Present Day
Ashlae asks Micah what it's like to have food poisoning. They have a good laugh about it. I can hear them through the door. He scared us. Now, it's something we can joke about. Tell our friends when we go out.
"I don't...I can't hurt him," Roman begins. "I mean, you shouldn't let him touch you when you're not...when you don't want to be with him anymore."
I cross my arms over my chest. I don't want him to see what I'm thinking. About breaking things off with Micah. Running away with him. Not having to deal with anyone's criticism. "I never said I was going to leave him. I can't leave him. He's Micah."
"Right." His face hardens.
I take his hand in mine. "Hey, you know if things were different... If Micah wasn't you're son... I would've left him. I would've left him to be with you."
"That doesn't make me feel better. I don't want to have to compete with my son. It's emasculating," he groans, rubbing his face. "I hate that I saw you all those years ago and I was too scared to do anything about the way I felt about you. I should've taken your number... Kissed you. Something."
"You know that wouldn't have worked. You were older and it would have looked wrong. I mean, you were one of my lecturers," I say to him. "There's no way it would have worked."
"I retired so it wouldn't have to be a problem," he says then.
"I know."
"Why did you say yes to him?"
"Because I was embarrassed. Embarrassed that I was interested in a man old enough to have kids that were my age. I don't want to be that girl, Roman. The one who dates older men because they have money or something. I mean, it's not what this was—at all. But that's what people will see when they look at us," I say to him. It's the first time I've verbalized what I feel about the situation. My chest tightens. I can't look at him.
He moves closer to me. I'm between his body and the wall. The heat from his chest makes me shiver. I swallow deeply. "I don't think it's fair that I'm the one who has to...to suppress my feelings for you when...I introduced you to my son. You betrayed me, Landon. I can't even hate you for it. You're allowed to want to be with someone like him. He's perfect—for anyone."