Chapter 36

No sooner had momma departed than I snatched my phone. One other vision had blasted through me as I’d driven from the Goodman home. At last, I understood why the dragon had warned me away from Amy. It had taken several minutes of blurring roads before the shock had left me. What Kitten had said and how her husband looked at her, even while she was with me. That was love.

Like a glistening blade of truth, Mrs. Warren’s words had returned to slice through me. She’d asked if I loved her daughter. With my core shivering, I dialed.

“Hey, bear. Wassup?”

At her cheerful voice, I swallowed so hard the room blurred. But after clearing my throat, I exhaled.

“Can we meet?”

“Uh, sure. It’s Sunday though. Church, right?

“Not today.” White-knuckled, my fingers squeaked on the phone. “I sent momma alone.”

“Oh,” is all that left her, but I caught the sudden hitch in her breath.

An hour later, I sat on a park bench beneath a heavy, gray sky. A stiff, chilly breeze had a thick coat collar flapping against my cheek. Beside me was Amy, but she’d scooted further away after I’d fallen silent. Eyes narrowed, she was staring at the wave tops rippling across a small dark lake. A bright red puff jacket was dulled by the lack of sunshine.

I’d told her everything. That she’d begun as only a diversion. About my teacher, the original distraction. Also, about my dedicated worshipper, Ruby, and her ravenous, needy daughter, Maddie. Plus, to cap off the soul-twisting confession, I told her of her talented, lust-fueled mother. So, yeah, I’d broken my promise to Jewel.

But under that threatening sky, those admissions to her were the most massive die roll of my life. No matter what happened, I’d be forced to live with the result for a good long time.

“You’re ... You’re a monster, Damon,” she murmured at last.

“Yeah, I am.” I nodded as the silent dragon curled tighter in the gloomy distance.

“That’s it?” Her fists were balled so tight they shook in her lap. “That’s all you’re gonna say?”

“Yes. It’s the truth.” After again nodding, I exhaled, sending a cloud of vapor out to be whipped away on another gust. “Not gonna say I wish it weren’t true. It’s who I am, Amy.”

“Did you ever love me?”

“Yes.” Once more, I nodded while clasping my hands tighter. “You’re the only one I did.”

“Goodbye, Damon.”

With a slow nod and heart plummeting into my icy core, I rose to my feet. As her sobbing erupted, I headed for the truck. No point in wasting more words. Another lesson learned. Stick to the plan. Emotions only hurt people—them and me.

A second lesson, the most important one: sometimes you roll snake eyes.

Yet even as I struggled with the pain deep in my chest, I couldn’t help but look to the future. The ball was in Amy’s court. She might still tell her mother—and her father.

“Have me arrested?” I mumbled, but then snorted.

So did the dragon. Nah, nothing I’d done was illegal. Perhaps at the beginning with Mrs. Goodman, but times had changed. Nope, neither she nor her husband would be pressing charges against me anytime soon.

In any event, I’d accomplished what had to happen. All the others knew I had more than one woman in my life. Yes, maybe I should’ve kept that secret from Amy. But after the Goodmans, I’d learned. If I wanted their kind of love, only honesty would fuel it.

Once back home, I crumpled to the couch and let all those revelations swirl within me. At the creak of the front door opening, I looked up as momma creeped inside. Something within me said my pulse should be racing. For her, the dice were still tumbling, and the score remained unknown. However, my heartbeat stayed steady as that weird wave of calmness bathed me.

After she’d pushed the door closed, her brown eyes bored into me for about a million years. At last, the purse slipped from her fingers to a table. With a sigh, she walked closer to sit on an easy chair across from me. Once she’d crossed those sleek legs, another million years passed as she continued to stare.