The One and Only: A Single Mom Second Chance Romance (Heart of Hope) Ajme Williams (books for new readers TXT) 📖

admitted such a thing out loud to anyone, I didn’t know what else to do. I felt miserable. This was even worse than when I’d broken up with Laura the first time—and this time around, we hadn’t even been a couple.

When I’d broken up with her the first time….

It had been a hurtful thing to do. I’d done it to protect her, but I hadn’t expected it to sting so badly all these years later. Now I knew why. It wasn’t just that I’d broken her heart, but she’d been left pregnant and alone, without any support, and unable to trust me.

Had I really fucked things up so much? Had I really ruined any chance of being in Laura’s life?

My anger at her and going to her house to confront her hadn’t helped at all. I’d invaded her privacy and been exactly like the kind of man my father was, doing what I wanted and expecting the people around me to fall into line without actually considering their feelings, thoughts and free will.

How could I have ever thought that Laura would cheat on someone? She had always been loyal and devoted to me when we’d been dating, and she had refused to do anything with me while I was engaged. If she was cheating on a boyfriend, she wouldn’t have cared about me having a fiancée.

I had been so blinded by wanting things my way that I hadn’t thought about her autonomy. And now, I was worried that I didn’t have any chance to make things right. Laura’s words had been pretty firm. There wasn’t any room for a different interpretation.

I wandered into the kitchen. Should I grab another expensive bottle of scotch and waste it on myself all night, like I had done for the past four days? Dad was going to kill me when he found out how much alcohol I’d gone through, but he was already planning on killing me for not going to Florida with and staying here in Michigan instead. Neither did I go back to D.C., so I figured that he could just add all these affronts to my tab.

My phone rang. My heart leapt for a moment, wondering if it could be Laura. I grabbed it hurriedly.

The caller I.D. showed that it was Gray. I answered it, “Hey.”

“Hey!” I could hear practically the carefree smile in Gray’s voice. “What are you doing tonight? Still in Detroit? We need to get together!”

“I’m not really in the mood.”

“Is this still about Laura?” Gray sounded incredulous.

“Of course, it’s still about Laura,” I replied, trying to control my voice. “How about you do me a favor, go fall in love with the perfect woman, then fuck things up with her, and tell me if it takes you only four days to get over it.”

Gray sighed. “Dude, I know you’re still upset, but you need to get out of the house and try to shake off this funk.”

“It’s not a funk—”

“You’re going out tonight, one way or another. Either you agree and do as I say and meet me somewhere, or I’ll track you down and bring the party to you.”

Part of me knew that getting outside the house, getting some fresh air and socializing with some strangers, would be a good thing to get Laura out of my system. The rest of me just wanted to keep suffering in silence and unlimited volumes of alcohol.

But I caved in for Gray’s request. “Fine. I’ll meet you.”

“Good man!” Gray was grinning, the bastard. “I’ve got an address for you, be there at eight.”

To my surprise, the address wasn’t for a nightclub or restaurant. It was for an art gallery. Huh. This wasn’t usually Gray’s speed. I was glad for it and wondered whether we might just have a low-key night than I’d thought earlier.

I went ahead and dressed in a suit, wanting to look respectable enough for the institution that we were going to this night. I might not be in the mood to socialize but that didn’t mean that I would be that person in jeans and a shirt at the art gallery.

Not surprising at all was the fact that I got to the art gallery long before Gray arrived. I ended up sitting in my car for a while and then walking up and down the street, waiting for him before I went in.

Gray finally arrived, after a full 20 minutes of the designated time, and I raised an eyebrow at him. “What are we doing here?”

Gray grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. “It’s the opening show for an exhibition by a local up-and-coming photographer. I saw her work in a magazine and I’m hoping to hire her for some work I’m doing—with the group I’d told you about—I figured meeting her here, at her show, was a natural way to start our relationship and get the ball rolling.”

That took me by surprise. “Did you drag me to a work outing?”

Gray laughed. “You bet I did. But don’t worry, I’ll take you somewhere exciting after.”

He dragged me inside without further ado, and all I could do was roll my eyes. Honestly, I was glad for it. Not to be here, that is. I’d rather be sitting at home, deciding which bottle of liquor to crack open tonight. But I was glad that Gray was taking this work so seriously.

This was new because Gray hadn’t taken anything seriously in his life, ever. He had no reason to, when the world handed him everything on a silver platter. I’d worried about him for a long time—about his happiness. Sure, fast cars and expensive toys were all well and good for a while, but it got boring fast, and I could tell that—even if he didn’t want to admit it—Gray was getting bored with this lifestyle. Flitting from thing to thing gave a passing sense of pleasure and gratification but that left quickly, leaving you in search of a new thing to entertain you.

Hopefully, focusing on a cause that