Somehow he’d seen something in me that soothed him, eased that hurt. I couldn’t replace them, but I’d given him a… connection he’d lost.

“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

“Even if you believed me, it would have torn you two apart.”

“But I could have made that decision myself.” I got mad, remembering how devastated I’d been. I popped up from my chair, grabbed my plate, and carried it to the sink. Turning, I leaned against the counter.

His gaze raked down my legs, which were bare. My sleep T-shirt only came to midthigh.

“Don’t you think I should have known about what my dad was like? He threatened you. Us. Just like today.”

“He was scared. Afraid of losing you.”

My eyes widened. “You’re defending him?”

Sighing, he crooked a finger for me to come to him. For a second I refused, but I went nonetheless. I stepped between his parted knees. With one hand at my waist, he pulled me down onto his lap so I straddled him.

“No fucking way. But having Claire has given me some perspective. If there’s a guy sniffing around her when she’s eighteen who I think isn’t good enough for her, I might do something similar.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” I countered. His hands moved to my hips, settled there. His strong thighs were my seat, and this close I could see the dark flecks in his blue eyes. He still hadn’t shaved, and the whiskers coming in were darker than that on his head. And chest.

One dark eyebrow winged up. “Oh yeah?”

“Because you’re going to raise a strong woman who can decide if a guy’s worthy of her all on her own. And if not, she’ll throat punch him.”

He frowned, clearly not thrilled with that idea, although the way his mouth turned up at the corner, he’d probably be showing her the throat punch move soon.

“I found a worthy guy all on my own,” I said, setting a hand over Huck’s chest. I felt the steady beat of his heart. I looked up at him through my lashes. “My dad didn’t think it. You didn’t think it either.”

He didn’t say anything for a long time. “Baby girl… I was lost back then. You helped me find my way out. But it wasn’t enough. You needed to go to school. Follow your dream. I’d hoped… thought that after I finished the academy, you’d come to me. I know it’s stupid, but I did.”

“But you brought Claire home.”

He nodded.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Mandy, her mother, was a neighbor. I… I didn’t take our breakup that well. When I wasn’t at the academy, I was lost in a bottle of whiskey. I drank too much. Blacked out. One of those times, I woke up and found her in my apartment. She said we’d fucked.”

I stiffened in his lap but didn’t say anything.

“I remembered nothing. For good reason too because it actually never happened.” His jaw clenched as if talking about it pissed him off. “Three weeks later she came to me saying she was pregnant. I had no intention of marrying her, but she—I thought—was making my kid. I wanted that baby.”