Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“She ain’t no lady,” I mumble.
Then she smacks me again on the back of the head and swears at me in Italian before she storms off.
THIRTEEN
ADORA
“I should go.” Jerome is playing with spaghetti and laughing with Wren, having no idea what is happening around him. Unfortunately, I’m so wound up that it’s hard to stand still.
“No, don’t let him win.”
“He’s already winning. I don’t want to fight anymore. I’ve done that my whole life and don’t want to continue… it’s exhausting.”
We stop talking when we hear his mother yelling.
“She likes you, you know. More than me, that’s for sure,” Sailor says as Joey’s mother, Bianca, walks back in.
She strides over to my side and wraps her arms around me. “You and your boy are staying with me. Pack your stuff and meet me at mine.” She looks to Sailor, then back to me. “Now, go. Eat.” She pushes us out the door and walks over to the children.
I want to tell her no, but I have a feeling she’ll insist anyway, and having a mother figure around is not something I am used to.
As soon as we enter, Joey stands. “We should talk… in private.”
“Oh, please don’t. We enjoy it,” Piper says, lifting her glass of wine and downing it. Clearly, she’s drunk. I don’t say a word, and he’s leading me out of the dining room, down a side hall, then opening a door. Before I enter, I look inside and see it’s a bathroom. He follows me in and shuts the door behind us.
“We need to stop this,” are his first words.
I meet his gaze and take a deep breath. “You started this.”
His shoulders rise and fall at my words. “No, I did not. I accepted this from the very beginning. All this shit we are in now is solely because of you.”
“I wanted to be happy with you,” I tell him honestly. “But a part of me was missing.” He has to know that—he has met the missing part of me.
“You still wouldn’t be happy now. Let’s not play those games, darling.” His jaw clenches.
“You use that word in anger, but it does the opposite to me, just so you know,” I fire back at him.
“Good, I’ll continue to use it.” His eyes assess me. I’m wearing a purple dress that stops above my knees but shows a little cleavage.
“Why do you stare at me like that?” He’s made it clear he doesn’t want me.
“Like what?” he asks, his eyes tracing my body.
“Like you want me but hate me.”
“Because I’m at war with myself and those two options.”
I’m taken aback by his words. Then, the truth punches me in the gut.
“You don’t want to be married to me any longer?” I ask.
“No,” he states.
“I guess that makes you lucky, then. Some of us don’t get to choose.”
“Keir will have us divorced before you know it. You can choose after that.”
“Can I?”
He shrugs. “Probably not.”
“Would you like to be friends?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“I don’t befriend people I fuck.”
“We will no longer fuck,” I inform him.
I can see his mouth perk up, but he chooses to say nothing.
“I don’t hate you, Joey. I’m rather fond of you, actually. You may be an ass, but you are a good ass.” I reach for his hand, and he lets me hold it. “You proved that to me with Becca. And you still have her dog.”
“It’s my dog now.”
“See? An ass wouldn’t take in a dog.”
“They will be waiting for us. I don’t particularly want to be smacked in the head again by my mother for being late.”
“I like her,” I admit.
“I know.”
“She wants me to move in with her,” I tell him, trying to read his reaction. “She actually demanded I do.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“I never wanted to be a burden to you. I know you don’t want kids.” That part made me fight our relationship, to begin with.
“No, I don’t.”
I nod, not expecting him to change his answer but hopeful one day he may. Making my way back to the dining room, everyone’s attention falls on us when we enter.
“Did you fuck in the bathroom?” Lucas asks.
“Lucas,” Bianca chides.
He laughs and raises a brow, expecting us to answer.
That isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Dinner went well after that, and Joey and I had no more tussles. Actually, we hardly spoke, even as I left. Not even a goodbye. Bianca sent me back to the hotel, requesting Lucas drive me and assist with the packing. He pulled a face but took me anyway.
“You two should just fuck again. I like him better when he’s getting pussy,” Lucas says as we walk into the hotel room, and I roll my eyes. Jerome went with Bianca as he fell asleep at the table. I didn’t want to leave him, but she insisted that I go and get my things and meet her at the house.