Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“Now who is lying, Katie? Are you really trying to convince me you haven’t let my brother between your legs? Because there’s no way I’ll believe you, honey. I’m not that stupid.”
She wrenches her hand away from me and I let her go. Bitterness is burning inside of me. There’s so much that I don’t know what to do with it all.
“You’re such a bastard. I don’t owe you any information about my life with Jeff, but no, I didn’t sleep with him, not until we got back together. He was miserable and I was miserable, and I missed him. What we had was different than what most couples look for, but it was good and if you had stayed away, it would have lasted.”
“Wow it was so real that having me in the same place ruined everything? Doesn’t sound very solid to me, Katie.”
“You’re just that toxic, I guess,” she mutters, turning away. “If you’re going to be a father then go visit Lennon. He’s in with your mother because I’m taking Mom to the doctor. She was nice enough to volunteer to babysit since Lennon’s father couldn’t be found and school is closed for some type of training for the staff.”
She leaves and I let her. I’m too lost in my head to deal with her. She’s wrong, though. She thinks I’m going to just walk away. I’m not leaving. I’m not letting Jeff waltz back in and try to take my place. Lennon is my child, and Katie?
Today sealed her fate.
Jeff isn’t getting the chance to slide back into Katie’s life. I don’t want him anywhere near Lennon or her. If that makes me an asshole—I never claimed not to be. If it means keeping my family away from my brother once and for all, I’ll do it. That’s a fact that I’d gladly tell him, but since he’s not answering his phone that will have to wait.
CHAPTER 21
Katie
“You okay, honey? You’ve been quiet all day?”
I sigh, relaxing my hands on the steering wheel. Until this moment, I didn’t realize I was kind of white knuckling it. “I had a run in with Jake,” I admit.
“I was wondering what was going on since he hadn’t called Lennon the last couple of nights.”
“I laid into him and told him he’s not allowed to pull his disappearing acts with Lennon. Then he decided to lay into me for sleeping with Jeff.”
“Of course, he did.”
“What’s that mean?” I mutter as I navigate to the exit that will take us to the interstate. Macon is a great town, but to get to Mom’s specialist you have to drive about an hour and a half into the city. It’s not something I enjoy because it takes all day. That means, I miss a lot of work. Still, it’s the best care we could find for her. Plus, she really likes her doctor. All that makes it worth it.
“Honey, men are delicate creatures and they’re mostly made up of ego. You had to know he would be upset and jealous because you were in a relationship with his brother.”
“He doesn’t get that right. We weren’t together anymore. When Jeff and I…” I stop because telling her when Jeff and I began sleeping together just seems wrong. “When we became serious, Jake and I had been apart for almost five years. I know what they all say about me, but I’ve only ever slept with two men in my life, and I loved both of them!”
“True enough, you did, although we both know in different ways.”
“Well, yeah. They’re different men, Mom.”
“That they are. What you have to ask yourself is which one owns the biggest piece of your heart today. That’s what matters, Katie.”
“It doesn’t. How could it? Jake doesn’t want a relationship. I’m not sure what he wants—outside of having the chance to torture me. I thought he was serious about being Lennon’s Dad, but now I’m even starting to rethink that.”
“I don’t blame you for that. Did he explain why he disappeared? I mean, it was only two days. Maybe he had a good reason,” she suggests.
I let out a snort. “He didn’t have any reason. The only thing he tried to do was to convince me that Jeff had lied.”
“What does that mean?”
I push my hand in my hair and lift it off my neck now that I’m on the interstate. Traffic is heavy today, which is not what I was hoping for at all. I merge into the middle lane and get behind a large semi. I’d like to turn the air down, but Mom chills way too easily.
“He tried to tell me that Jeff didn’t tell him about Lennon until right before the wedding. Isn’t that the most absurd thing you’ve ever heard in your life? Ridiculous.”
“Did you tell him that?”