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At the same time, he heard his son say, “What the hell?”
And he said this because Ellie was standing outside looking up at Co
“Con, can I talk to you a sec?” she asked cautiously.
Jake waited to see if Co
This was not welcoming but still, Ellie nodded. Co
Jake still gave him a look. Co
Jake got closer to his son and said low, “Don’t know what that is but we gotta have a family meeting. Sorry, bud, but gotta ask you to do what you can to make it short.”
Co
Jake sighed as he walked into the kitchen, taking his phone out of his back pocket. He put it on the charger and went to the fridge, hoping like all fuck Co
Luckily, Ethan didn’t get it and probably would just be excited to have Josie around more.
He just hoped Co
They gave no indication they wouldn’t be.
Still, he had far from abstained since he got shot of Ethan’s mom but none of those women had slept in his bed. He’d had them there when the kids weren’t around, but his kids never woke up to his women.
So this conversation was not going to be easy.
He pulled out a beer, twisted off the top, tossed the cap in the trash and took a pull as he started to the family room where he could hear a game playing. He was going to tell Ethan they were having a meeting but he didn’t get that far.
The doorbell went again.
He felt his brows draw together as he looked in that direction then moved in that direction.
He heard nothing from the living room, which he hoped was a good sign.
But he saw through the windows at the top of the door who was standing outside.
“Fuck,” he hissed, not wanting to do it but doing it all the same mostly because he had no choice.
He set his beer on the table beside the door and opened it.
Do
And, someone kill him, she had Ellie’s exact expression of hesitant, earnest, scared and shy. Except it was on the face of a woman thirty years older, it was about something she couldn’t possibly think was going to happen so it was entirely jacked.
He did not let her in. He forced her to take two steps back as he went out and closed the door behind him.
“Now is not a good time,” he growled.
“Jake, we gotta talk,” she said quietly.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But now’s not a good time. You call before you do this shit, Do
She took in a deep breath, lifted a hand and placed it on his chest.
Instantly, he moved to the side, clearing her hand and putting another two feet of distance between them.
Her eyes widened in shock as she dropped her hand.
Fucking hell.
Seriously?
She lifted both hands to her sides, eyes glued to his, and stated, “I fucked up.”
“We’re not doing this,” he returned immediately.
“Jake—”
“You talkin’ about fuckin’ up with our boy and girl?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes. The kids and, well…us.”
“We’ll talk about the kids later. Not now. We’re not talkin’ about us ever seein’ as there is no us to talk about.”
Her expression turned pleading. “Jake, there’s always been an us.”
Jesus.
Whacked.
“Do
“I know I hurt you,” she whispered.
“Woman, that was fourteen years ago.”
“We were happy,” she told him.
“No, Do
She flinched from his blow but he didn’t give a fuck.
His boy was inside talking to the girl who broke his heart two weeks ago and he had to monitor that situation. And he had a conversation to have with his children. What he did not have was time to deal with his ex.
Before he could tell her to get gone, however, she spoke again.
“So Josie makes you happy?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he answered, “Now, listen—”
But it was then Do
And this was saying, “She’s pretty, Jake, but she’s super weird.”
Oh no.
Fuck no.
“She’s weird?” Jake whispered.
“She talks fu
“It’s fu
“I—”
“And it’s fu
She shut her mouth and stared at him.
“Newsflash, Do
That got him another flinch and he didn’t care about that one either.
He kept at her.
“Josie’s been more mother to them in the last month than you have in the last five years.”
Do
“That’s a terrible thing to say,” she whispered.
“It is. And the fuck of it is, every word is true,” Jake returned. “Proof of that is that your kids are inside this goddamned house and you’re not here to see them, you’re here to talk to me. You haven’t even asked about them. And before you think you can backtrack, I’ll give you the heads up, now’s not your time to have with them. Not with you comin’ over without them on your mind. Until you start thinkin’ of them, you got no access to them.”
Pain suffused her face and Jake didn’t care about that either.
He was done.
So he moved to get this scene done.
“I see you haven’t thought about shit in the last week. Or, if you have, you’ve been thinkin’ the wrong things. So I’ll give you more time to do that. In fact, take all the time you want. But don’t come back here. I don’t wa
Her eyes welled up with tears and she whispered, “I don’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe you’re talking to me this way. Even if we’re over, Jake, this isn’t exactly nice.”
Christ.