Walking out of the kitchen, I saw Luke standing outside on the deck and went out there for a few minutes. “Hey, man.”
His gaze went to the window. “Did everything go okay?”
Clapping him on the back, I cleared the emotion from my throat. “Thank you for talking to her and getting her open to listening to me.”
“Of course, of course.”
“You should probably get in there. She was emotional and let me hug her, so she probably needs you,” I tried to explain.
This time it was Luke who clapped me on the back. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” I answered back, already on my way to Abbi, the person who had changed me so much in such a short amount of time.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Abbi
Looking down at my phone for a nonexistent text I hadn’t received, I closed my eyes and prayed Jenner would get here before the doctor started to cut my cast off. The last eight weeks with my brother around had been the longest of my life. Surely, he didn’t need to be here when I barely left the house. Instead of going to the grocery store, we had a delivery service and anything else we needed we got off Amazon. It was too hard getting around with my broken leg, crutches, and a swarm of paparazzi, so I’d made the executive decision to stay home. The only time I’d been out was to go to the doctor for my checkups. After today, I would be free to resume all activities, which was something I knew Jenner was quite excited about. I was too. I’d tried to convince my overly cautious husband I was fine, but he wasn’t going to risk hurting me. It was sweet, but after he’d started my libido, these last several weeks had been torture. I’d barely convinced him to jerk off in front of me and to let me do the same. It was torture. Absolute torture. And tonight, I was going to have him make up for all the time we’d lost.
“Where is your good for nothing husband,” Paul hissed out as we watched a nurse walk by the room they had me in.
“I told you he’s at an important audition.” I rolled my eyes at him. I’d told him at least five times already. Did he think I was lying, and I’d eventually slip?
“Why don’t you call or text him and find out when he’s going to get here?”
“Because he’s been dying for this role for months, and I’m not going to put his chance in jeopardy by bothering him. He doesn’t need to be here for me to get my cast off. It’s not like I’m expecting some life-changing news today.” Narrowing my eyes at him, I said through gritted teeth, “Jenner is not a good for nothing husband. In fact, he’s great. Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean he’s a bad person.”
“Right, and all those articles online are full of BS about him,” he stated in a disbelieving tone.
I shifted in my seat so I could face him full on. I wasn’t going to take Paul’s shit anymore. There was no telling how on God’s green earth Jenner had put up with him as long as he had. They were constantly arguing. The only good thing was they stopped every time I came into the room, so I tried to stay with Jenner as much as possible. There were days where I was still tired and needed more sleep than others. Those were the days I’d wake up to them hissing at each other in hushed whispers.
“Yes, what do you think he has Catherine for?”
“To lie and get him out of trouble. I’ll never understand why you wanted to be a publicist so bad.” He shook his head.
“Is that really what you think we do? We get our clients out of trouble and lie for them?” I seriously wanted to strangle him. It didn’t matter that there would be witnesses, and I might go to jail. Not that I would strangle him or that he’d let me, but it was a nice thought to keep me from yelling at him in the doctor’s office.
“Tell me it’s not true.”
“Maybe for some, but no, that’s not what CJJ is about. We don’t take clients who are trouble and have to bail them out continuously.” I lowered my voice just in case there were listening ears. “While Jenner has had some trouble in the past, it’s just that . . . in the past. He’s a good guy, and you’d see that if you gave him a chance. Has he done a single thing to make you think he’s a bad person the entire time you’ve been staying with us?”
Was that why my brother had stuck around? To witness Jenner doing something shady.
“He hasn’t, and I can see how much he loves you. Otherwise, he would have kicked my ass out weeks ago.”
“Then stop giving him a hard time. Try getting to know him because he’s going to be in our lives for a very long time, and if you keep acting like this toward him, I won’t hesitate to cut you out of my life.”
Paul’s eyes widened. “You’d really do that?”
“Would you really blame me? You’ve been acting like a complete asshole for two months.” Placing my hand on his muscular forearm, I looked him straight in the eyes. “Don’t make me choose between the two of you because you won’t like my choice.”
“Fine, I’ll lay off a little, but if he fucks up—”
“If he fucks up, which he won’t,” I interrupted him, “he’ll have to deal with me. Why don’t you go home? I don’t need a live-in bodyguard. I’ve got Jenner if anything happens, which it won’t.”
“That’s what they all say. Nothing has happened because I’ve been around and because you’ve been living like a hermit all these weeks. You could have gone back to the office weeks ago, you know?”
“I know, but Catherine said I’ve been doing a great job at home, and it’s been easier.” I didn’t mention how I liked knowing I was safe at home. No one could hurt me.
“What do you say we hit up the grocery store on the way home and pick up some food to grill for dinner? Your friend Alex and her son are coming over tonight, correct?”
“They are,” I smiled at his change of subject. It had been nice getting to know Alex. We’d bonded after finding out Jenner had used drugs after his split with Poppy, and now we got together at least once a week when Luke was filming his show. It was hard on her when they didn’t get to see each other much, and I liked that we could help out in some way. Her son was the sweetest thing, making my ovaries ache every time I saw him. The only problem was I wasn’t sure where Jenner stood on having kids anytime soon. I knew he’d be a great dad since he was so good with Mason, and I knew he’d do everything in his power to not be like his dad.
“Are you going to be sad when they head back to Fairlane?” Paul threw his arm around me and was back to being the big brother from my past.
“I am, but we can always visit, and there’s always FaceTime when we can’t. Although I think she’ll have less time for me when she’s there with all her friends and Luke.”
Paul’s smile fell. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do if your husband gets this movie role? Are you going to go with him or stay at home?”
Jenner and I hadn’t talked about it because he was afraid if he made any plans regarding that time, he’d surely lose the part, but I’d already decided. I wasn’t going to be like Poppy. I wanted to be where he was. Why would I want to be apart for months on end? That was another reason why I’d continued to work from home. Catherine and I both agreed it would be easier, and she had no doubt in her mind, Jenner would get the part.