. How she’d found them she’ll never know, but they were her true weakness.

As she got into her car and began the trip to her mother’s house, she couldn’t help but smile. This wasn’t her, and she knew it. She didn’t walk around humming a song with a pep in her step. She felt like some sort of over-giggled cartoon princess. If she kept it up, eventually birds would be required to follow her around and help clean the house. Brush her hair. Maybe even sew a new wardrobe. No, this wasn’t Stassi Sanderson…and she liked it.

It felt good, great, not to have to pretend to be happy. Not to plaster on a fake smile all the time and act as if her life was peaches and cream.

Right now she felt…free. She usually only felt this way at the parties. They allowed her to be herself. A place where nobody expected anything from her. She could slip on a mask and just be.

But Alec, he’d changed that. She knew it was her, that she was ready for a change, but to deny Alec had anything to do with it would be pure insanity. She was ready to make a change with him. He was a good man. She knew it to be true, and she couldn’t wait to learn more about him. To dive into what really made him tick.

The way he’d taken care of her the night before…nobody had ever done that for her. Then this morning, fireworks wouldn’t be enough to truly demonstrate the way she’d felt. There was something about the way he touched her, whether with his hands or his mouth, it wasn’t merely physical contact. It was as if he melted into her. Like he took each imperfect part of her and connected it to his own broken pieces, and together they fit.

She pulled into her mother’s driveway, grabbed the few bags from the passenger seat, and made her way down the gravel drive. She stopped and kicked the still broken step, shook her head, and climbed the stairs. She tapped the door a few times, then turned when she heard the sound of some kids down the road. They were all small, obviously the reason they weren’t in school on a Thursday morning, jumping rope and playing with sidewalk chalk. “Oh my gosh, Mom,” she said as the door opened, “those kids are too flipping cute. I—” Her words died in her throat as she turned and saw her father.

They stared at one another, each not saying a word, long moments passing between them.

Stassi finally cleared her throat and spoke in as confidant a voice as she could muster, though it still shook. “Where’s Mom?”

“She’s out,” her father grunted back.

“Where to?”

“Not sure.”

“Okay. When will she be back?”

“Don’t know.”

Stassi nodded and looked up at her father, in his eyes, for the first time in twenty-five years. She expected to feel anger, or absolute rage. She’d even settle for sadness. But she didn’t feel any of those things. She felt nothing. Absolutely. Nothing.

“You just going to stand there?”

“Uh, no. No I’m not.” She walked in and practically jogged to the kitchen, putting up the items she’d bought, then disposed of the bags. “So, um, how are you feeling?” she called into the living room.

“I’m okay. I can’t stand this damn medicine.”

“Why? Does it make you sick or something?”

“No. Just hate taking it.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I’m glad you’re here. There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.” He groaned as he sat, the couch cushions protesting his decision. He adjusted the pillow behind his back, then looked up at Stassi. “It would mean a lot to your mother if we could get along. If you’d try.”

“If I’d try?” Stassi couldn’t help the shocked edge in her voice. “Aren’t you the one who should be trying? I didn’t leave. I was six.”

“Look, we’ve all made mistakes, and I—”

“I. Was. Six.” Stassi crossed her arms and looked down at the ground, her anger returning, but also something else. Shame. As if she had any reason to be ashamed. He should. This grown man who chose to leave his family. Decided he didn’t have any responsibility to them at all. Just left and carried on with his life while they struggled. She felt hot tears of rage begin to prick her eyes. She hated the way she felt. Didn’t want to forgive this man. Why would she? He’d made his choice. “Why do you do this?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why do you do this? Every single time things are going okay, you pop back in and ruin everything. You left us. And now you’re back, for what, exactly? To latch onto my mother because everyone else has caught on to your bullshit? You might be able to get one over on her, but I’m no fool.” Stassi stood and made her way to the door, then turned and said everything she’d wanted to say since the day he left. “I want to hate you. I really do. I want to hate you and everything you’ve done to my mother. To me. To our family. But the truth is you mean nothing to me. I don’t love you. I don’t hate you. I don’t feel anything for you. I want to, but there’s just nothing there.” It was a lie and she knew it, but it was one she desperately needed to believe, so she grasped onto it with both hands.

Her father stared at her for a long time, his face not giving anything away. He finally nodded, slowly, and spoke in a hushed tone. “I know I messed up, I’ll give you that. But you weren’t the best kid.”

Stassi felt like he’d punched her in the gut. “What?”

“You weren’t. You needed so much attention. From me. From your mother. It was just too much.”

Stassi shook her head as the bile rose in her throat. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to make this my fault. I was a child.”

“You were a brat.”

Stassi recoiled as if he’d struck her. “I don’t know why I’m even having this conversation with you.”

“I guess I don’t either. What’s the point in talking if you won’t listen?”

“If I won’t listen?” Stassi stared, destroyed, her hands in the air as if she were trying to pick out something. Words. Ideas. Anything that would make the current situation make sense. “You ruined me… don’t you get it?”

“Your bad choices aren’t my fault.”

“What would you know of my bad choices? Or my good ones, for that matter? All you did was convince me people couldn’t be trusted. That those you’re stupid enough to love, especially men, will only leave you in the end. Don’t you see that? Is it really so hard for you to understand?”

“What do you want from me?” Her father looked up, but his face remained emotionless.

He didn’t get it, and he never would. He seemed incapable of it, and she knew that, now. “I think I wanted you to tell me you’re sorry. To tell me you love me, and you missed me, and that leaving me and not—” Stassi took a breath and tried to control her quaking voice, “—not witnessing my life was the worst mistake you’ve ever made. That somewhere deep down, you regret it.”

“Well—” He cleared his throat, seemingly tortured for the briefest of moments, then rubbed his eyes and looked away. “I guess I tried.”

Stassi laughed, the sound broken and bitter. “Oh yeah? This was trying? Here’s a tip. Next time? Try harder.” She opened the door and slammed it behind her, walking as quickly as she could to her car. The man was toxic, deadly fucking poison, and her life was better without him. Even as she told herself that, as she repeated it in her head, she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

* * *

Alec sat at the bar going over the night’s earnings. They closed at ten on weeknights, but even though it was relatively early, he was exhausted. The day had been a whirlwind. Waking up with Stassi had been the best thing to happen to him in a while, and she hadn’t left his mind since.

He glanced down the bar to where she sat, sipping a glass of wine and picking at her steak. She’d come in about an hour ago, and even though she’d given him a kiss and flashed him her perfect smile, he could tell something was off.

“I’m heading out.” Frank clapped Alec on the back and nodded to Stassi. “It was nice seeing you again, ma’am. Night, Alec.”

“Goodnight.” Alec watched as Frank and the last remaining kitchen staff left the restaurant. When he was sure they were gone and had locked the doors behind them, he grabbed a bottle of red wine and a glass, then went around the bar and sat next to Stassi. He leaned in and kissed her cheek as he silently refilled her glass, and he practically lit up when her face broke out in a smile.

“Hi, there,” she murmured. “How was your day?”

“It was fine. Although I’m more curious about yours.” He looked at her questioningly as he filled his glass. “What’s up? You look like you have a million pounds weighing you down.”

Stassi nodded and took another sip of wine, her brows furrowed, but she remained silent.

“I love this dress.” He said, his fingers playing along the hem of the material.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” When she went quiet again, he placed his hands on her thighs and turned her to face him. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

Stassi pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed on it, then let out a heavy sigh and looked at him with defeated eyes. “I saw my father today.”

Alec nodded as he ran his thumb over her knee in small, light circles. “Is that not good?”

Stassi let out an exhausted laugh and picked up her wine. “You forget how much people don’t know until you realize they don’t know it.”

“What the heck did you just say?” Alec chuckled.

“Nothing. It’s just—” Stassi looked at him for a long moment, then put her glass down and straddled his lap.

“Wow. What’s this?”

She reached her hand down and grabbed his cock through his pants, squeezing and rubbing his quickly hardening erection. “This is my way of telling you I don’t want to talk about it right now.” She lowered the straps on her dress until her lace-covered breasts were visible.

“Are you going to do this every time we try to have a serious conversation?” Alec asked as he rubbed his thumbs along her soft swells.

“I don’t know.”

“Fair enough. I won’t ask anymore. Not right now, at least.” Alec brushed her hair away from her face, then twisted the strands around his fingers and tucked them behind her shoulder. “I need you to know, whenever you do want to talk about it, I’m here. No matter what you need to tell me, I’ll be here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Her next words were barely above a whisper. “People always leave.”

“I won’t.” Alec used his fingers to pull down the cups of her bra, exposing her perfectly hard nipples. They were pink and beautiful, and they practically called to him to put them in his mouth. He reached around Stassi and took her glass, then dipped his index and middle finger into the wine. He lazily traced her areola with the liquid, small drops of burgundy dripping onto her puckered, pink flesh.

Stassi sighed above him, arching her back and grinding herself against him.

He watched her face as he stuck his tongue out and licked the wine from her skin, careful not to graze over her nipple. He repeated the process with her other breast, getting harder each time she took a deep breath, causing the soft swells to push into his face. He got some more wine and finally put the liquid on her nipple, then sucked it into his mouth. Her flesh was hot against his tongue, and he was ready to get her home and sink inside her sweet heat. “Let’s go back to your place.”

“Already? The fun is just getting started.”

“There’s something I want to do, but we can’t do it here. Are you ready?”

Stassi whimpered, but continued her movements against his cock. “Fine.”