Chapter 27 – Jordie
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Who said I’d regret it?
Jordie
“Turn your head just a little more, Jordie,” Esperanza directs, and I do. “Good. I know that feels unnatural but look in the mirror and see how it elongates your neck.”
Checking out my reflection, I barely notice my elongated neck because I’m too busy admiring how I look in Phoenix’s arms. His hold is firm with one hand on my mid-back, angled slightly down, and our bodies are barely touching.
I have to resist the urge to lean into him and enjoy some full-body contact.
“You two are such beautiful partners,” our teacher praises, and my cheeks flame as my mind reverts to another time we were partners in a much more carnal way.
Our bodies move fluidly together as we repeat the steps Esperanza and Boris just demonstrated for the class. I keep my frame tight like they taught, and Esperanza nods her approval and moves on to the next couple, Frank and Chasity, who are getting married in a couple months.
“Ow, Frank,” the woman complains as her fiancé steps on her toes for about the twentieth time.
“Sorry,” he replies. “My feet are too big.”
“They’re not that big,” his bride replies with more snark than is necessary.
Phoenix’s shoulders shake, and he leans closer, giving me the body contact I’ve been craving since that night in Philly over a month ago.
“You know what they say about men with big feet,” he whispers.
“That they’re terrible dancers?” I quip, earning me a raised eyebrow.
“Not all of us.” The look he gives me is pure molten lava.
Damn.
We finish the lesson, and I manage to hold myself back from climbing my partner and humping him like a bitch in heat.
But to be honest, that description isn’t too far off the mark.
I’ve completely worn out my rose and a wand vibrator and had to make a trip to that Love Nest sex toy store for replacements.
I’m so hungry for another taste of this man, but he’s given no indication he wants to go for another round. Or five. He picks me up for dance lessons every week, and I’ve been to one more spa night with him and Reece. Aside from a little light flirting, he hasn’t made a move.
Just move on, Jordie. Get it through your thick skull that it was a one-night fling. He helped you out with your V-card situation, and now it’s done. Over. Finito.
Yeah, but someone needs to pass that little memo on to my needy body.
My eyes move over the menu at the burrito joint Phoenix drove us to after our dance class.
“I’ll have the blackened steak bowl. All the veggies, light on rice, and with extra green salsa,” I tell the nice woman at the counter.
“I’ll have the same,” Phoenix says before pulling out his wallet.
I stop him. “Would you quit trying to pay for our dinner every week? The deal is you get the dance lessons and I get the food.”
Two divots appear between his eyebrows, but he replaces his wallet in the pockets of his gray sweatpants. “If you ever tell my mother I let a lady pay for my dinner, I’ll pull a Frank and step on your toes every opportunity I get.”
Miming zipping my lips, I hand over my debit card to the worker.
Once we’re seated with our food, we dig in. The steak is juicy and tender, and the roasted corn adds a distinct smoky flavor to every bite.
“You seem awfully quiet,” Phoenix notes. “The Dragons are three-and-oh, and your stats are fantastic, so it’s not football bothering you.”
He lets that sentence hang, and I stir the food around in the pretty brick-red bowl. After a few seconds, I blurt out, “My mom hasn’t come to any of my games.”
His fork pauses halfway to his mouth, and then he sets it down, giving me his full attention. “Isn’t that why you’re paying her rent? So she can come to your games?”
My nose wrinkles. “That sounds really transactional, doesn’t it?
” Before he can answer, I rush to explain.
“It’s more that I wanted her to stick around.
Yes, for games, but also so we could continue getting to know each other.
But she seems to be ghosting me lately. She’s even canceled our last few weekly lunches. ”
Phoenix takes a bite and chews thoughtfully before swallowing. “Maybe this is why your older siblings have nothing to do with her. Didn’t you say Juliette and Bubba were teens the last time they saw her?”
I nod in confirmation. “Yes.”
He reaches across the table and rests his big, warm hand on the back of mine. “You’re an adult, and I can tell this is weighing on you, so can you imagine what that was like for them when they were kids?”
My heart aches for my siblings when I think about it. “You’re right. I’m sure they were just protecting themselves.” I swallow hard. “She was so genuine at first, and I thought she truly wanted to get to know me. But I’m beginning to think my mother is as selfish as Bubba says she is.”
Phoenix’s thumb tracks a soft line against the back of my hand. “Why do you think she’s ghosting you?”
The skin at the base of my throat warms as I stare down at my bowl like I’m counting grains of cilantro rice. “I think it’s because she owes me money,” I mumble.
“How much?”
“Twenty thousand.” Phoenix’s thumb stills, and my eyes lift to his face to look for the judgement I know is probably coming. But all I see is concern.
The gentle caress continues, soothing me like a warm breeze. “That’s a significant amount, Jordie. What was it for?”
“A deposit for her wedding in St. Lucia. She was supposed to pay me back when she sold some paintings in two weeks, and when I asked her about it, she brushed me off and said we would talk about it in person.”
“But you haven’t seen her since then,” he surmises.
“Right,” I say miserably. “I feel like an idiot.”
Phoenix lifts my hand and presses his lips to my knuckles, and I can’t help but wish he’d continue kissing all the way up my arm and to my mouth.
“You’re not an idiot, Jordie. You thought you were helping your mother. How many times has she been married?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not exactly sure which one this is.
She was married to my dad, then Pops. After that, she left for a long while, and I think she had a few more marriages in that time.
Then she came back, married Dad again, and had Xander and me before disappearing when I was a baby.
” A sigh puffs from my lips. “We had no contact whatsoever since then, but I’m sure she probably had at least one other while she was gone. So I’d say this is her eighth?”
Phoenix grimaces. “She doesn’t exactly sound stable.”
A knot wraps around my windpipe, and I reach for my flavored water and take a long sip. “I thought—I hoped—she had changed and was trying to make amends.”
His eyes hold mine. “That’s a valid thing to wish for, Jordie. Parental abandonment can be hard on a person, even after they grow up.” There’s an edge to his voice, and I’m sure he’s thinking about Reece’s mother.
“She said some not-so-nice things about my fathers.”
“Like what?”
I wrap two fingers around the end of my ponytail in a nervous gesture. “She said they threatened to bankrupt her with back child support if she didn’t leave and never come back.”
Phoenix’s head tilts to the side. “Maybe they did, or maybe she’s lying. I have no idea, but given her recent behavior, would you blame them if they did make that threat?”
“No,” I say, the word immediate and resolute. “I’m pretty sure she was lying about that, but I understand now and wouldn’t blame them if they did.”
“I think Reece’s biological mother may be coming back to the States,” he says suddenly, and my eyes widen.
“She finally contacted you?”
“No, nothing like that. I saw news articles that her dad gave the CEO position that he promised her to her cousin instead. She was given another position within the company, so I’m guessing she’ll be coming back here from Japan.”
“Whoa. So she left you and Reece so she would be named CEO, and then her father gave it to someone else?” When he nods, my lips tighten in anger that his ex could abandon two of the sweetest people I know. “I can’t say she didn’t deserve to be bitten in the ass like that.”
A hint of humor curves against Phoenix’s lips. “Agreed, and sorry I blurted that out while we were talking about your situation. It just made me think of your fathers and how your mother's leaving affected their actions.”
I lean forward a bit, eager to hear his perspective. “How so?”
He moves his bowl back and rests his forearms on the table, angling toward me as well.
“I love my daughter more than my own life and would shred the earth apart for her. I was willing to give up my job and my family here to move to Japan with Beatrice and raise our daughter.” The pain is evident in the bright flare of his eyes, and my heart breaks for him.
“My ex rejected every suggestion I offered to make things work, so I had an ironclad contract drawn up stating Beatrice Bettencourt had absolutely no rights to Reece and she would never be able to obtain custody or have any part in her life.”
I’m beginning to understand why he brought up this topic.
“You did that to protect Reece,” I state.
“Because Beatrice suddenly coming back into her life could do more harm than good.” Sounds kind of familiar, if I’m being honest with myself, because my own mother’s hot-and-cold routine is doing a number on me.
Phoenix nods slowly, his blue irises intent on mine.
“Exactly. I never envisioned this would happen—with her father’s company, I mean—but I knew she’d be back in the U.S.
at some point. I wanted to make perfectly clear to her that she couldn’t just waltz back into my daughter’s life once she got what she wanted professionally. ” Emphasis on my daughter.
“When it became convenient for her,” I muse, darting my gaze away as an aching discomfort settles low in my gut. “Like my mother is doing now.”