by E. L. Todd
“A guy like him would love to beat the shit out of you, Evan. That’s what all my friends want.”
“It didn’t seem like it when he came by the office.”
My heart moved up my throat then plummeted back down to my stomach. “What?”
Evan looked away. “He came in with the rest of your friends and told me to get my shit together. They told me to step up and be a good father. I wanted to do that anyway, but they gave me the push I needed.”
Ace did that without telling me? He went behind my back? “When did this happen?”
“A few weeks ago. So I know he cares about us being a family.”
I sat back in my chair and took a breath, trying to wrap my mind around all of this. I couldn’t believe Ace interfered in my relationship with Evan without telling me. How could he do that? This whole time I thought I was the one getting through to Evan, but that turned out to be a lie.
“I don’t mind taking it slow. I know I really hurt you, and it’ll take some time—”
I jumped out of my chair. “Get out of my house, Evan.”
He watched me with a hardened stare and didn’t move.
“Let me make this clear. I will never, under any circumstance, ever be with you again. What you did was unforgivable, and I deserve better.”
“But everyone forgave Cypress for what he did to Bree.”
I couldn’t believe he’d thrown that in my face. “Not the same thing.”
“It’s the exact same thing.”
“Cypress would never leave his wife and kids the way you did.” I marched to the front door. “Get out of my house.”
He stayed at the table for a moment before he sighed and stood up. He took his time getting to the entryway, like procrastinating long enough would make me change my mind about us. He finally crossed the door and turned around, wearing a look of apology.
“Just so you know, Ace likes my stretch marks.” I slammed the door in his face, probably getting the girls’ attention, but I didn’t care. I’d never had the chance to slam the door on him before, and now I finally did.
Ace walked in the door ten minutes after I asked him to come over. The girls were asleep, so we had our privacy, but I wanted to talk outside just in case the girls heard us yelling at each other.
I pulled him outside and shut the door.
“Baby, what is it? Everything okay?”
For a second, I forgot how angry I was when he called me that. “You went to Evan’s work and told him to start coming around again?”
The second the concern washed off his face, I knew his answer.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
He tightened his jaw and sighed. “No, I didn’t. It wasn’t just me. We were all there.”
“But I’m sleeping with you, not the others.”
“Bree is your sister.”
“But I expected this from her. Not you.”
“I was just trying to help. And frankly, it worked. There’s no reason to be upset.”
“I just can’t believe you went behind my back and made me think I was the one who got him to change.” I was embarrassed that I actually thought my words had any effect on the situation.
“I get that you’re mad, but I was just trying to help. If you took two seconds to think about it, you would thank me for it.”
I was still mad at him, but I knew I had no right to be. “I’m sorry…he just dropped a bomb on me.”
“Why did he tell you that anyway?”
I wasn’t planning on telling anyone what Evan said to me. For some reason, I found it embarrassing. Evan already left his girlfriend after a year of being together. That somehow made me look worse. But I was too upset to think straight, and I didn’t like to lie to Ace. He was the one person I could be transparent with. “He said he left his girlfriend and wanted to get back together. He made the worst mistake of his life…”
Ace’s face transformed into a look I’d never seen before. He didn’t look angry or indifferent. It seemed like he’d been punched in the gut. “And what did you say?”
“I told him to get the hell out of my house. If he thinks I’m gonna take him back after what he did, he’s an idiot.”
Ace stared me down.
I didn’t understand his look or his sudden change in mood. Now he was just looking at me. “What?”
“I just…it’s a lot to take in.”
“I couldn’t believe it either. If he’s gonna leave me for someone, he better stay with her. They barely lasted a year. Totally pathetic.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“Not really. Just that he was sorry, and it was a mistake…blah blah. He says he has an apartment in Monterey now.”
Ace crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you still have feelings for him?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Just a question,” he said. “It’s only been a year since you got divorced. It hasn’t really been that long.”
“What are you implying?”
He stepped back and slid his hands into his pockets. “I’m not implying anything. I’m just talking to you as a friend right now. A pretty big life event just happened to you. Your ex-husband, the love of your life, just came back and asked for another chance. It’s a pretty big deal.”
Sometimes I forgot we weren’t together because it was so easy to imagine. When we were in bed, I fantasized that we were more than just good friends. But we were fuck buddies, as he’d made perfectly clear. “He betrayed my trust. He can never get that back.”
“Cypress got it back.”
“Not the same thing and you know it. Do you want me to get back together with him?” I couldn’t stop the pain from escaping in my voice. Did he care so little for me that it really didn’t matter to him?
“I didn’t say that.”
“It sounds like you’re implying it.”
“He’s the father of your children…”
“So what? That obviously didn’t mean anything to him. I thought my getting back together with him would piss you off. You should hate him.”
“I do hate him, and it would piss me off—but I would understand. You’re a family, Amelia. You’ve got two little girls. I know you’re mad at him for what he did, and you have every right to feel that way, but I know you love the guy.”
“I loved him. Past tense.”
“And you always will. I just think you’re angry right now, but when that rage passes, you’ll feel differently.”
“Not a chance.”
Ace stepped back again. “I’m sorry for going behind your back. I meant well.”
I felt him slipping away from me, putting up a wall between us and shutting me out. “I know, Ace. I’m sorry I got so upset. I just feel stupid. That’s all.”
“No need to feel stupid. You have a lot of people who love you. You should feel happy.”
“I know…”
He rested his hands in his pockets then looked at the ground. “I should go.”
I wanted him to stay. I wanted him to stay every single night. I wanted my girls to see him in the morning. I wanted more than this distant relationship. We had so much potential to be something incredible, but his heart wasn’t in the right place. If only he loved me, we could have everything I wanted. “Okay.” I could tell him how I felt all over again, but it wouldn’t change anything. He left Lady, but that was obviously just a coincidence.
“Good night.” He didn’t kiss me goodbye. He didn’t even hug me. He walked to his car and drove away without waiting for me to walk inside.
Something told me things were different between us. When we said goodbye, we were saying bye to more than just the evening. He didn’t show his charismatic smile or the affection in his eyes. All of that disappeared instantly.
But why?
11
Bree
The doorbell rang.
My eyes snapped open, and Dino jumped off the bed and darted downstairs, barking in excitement that someone had
come to the door.
Cypress rolled over and got comfortable again, keeping his eyes closed.
“Such a protector…” I gave him a gentle kick in the leg.
“You’ve got Dino, don’t you?”
That dog couldn’t protect me from a puppy. I pulled on Cypress’s boxers and one of my sweaters before I walked downstairs, not sure who I was going to encounter this early in the morning. I needed to get to work, but it was hard to get up when I had a sexy man in bed with me.
I wiped the sleep from my eyes then opened the door. “Amelia? What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you.” Once she saw Dino, she gave him a pat on the head and walked inside. “I’m assuming you have company…” Her smile held all her accusation.
“Yeah…”
“Good to know.” She helped herself to the couch and sat down. “I wouldn’t be bothering you if this weren’t important.”
“What’s up?”
Dino hopped on the couch and rested his chin on her thighs. He looked up at her and released a small whine, asking her to pet him.
Amelia immediately obeyed and stroked her hand over his head and down his back.
Dino closed his eyes.
“What happened?” I asked.
She looked down at Dino before she met my gaze. “Evan has been coming by a lot lately…”
“That’s great. I’m glad that piece of shit remembers he’s a father.”
She pressed her lips tightly together, and that told me this conversation went deeper than that. “I thought it was strange that he wouldn’t give us the time of day and then he was over all the time. It got to the point where we were seeing him too often. So he told me he left Rebecca, moved to Monterey, and wants to get back together.”
My jaw dropped, and a hiss escaped my throat. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I were.”
“No way!”
She nodded.
I jumped to my feet because I was too pissed to sit down. “He had the balls to actually ask you that?”
“I know, right?” she asked with a chuckle. “I told him it was never going to happen then kicked him out.”
My hands moved to my hips, and I started to pace, unable to swallow the rage that burned inside me. “I can’t believe that. How long was he with that whore? Like, nine months?”
“About eleven.”
I rolled my eyes. “What else did he say?”
“That he made a mistake and misses me. Misses being a family.”
“You know what?” I stopped and stomped my foot. “I hate him even more now.”
She chuckled. “I know what you mean.”
I crossed my arms and kept pacing. “What did he expect? You to be happy and jump back in his arms?”
“Something like that.”
“Idiot.” I shook my head in disgust before I looked out the window.
“I still haven’t processed everything. When he left me for her, I assumed they would spend the rest of their lives together. When we were together, we were happy. We were happy every single day until he met her.”
“It was all physical infatuation—and that’s not love.”
“I think he realized that.”
“Well, he learned the hard way.” I looked at my sister, realizing ranting wasn’t helping the situation. This was about her, not me. “How do you feel about all of this?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t dreamt about this happening a few times, just to get some vengeance. But now that it did happen, I haven’t gotten any satisfaction out of it. I’m hurt, actually. He ended our marriage for a yearlong fling. It makes me feel like our marriage wasn’t that important in the first place.”
Her thoughts made complete sense to me. “I know what you mean.”
“I know I’ll always love Evan because he’s been in my life for so long. I was married to that man for eight years. I still find his socks and boxers around the house, stuffed in drawers or behind the dryer. I still make sure the cap to the toothpaste is on because of how much it used to annoy him when I left it open. It’s difficult to erase eight years of memories in such a short amount of time. And I do miss being a family. I miss the routine Evan and I had. Plus, having him around made raising kids so much easier.”
I studied her gaze as she laid out all of her feelings. Vulnerable and honest, she was opening up to me. I understood the situation with Evan wasn’t black and white, just like how my relationship with Cypress was complicated. There was no perfect way to approach the problem.
“But I don’t think I could ever trust him again. I don’t think I could ever forgive him.”
I hoped not. She had Ace desperate for her affection, and she didn’t even realize it. If she turned down Evan for good, maybe Ace would be honest about his feelings. My jaw tightened anxiously because I wanted to tell her everything Ace told me, but my vow kept my tongue in my mouth. “I wouldn’t blame you.”
“I don’t see why we can’t be a family even if we remain divorced. People do it all the time.”
“Exactly. So that means you aren’t gonna give Evan another chance?”
She shook her head. “No. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Phew. What a relief.
Cypress woke up and made his way down the stairs in just his sweatpants. His hair was messy, and he moved like a zombie, still half asleep. With eyes lidded and heavy, he wiped the sleep from the corners then walked up to me. “Morning, sweetheart.” His arm circled my waist, and he kissed me on the cheek.
“Morning,” I whispered back.
He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Morning, Amelia.”
She grinned and kept her eyes on me. “Morning, Cypress.”
He walked outside and shut the door behind him. Patio furniture was arranged in the backyard, and he sat down in one of the lounge chairs and enjoyed his coffee under the blue sky. The sun was creeping over the fence and rising higher as the morning progressed.
I stared at Amelia’s grin and knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Looks like you slept well last night.”
“Not quite. Cypress and Dino snore.”
She rolled her eyes. “You probably weren’t sleeping anyway.”
No, not really. I brushed off her comment silently, my cheeks reddening.
“I’m glad you guys are working it out. There’s been a lot of bumps, but I really think Cypress is worth the heartache.”
My feelings were complicated, but I definitely felt the love growing in my heart. I missed him when we weren’t together, and I loved the way my sheets smelled now that he’d slept over. Having a big man share my bed was one of the greatest comforts I’d ever known. He was so warm and hard. I loved it. “Yeah…we’re trying.”
She pulled back her sleeve and eyed her watch on her wrist. “I should get going. Sara has a hair appointment, so she can’t stick around too long.”
“Okay. Call me if you want to talk more about it.”
“You know I will.” She stood up and kissed me on the cheek before she walked out. “But I’ll try not to bug you for the next few hours. You know, because you have company.” She winked then shut the door behind her.
When my sister was gone, I walked out onto the back patio and found Cypress sipping his coffee while he stared at his phone. Dino trailed behind me then found a good place to pee behind one of the bushes.
Cypress set down his mug and looked at me, looking more handsome than he had any right to at that hour. “Everything okay with Amelia?”
“Yeah.” I drank from his mug then sat on his lap and hooked my arm around his shoulders.
He looked up at me and smiled as his hand grazed my thigh. “Now I’m comfortable.”
I sipped his coffee again and felt his erection underneath my legs. “She told me Evan wants her back.”
His hand stilled on my thigh, and his smile faded away. “He said that?”
“Yea
h.” I took another drink then set the mug down.
“That douchebag has a lot of nerve. She said no, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank fucking god,” he said with a sigh. “That piece of shit doesn’t deserve another chance.” His face immediately tinted red, and he became hostile, the vein in his forehead bulging. The veins in his forearms constricted as both of his hands formed fists. “If they didn’t have kids, I’d have no problem killing him.”
“I’m not a fan of him either.”
“So what happened to that woman he was seeing?”
“He broke up with her. Now he’s staying in Monterey.”
He shook his head, his jaw tense. “What was the problem with her? Too immature? Did she leave him?”
“He said she was too jealous, and he missed Amelia. So he broke it off with her, and now he wants to be a family again.”
“Never gonna happen,” he snapped. “You don’t get to be a family again after you abandon them once. That’s not how it works.” He was even more worked up about it than I was.
“Amelia is smart. She won’t go back to him.”
“She better not. I’d have to give her a piece of my mind if she did.”
I gave him a hard look, conveying my thoughts because I didn’t have the ability to say them out loud.
Cypress picked up on the accusation. “It’s not the same thing. Abandoning your wife and children is much different than having a slipup with an ex one time. I’m not saying my actions were acceptable, but they aren’t comparable.”
I let it go before it launched us into another uncomfortable, lengthy conversation.
“I wish he’d never left,” Cypress said. “They both seemed so happy. I knew this fling with that woman wouldn’t last long. They had nothing in common. She was just a hot woman with perky tits that had nothing else to offer.” He shook his head. “Amelia is amazing. How could he leave her?”
I smiled, liking the way Cypress defended my sister. “You’re right. He was an idiot.”
“The woman had his kids,” he snapped. “How could he do that to her?”
“I know…”
He grabbed the mug and took a drink. “I hate Evan. Hate is a strong word and it makes me ugly, but I don’t care. I hate him now, and I’ll always hate him.”