“I’m going to fucking kill you!” was the first thing I heard Christian say since he’d tore apart our photo booth pictures.
—Christian—
They moved away from each other while I lunged toward Jax at the same time.
“It’s not what you think!”
Before the last word left her mouth, my fist was connecting with his jaw. Kinley loudly gasped as his head whooshed back, taking half of his body with him. He stumbled, trying to catch his footing while meeting my intense rage.
His hands quickly fisted at his sides.
“What the fuck is he doing here?!” I snarled through a clenched jaw. “This is still my house.”
“You need to calm down!” Kinley demanded.
“Calm down?! You want me to calm down when I just walked in on my wife in the arms of her best friend?”
I went for Jax again, but she stepped out in front of me.
“No!”
“Kinley, get the hell out of my way!”
“Yeah, Kinley! Get the fuck out of his way. I would love to finally lay him out!”
“Jax!” She snapped around. “Stop it! You’re not helping.”
“He’s just trying to take advantage of you. How can you not see that?”
“He is not! I was getting him sugar, and the stool slipped. He caught me before I fell to the ground. You should be thanking him. I could have been in the ER if it wasn’t for Jax.”
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever thank him for anything.”
“Christian, please…”
“Kinley, he’s trying to break us up.”
“No, asshole,” he spewed. “You did that all on your own.”
“Oh my God. Stop it! Please!” Her panicked stare went from him to me and back to him. “I’ve been getting in between the two of you for the last twenty years, and I’m over it. You’re grown-ass men, so stop acting like children.”
“Fuck him!” I roared, my blood seething. “Stay away from my wife, and get the fuck out of my house!”
“She won’t be your wife in a few days.”
“You son of a bitch. That’s what you want, isn’t it? It’s what you’ve always wanted—her to yourself and me out of the picture.”
“Do you hear yourself, Christian? That couldn’t be further from the truth, and you know it! He’s been nothing but a good friend to me all these years. Why can’t you see that?”
“Maybe it’s time she knows what a real man can do.”
“Jax!” she shouted, looking back at him. “Where the fuck did that come from? You’re just making things worse!”
I once again lunged at him, and she gripped onto my arm, holding me steady.
“He’s not a child, Kinley. Let him come at me like a man,” Jax baited, and if she wasn’t standing in between us, I’d wipe the floor with his ass.
“What are you even doing here?” I asked, demanding to know.
“What the fuck do you think I’m here for? I’m here for her.” He sternly nodded to Kinley. “She was bawling her eyes out over your ass last night.”
“She was?” I was taken aback.
After what I did with our first pictures, I was surprised she was anything other than pissed off. It was one of the reasons I was there in the first place. I wanted to apologize.
I fucked up, and it seemed like lately it was the only thing I could accomplish when it came to her.
Jax read my mind, spewing, “Yeah. How many times can you treat her like shit and then apologize for it, huh? You’re lucky I don’t knock your ass out for all the times you’ve made her cry in the last year alone.”
“Fuck you, Jax. You have no business getting involved in our marriage. You fuck anything with tits and an ass, so don’t try me with your martyr bullshit. But what you can do”—I pointed to the door—“is get the fuck out of my house.”
“It’s not your house anymore—it’s hers.”
I didn’t just fall back from his statement. I stumbled.
I must have been quite a sight since Kinley coaxed, “Christian…”
Our gazes locked for a few seconds, and I could physically see and feel her internal struggle about what he’d just stated. She opened her mouth to say something, and I held in a breath.
Tell him he’s wrong, sweetness.
She didn’t.
Silence.
Scoffing out in anger, I slowly nodded and backed away. There was nothing left for me here, not even her.
All I could do was remind her, “We haven’t signed the papers yet. This is still my house. But I can see I’m no longer welcome here, so I’ll make it easy for you, Kinley. I’ll leave. I’d hate for you to make the wrong decision of choosing him over me.”
She winced, only fueling my fire for what I was going to maliciously add…
“We all know what happened the last time you didn’t choose me.”
Chapter 10
Christian
Then
A year came and went in the blink of an eye, taking all our new firsts with it. I spent as much time as I could with Kinley. She was at my house all the time, and my family loved her. I’d never forget the expression on my little sister’s face when I introduced her as my girlfriend a few weeks after the carnival.
“Wow,” Autumn expressed with wide eyes. “Christian has never come home with a girlfriend before. You must be super special.”
Kinley laughed. “And you must be Autumn.”
“I’m the little sister.” Autumn nodded. “My birthday was just last week. I’m ten now.”
“I know.” Kinley smiled. “I went with Christian to pick out your present.”
Autumn beamed. “You did? How did you know I loved Littlest Pet Shops?”
“Doesn’t everybody? They’re my favorite too.”
“Really? Maybe we could play with mine.”
“I’d love to.”
“Christian,” Mom chimed in, bringing our attention over to her. She was standing beside my dad, looking as captivated as I was by my girl. “She’s absolutely beautiful.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Troy.”
“Oh please, call me Emma.”
“Yes, and you can call me Steven,” Dad extended his hand.
For the rest of the evening, we hung out as a family, and I could tell Kinley appreciated being around them. I thought it was the first time she had been around a dynamic like ours.
Later that night, she proved my theory.
I was sitting on the couch with her head in my lap, playing with her hair while we watched a movie.
She turned her face to look up at me. “I had a great time tonight. Thanks for introducing me to them.”
I smiled. “Sweetness, you don’t have to thank me for introducing you to my family. They’ve been dying to meet you.”
“Really?”
“Of course. They all wanted to meet the girl who now owns my balls.”
She slapped me on the chest. “Christian!”