“I thought this might be something interesting—something CSI like. Looks like it’s just a stupid old breaker. How fucking boring is that?” Brent complained.
“I know.” I smiled. Disappointment was not something that occurred in Brent’s everyday life often, so I took advantage of the gloomy look on his face and copied it to memory. He reminded me of a little kid who’d just opened up a present only to realize it wasn’t the cool thing he’d imagined, but instead was a pack of underwear. “Head to the van and bring me a new breaker and the amp probe.”
“Fine, but only if I get to be the one to use it,” he insisted.
I didn’t understand why he thought the amp probe was so fun to use. Maybe he just liked it because of the name. Hell, probing was probably some kinky sort of thing he did with the women he slept with.
“What was it?” the fire marshal asked, coming up behind me.
I glanced at him over my shoulder, wondering why he was still here. “The breaker.”
“And how you do fix it? Run a new wire?”
Why was he suddenly so interested in electrical? It was a breaker. Nobody ever gave a shit about a breaker. “Yeah, this one is singed and melted in spots.”
“Are you capable of handling this sort of thing?”
And there it was, the reason he was hovering over Brent and me like some mother hen. He didn’t think we were able to switch out a freaking breaker. Hell, he probably thought we were too young for this line of work period. This was not an unusual worry among people we worked for. In fact, there were three categories of people we dealt with—one, the hovering homeowners who watched your every move, waiting for you to steal something. Two, the ones who thought you were too young based off your facial features. This was where the fire marshal fell. And three, the type who didn’t give a flying flip about anything except for you getting your job finished in a timely manner. I loved the latter type, because they made my job run that much smoother.
“Yes, I’m more than capable. Thanks for your concern though,” I bit out.
Brent came back in with the new breaker, some wire, and the amp probe. I got to work, and in just a few minutes, was ready for him to test how much power the breaker was pulling. Since it was a twenty-amp breaker, the reading needed to be below that.
“Test it out.” I moved to the side and bent down to clean up my mess.
Brent used the clawlike tool with a smile on his face. “And, we’re good.”
“Cool.” I nodded.
“That’s it? You’re done?” the fire marshal asked.
“Yup, that’s it.” Tossing my wire scraps in the trash, I nodded.
“Jesus, what was his deal?” Brent asked once we’d made it to the van. “You would think we were the reason the breaker shorted based off the way he was glaring at us the entire time.”
“Seriously.” I climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “He wasn’t confident we could hack it. We look too young.”
Brent slapped his knee. “Damn, my baby face got us in trouble again.”
I shook my head and chuckled. He was fucking full of himself. Turning a right back onto the highway, I headed toward the shop. We were done for the day.
“What are your plans for the weekend? Are you gonna sit around and stress about whether the hot chick with the vibrators under her bed will remember she agreed to a date with you?”
“I hadn’t even thought about it that way. Thanks a lot, asswipe,” I muttered.
“Aw, man. Did I burst your little bubble?” Brent smirked.
He had, but there was no way in hell I’d admit how much. “Nope. If she doesn’t remember, then no harm, no foul. I’ll know it’s not meant to be.”
“Not meant to be? Seriously? Don’t be going all girly fortune cookie on me,” he said. There was a look of pure disgust stretched across his face. “You hitting up the bar with me tonight so we can drink that wuss out of you?”
I laughed. “I don’t know. I need to check in with my parents and catch up on some sleep.”
“You can sleep when you’re dead,” he insisted.
“Mojito’s been neglected a lot lately, too,” I added.
“Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses,” Brent grumbled. He rolled his window all the way down, and leaned his head out as he inserted another wad of nasty crap into his bottom lip. “Whatever, you’re the one missing out.”
“I think I’ll survive missing one weekend.” I gripped the wheel tighter, wishing he would drop the entire thing. I was freaking tired for crying out loud.
Parking in the usual spot, I cut the engine to the van and hopped out. Brent grabbed his drink from the cup holder and shook his head at me.
“I can’t believe you’re missing out on a bar night to catch up on sleep.” He spit and locked eyes with me. “Well, tell the fam I said hey, and let me know how your dad’s doing. Text me if you change your mind and wanna hit up the bar.”
“Will do. See you on Monday if not.” I started toward my truck.
After stopping by my parents’ place and checking in with them, I headed to the grocery store for food. Lazy comfort food was what I wanted, so I settled for a pizza and a premade salad mix. On my way to the checkout lane, I stopped in the Amish section and snagged up a block of baby Swiss cheese. Instantly, my mind gravitated to thoughts of Lauren. I wondered how she had liked the cheese, if she was enjoying Greece with her loaded sugar daddy, and if she would even remember setting up a date with me when she got back.
Damn Brent for putting that doubt into my head. Now I wouldn’t be able to think of anything else all weekend. Shit.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
LAUREN
Saturday morning I woke twisted in some scratchy ass sheets in a room that was far too small and hot. Yelling coming from somewhere in the house caught my attention. It was Jimmy and his mother, but I couldn’t understand a single word of what they were saying. I didn’t need to though, because for whatever reason, I was positive they were arguing about me. The woman hated me being here.
Flipping over in bed, I leaned over the edge and scooped up my cell from the floor, curious to see if there was any service. There were two solid bars. Using my fingers, I calculated the difference in time. If it was nine here, then that meant it would be only two a.m. there. Stupid time change. I had bars, but couldn’t call them. They would wake up in a complete state of frenzy, and ask me a million times if everything was all right. It was best to call them later. I lay around for a few more minutes before deciding to take a shower. I hoped that once Jimmy and his mom realized I was awake, they would stop screaming at each other.
Grabbing some clothes from my suitcase, I cracked the bedroom door and poked my head out into the hall. Larissa was leaning against the wall opposite the door. I wasn’t sure if she’d been staring a hole in my bedroom door, or if she’d heard them fighting and had frozen in place to listen. Smiling at her, I opened the door all the way.
“Morning,” I said, even though I didn’t particularly want to. At least when I left here, Jimmy would never be able to say I hadn’t been nice and at least tried to make his family like me.
Larissa didn’t say anything at first; she didn’t even return my smile. Instead, she waited until I reached the bathroom door before she chose to speak.
“He won’t stay with you, you know?” she said calmly. She held the same thick accent as Jimmy, but I could clearly make out the venom dripping from her words.
Pausing, I turned to glance at her. “And why is that?”
There was one thing I’d learned about myself over the course of my life—I didn’t deal well with girls being flat-out bitches to me for no reason. Not at all.
Larissa’s lips twisted into a smirk. “His mother doesn’t like you.”
Jutting my hip out, I leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom. “And what does that have to do with anything? I’m not dating his mama; I’m dating him. You really think she has that much influence over who he dates when he’s in
another country?”
Her arms crossed over her chest and her deep brown eyes narrowed. “Who says he’s even going back to America with you?”
“Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he? That’s where his school is and all of his stuff.” I didn’t care for her overly confident tone. It made tendrils of doubt creep through my mind. Heat swept up my neck and warmed my cheeks at her intense stare.
“If you know Jimmy at all, then you know he doesn’t own much. It all fits in a single duffle bag.” She turned and started down the hall before I could respond.
No. No, Jimmy was coming back. He had school, an apartment, a car, me. There was no way in hell he was planning on staying here. Larissa was trying to make me question things. Damn, the girl was good. She knew exactly which buttons to push.
* * * *
After my shower, I crept downstairs to the kitchen. The yelling had stopped and someone was cooking. I was starved.
When I rounded the corner to the kitchen, I stumbled upon Jimmy talking with Larissa. Their faces were reddened and pinched with anger. Obviously, there had been a heated discussion going on between the two. Larissa shifted a cooing Chloe in her arms, and narrowed her eyes at me. Jimmy turned to face me, and I flashed him a weak smile.
“Hey,” I said.
An awkward smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Morning.”
Larissa muttered something in Greek under her breath to Jimmy, and stormed out of the room. Cramming my hands into the back pockets of my shorts, I made my way across the room to Jimmy. He moved to lean against the counter and refused to look at me.
I forced my face into a neutral expression, one that I hoped would conceal my frustration with this entire situation, because I was starting to get pissed.
“What was all the yelling about this morning?” I asked, even though I was sure I already knew. “Is your mom still voicing her opinion of me? Looks like Larissa still is.”
He sighed and finally brought his eyes to mine. “Yes.”
My heart dropped to my toes. It was one thing to think someone was talking crap about you behind your back, but quite another to have it verified. My heartbeat grew loud in my ears as I stared at him. Taking in a deep breath, I attempted to calm my scattered mind and focus on my next words carefully. “So, what’s the verdict?”
My entire body grew rigid and tight as I kept my eyes fixated on him. Jimmy had never struck me as the type of guy to let his family’s opinion sway his thoughts or feelings on anyone, but then again, I didn’t know him all that well either. I licked my lips, waiting for him to speak. If he was siding with his family and choosing to let whatever reasons his mother had for disliking me change the way he felt about me, then I deserved to know.
“It’s complicated,” he muttered.
“Complicated, how?” I scoffed.
“It just is. This isn’t the way I thought this trip would go.” He reached for my hips and pulled me into him.
My thoughts split in two. Part of me wanted to move out of his reach, because I was pissed. The other part wanted nothing more than to remain in his arms. After all, that was the only place I’d truly wanted to be during this trip.
The latter part of me won out.
Jimmy hadn’t known the trip would turn out to be this horrible. He’d come with similar intentions as mine, or at least I’d thought so.
“Yup, definitely not the way I wanted to spend my first visit to Greece, or my birthday for that matter.” I locked my arms around his neck. “There’s still time to salvage the vacation though. We can get a hotel room in the city, and make the best of the time we have left.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
His lips quirked into a lopsided smile, and he looked away. I trailed kisses along his jawline to further prove my point, and give him motivation to agree. Jimmy pushed me away. Rejection burned through my insides, hot and powerful. After taking a step back, ready to explode, I realized why he’d shoved me away—Larissa had entered the room again. She eyed the two of us with distaste as she stalked across the kitchen. She swiped the bottle she’d left behind off the counter, and spun on her heel to leave.
Unable to bite my tongue any longer, I opened my mouth and let the first thing I thought fly out.
“What is everyone’s problem with me? And what the hell is wrong with you? Are you afraid she’ll run and tell your mom we were making out in the kitchen? You’re a grown-ass man for crying out loud!” I snapped.
“It’s not like that.” He shook his head.
“Then what the hell is it?” I was fed up and I was not about to spend another second in this house without knowing why these people hated me.
Jimmy ran a hand over his face and let out a deep breath. “Larissa, she’s…she’s not…”
“Spit it out. She’s not, what?” My voice quivered when I spoke, but it was nothing compared to the way my entire body shook with anger. “What?”
“She’s my ex, not my cousin.” The words tumbled from his mouth in a whisper, but I still heard them loud and clear.
The floor swept out from under me as I let his words float through my mind again. I blinked. That couldn’t be right. He’d specifically told me the word his mother had used when introducing her meant cousin. “I don’t understand. So, you lied to me? She’s not your cousin?”
“No, she’s not.”
Coldness splashed through my core. Why would he lie to me about that? Why had no one else said a word about it to me? I realized then that they actually had, with all of their anger and awkwardness. They’d made it clear from the beginning I wasn’t welcomed in their house, that I wasn’t good enough for Jimmy, and now I knew why. Larissa was supposed to be with him in their eyes, especially his mother’s. Her and Chloe both.
“So Chloe…?” I trailed off. She was his; I knew it. There was no point in even finishing that sentence.
Jimmy dropped his stare to the checkered tiles of the floor and chewed at the inside of his check before finishing my sentence. “Is mine. I have a daughter. I’m a dad.”
He said the last words as though they were meant more for him than me, as if he was trying them out for size and needed to get used to the reality.
The walls of the tiny kitchen came crashing in on me. My hands fisted my hair, and my heart hammered inside my chest at a pace far too fast. This was insane. I was a complete idiot. Jimmy had made me look like one at the very least. No wonder Larissa said he would be staying. They were all rooting for him and her to get back together, to be a happy little family, and live happily ever after, as they should. I was like some home wrecker walking around their house!
“I have to get out of here.” Nothing in my life had ever seemed so clear.
Jimmy reached out for me. “No, please don’t go.”
Swatting his hand away, I put more distance between us.
“What the hell were you thinking bringing me here? You made me look like a complete fucking idiot!” I shouted, not caring who heard.
His arms dangled at his sides. A remorseful gleam entered his eyes, dulling their natural brightness.
“I didn’t know,” he insisted in a broken tone.
“You didn’t know what? That she would be here? That you were a dad?” My shrill voice bounced off the walls of the kitchen, hurting my ears and feeding my hysteria even more.
“Yes to both questions. I knew there was a possibility she could have been pregnant when I left, but I didn’t know for sure,” he muttered. He ran a hand through his hair.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I scoffed. “How the hell could you not know? Didn’t you use protection? Did a condom break? Did she not call you and let you know when she found out? Did your family not call to tell you? They all seem pretty fucking close-knit to me.” My voice was stuck at a super high-pitched volume, and I knew I was on the verge of tears. I could feel the threat of them choking my vocal cords. Digging my fingernails into the palms of my hands, I narrowed my eyes at him. “You know what, I don’t care. It doesn’t even matter. All I
want to know is why you brought me here. Your parents obviously didn’t offer two tickets so they could meet me.”
Jimmy hung his head. “No, they only bought a ticket for me. They wanted me to come home for a visit. I’d been saving to make a trip back at some point, and used that money to buy yours. My intentions were to spend time with you and have fun. I honestly didn’t know they would have Larissa and the baby here.”
“You mean your daughter.”
“Yes, my daughter.” He shifted to meet my stare. “I had no idea my parents’ intentions had been to get Larissa and me back together for Chloe’s sake.”
“Oh my fucking God, I’ve got to get out of here.” I bolted from the kitchen and up the stairs to the tiny room I’d been sleeping in.
Tossing my suitcase on the bed, I shoved everything back inside and fastened it shut. Dragging it down the stairs behind me, I passed Larissa on my way to the front door.
“I had no idea. He’s all yours. Have a happily ever after.” I pushed the door open and stepped out into the sticky morning heat.
“Lauren, wait!” I heard Jimmy call out from behind me.
Without pausing in my steps or turning around, I continued forward. Screw that asshole. I was out of here.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
IAN
My weekend had been uneventful, but that was exactly the way I’d wanted it to be. On Saturday, I’d gone to my parents’ place and checked in with them, mowed their grass, and taken out their trash. Dad seemed to be doing well. Mom had been strict on his diet, and she’d been forcing him to walk with her in the evenings. Even though I would never admit to it, I had always been worried about my father’s health. He didn’t necessarily have the best eating habits. While there was a large level of guilt that burned through my mind at this thought, I had to admit his heart attack had truly been a good thing. It really put things into perspective for us all. While I wasn’t glad in any way that my father had gone through so much pain, I could see how some good had come from it. My family was closer now than we ever had been before.
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