“After this, I don’t think I’ll be working today anyway. I’ll take the kids to the park or something.” She pulled Zoey in for a tight hug. “I really am sorry. If I can help...”

“It’s not your fault. We were careless.”

“But we weren’t careless,” Mike insisted. “We had no reason to think she’d—”

“We were careless.” Zoey’s eyes were hard, still shimmering with tears. “And my daughter has been hurt because of it. She saw you naked. In my bedroom.”

“Technically, she only saw me from behind. For a split second. I’m sure she’s seen bare butts before, probably on a cartoon. Or some video game or TV show.”

Yes, this was bad. But it wasn’t the catastrophe she was making it out to be. Was it?

“Are you trying to make a joke out of this?” Zoey stopped next to him in disbelief. “Is this funny to you?”

His sister was behind Zoey, making frantic slicing moves with her hand at her throat in the universal hand signal to shut up.

“It’s not funny, babe. I’m just saying...” What was he saying? Mary was still slicing at her neck, but he had to finish the sentence. “I’m just saying it could have been worse, right?”

Mary covered her face with her hands behind Zoey, who was staring at him, color rising in her cheeks. “You were dancing. Naked. In front of me. While I was naked. The fact that she didn’t get a full frontal is not a comfort to me, Michael.”

He didn’t think he’d ever heard her call him by his full name, except in jest. She was definitely not jesting right now. Her shoulders dropped sharply.

“Just go. Please. Leave me alone.”

That sounded way too permanent for his liking.

“I love you, too, Zoey.”

Behind her, Mary threw her arms up in the air and clutched her hair. Yeah, the timing wasn’t ideal. But he had to say it. He cleared his throat.

“You told me you love me. You need to know I love you, too. We can figure this out.”

Zoey shook her head, waving her hand weakly at him.

“I can’t do this right now. My daughter needs me.”

She hurried past him, wiping moisture from her cheeks and pulling herself tall. She was going into warrior mode to protect her family.

He wanted to cry out I need you, too! But that would be an asshole move. He wasn’t the teenager here. He took a deep breath, reminding himself of what he’d told Logan and Father Joe. It wasn’t about his needs. If he really loved her, he’d give her what she needed.

And right now, she needed him gone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“I’M GOING TO go live with Dad. Forever.”