Ghost of Girlfriends Past
VIKING
Miranda.
I haven’t thought of that woman in years, so long in fact that when Josie brought up the name, I assumed it was one of the chicks hanging around the club at the moment. Never in a million years did I think the woman who fucked me over would come back to haunt me.
“Trenton, huh?” I ask the kid standing nervously on the other side of the table. “What’s your last name, Trenton?” I inquire.
“Eriksson.”
The air knocks from my lungs, drawing every molecule from the room and dispersing it elsewhere, because I can’t fucking breathe.
My first name is a coincidence. My last name… is a fucking message.
No wonder my wife’s fucking pissed at me.
I need to fix this, but the only way I can do that is to figure out what the hell Miranda is playing at sending this boy here. It’s got to be money. Why else would she think popping up after fifteen years with this stunt would work?
She left out those doors, knowing damn well what her options were, and she refused to play ball then. But she sure as fuck is going to now.
Thinking she can come in here, disrupt my life, and upset my wife. That woman was a lying snake back then. I doubt much has changed.
“Where’s your mom, kid? No offense, I’m sure you’re great, and my daughter seems to like you, but whatever your mom told you is a lie. Just give me her number, and I can drive you back to wherever it is y’all are staying.”
He shoves his hood back, revealing a headful of shocking white blond hair. His pale features only exacerbate the red tinging his gaunt cheeks.
“You know, she told me you were an asshole. That you didn’t believe her when she told you about me.”
I clear my throat, not interested in walking down memory lane with this kid who only has half the story, and by the sounds of it, it’s not even factual.
“Your mom, where is she?”
“She’s fucking dead, you piece of shit,” he answers cooly before turning on his heels and escaping out the back door, announcing his departure with a resounding crack of the door slamming closed.
“What the hell!?” Josie erupts from around the kitchen corner, stalling when she realizes I’m standing with my dick in my hand all alone. “Where’s Trenton?” She sneers.
I’ve never seen Josie this pissed—well, not at me. She looks ready to burn me at the stake.
“He left.” I shrug, not knowing what more she wants from me.
“Mama, is lunch ready?” Haley’s little voice comes from beyond, and Josie schools her features, lighting up with the fakest smile across her beautiful face.
“Yeah, baby. Why don’t you take it into your room and turn on a show?”
Haley squeals with excitement, never getting to eat in her room, and runs haphazardly down the hall without a glance backward.
Once we’re alone, Josie hightails it past me, not waiting for me to fill the silence, as she thunders out onto the back porch.
“Trenton!” she calls.
The boy’s gone. If I had to guess, he’s hiking out to the main road heading back toward town.
“We need to talk about this, Josie.”
She whirls on me, a fit of fury ready to be unleashed. “No, what you need to do right now is to go find your son before he ends up doing something stupid like leaving town with nothing to his name.”
“You don’t know that boy’s mine. Why would you take his word for it?”
She balks, looking me up and down. “You’re not that fucking dense. And you sure as fuck aren’t blind. So, get your goddamn head out of your ass and admit to yourself that you fucked up.” She seethes.
The air between us boils with tension. The only sound above her rushed breaths is the chickens’ clueless clucks from around the corner.
She’s not wrong, I can see the similarities.
The blond hair, his height, even his eyes look like mine, but my brain refuses to acknowledge those things until I know for certain.
Because I sure as hell ain’t taking Miranda’s word for it beyond the grave.
“Did you know?” Josie’s question hits me square in the chest.
“No.” I spit, insulted that she could think that of me, but then the shame bubbles from deep in my gut, tightening the thing splintering in my chest. “Yes. Fuck, I don’t know. Maybe.”
“I don’t know, maybe?”
It’s so quiet I barely catch it. Before I can explain, she’s crashing back into the house, the door splintering the drywall.
“Baby, please. Listen to me, let me explain,” I plead, chasing her down the hall to our bedroom door.
She shoves into the closet, throws a bag onto our bed, and fills it with handfuls of clothes.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She doesn’t answer me, just continues her impersonation of a Tasmanian devil while emptying the dresser drawers.
I snatch her wrist, closing around the bone to halt her dizzying movements. She fights against my hold, but it does nothing, other than piss me off. Banding my arm around her waist, I drag her in close until a breeze couldn’t find its way between us.
“Stop!” I command, but her fight doesn’t fail. If I could wrap my leg around her’s without taking us down to the floor in a heap, I would. Instead, I back her against the wall using its support to lock her into place.
“Let me fucking go, Vik.”
“Never. You’re mine, mama. You can be spittin’ mad, but I’m not letting you walk out that door before we fucking fix this.”
“What’s there to fix? You fucking lied to me.” The fight drains from her body, and she slumps in my arms, not going anywhere against the press of my frame.
“I didn’t lie to you, baby.”
“You knew. You knew you had a kid out there, and you didn’t tell me. Omission is still lying, Vik.”
“I didn’t know.”
“But—”
“Let me talk, woman. I didn’t know I had a kid. Fuck, you really think I would just ignore that? Is that what you think of me after all these years?”
Her eyes fill with shame, but she doesn’t deny it. I tamp down the anger coursing through my veins. This isn’t about me right now. My only concern is breaking through her thick skull and setting things straight.
“Miranda and I were a thing, for all of five minutes about fifteen years ago. I was young, living it up as nothing more than a member of the club, enjoying all the benefits without any of the responsibility. Except, when I thought she was just mine, since she seemed to be spending every night in my bed, I found out that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I was out on a run with the guys and came back earlier than expected.
Found her bent over the pool table with Stitch balls deep. ”
I haven’t thought about this shit in years, but rehashing it sends every forgotten memory crashing in.
The man I considered a brother, fucking my girl.
It wasn’t something we got over. Not until Pres sat our asses down in church and demanded we either talk it or fight it out, because he was over the distrust flowing through his club.
“Turns out she told him we weren’t serious.
You know how the club is. There are plenty of women willing and ready to open their legs for any member, just hoping for a chance to become an old lady.
So, yeah, when she showed up two months later with a positive pregnancy test, excuse me for not fucking believing that the baby was mine. ”
Josie’s head thuds against the wall as her eyes fill with tears. “So, he could be yours?”
My forehead falls, meeting hers, as I close my eyes and draw in a deep breath.
“I asked for a paternity test when she showed back up. It blew up, she threatened to take me to court, but I never heard from her again. Maybe she was too worried about all the possible fathers, or maybe all she did was wait and see, because I think we both know he’s mine. The kid looks just like me.”
The truth laid bare before us doesn’t magically erase the last few days. It doesn’t change the fact that, whether I asked for it or not, I have a son.
“Fuck, I need to find him.”
Josie nods, refusing to meet my eyes. When I push away, my hands still hold tight to her hips, because I’m scared she’ll collapse. I’m terrified to move and break the calm we’re wading in.
“Tell me we’ll get past this?”
“I—I need some time, Vik. Go look for Trenton. He likely headed for the bus stop in town, that’s where I first saw him.”
“You’ll be here when I get back, right. I know this is a shock, and I’m so fucking sorry it’s happening to us, but we can get through this, I know we can. I just—” My voice cracks. “I need you to be here when I get back, baby.”
That small damn nod is my only answer, and watching my woman fold in on herself guts me deep. I drop a kiss on the top of her head and rush for the front door, ghost of my past racing in the shadows after me.