Neglect.

He was lucky. So fucking lucky that Via hadn’t gotten the authorities involved. She’d given him a kick in the ass and set him on his way toward becoming a better father. Looking back, he could see now that the checklist she’d given him, the talking-to, it had been small. A sweet little nudge in the right direction. But at the time, it had saved his life. And Matty’s.

His phone dinged from the other end of the couch, and Seb jolted like he’d accidentally sat on a beehive. Crabby sprang to his feet on the couch, letting out a surprised yelp, staring in one direction and then the other.

“It’s all right, you sweet little dummy,” Sebastian murmured, pressing his face into Crabby’s fur as he reached past the wagging behind for his phone.

Seb took a deep breath and ripped off the Band-Aid. He opened the text from Fin’s number.

Like a date?

Seb groaned and dropped his head backward. She wasn’t making this easy on him. Why did he feel like this was a test? He hated texting. He sucked at it. There was too much subtext. Too much room for error. Not enough honesty. If he’d been sitting next to her, he would have known if she’d cocked her head to one side, blushed, bit her lip. Or if she’d recoiled or dropped her mouth open in horror. Instead he just had three words and a question mark and not a clue as to whether or not she wanted it to be a date.

She asked for your number, Seb.

He took a deep breath and opted for the truth.

Like a friend date where we decide if we like each other enough to go on a real date?

He let out a long, slow breath and resisted the urge to toss his phone away again. He was a grown man. He wasn’t a teenage girl squealing into a pillow at a sleepover. He could wait for a reply like a normal—

His phone dinged, and he pounced on it.

Good answer. Sunday morning? Matty can come too if you want.

Sebastian pursed his lips in surprise. That was sweet of her. And considerate. And it was an infinite relief to him to know that Matty could be his wingman on a date he was pretty sure he didn’t want to go on. Then he pictured his energetic son sitting in a café listening to two adults talk. He grimaced.

Better make it a coffee date at the park then?

They made arrangements to meet at the Ninth Street playground at 10:00 a.m. Matty would be thrilled to go to the playground twice in one day. Once in the morning with Fin and once in the afternoon with Joy.

Cool. That was great. Low pressure. No pressure at all. Just two adults getting to know one another.

Sebastian groaned and scraped his hands over his face. This was so dumb. He didn’t want to go on a date with Fin. He just wanted to get over his crush on her friend.