42. Beckett
Beckett
Climbing the steps to the front door, I balance the cake box in one hand.
I feel bad I wasn’t here when Elouise arrived – since I’m trying to make a good impression on her family – but it’s more than that.
I miss her. I want to see her. Touch her.
Smell her. It’s been too damn long since I’ve had her near me, and I’ll be rectifying that now.
To hell if it makes our families uncomfortable, I’m gonna be touching some part of Elouise from now until the moment I bury myself in her pussy later tonight.
Digging my key out of my pocket, I remind my body that we need to keep it together for a few more hours. I can’t walk in with a boner.
When I pull the front door open, I expect to be greeted by sounds of laughing and talking. But I don’t hear… anything.
James’s vehicle is parked out front, so I know they’re here. But the place is quiet as a graveyard.
Kicking the door shut, I stride down the hall towards the kitchen and living room.
As I get closer, I hear hushed voices .
Stepping out into the great room, I see my mom standing in the corner talking quietly to Mrs. Hall. They haven’t seen me yet, so I watch them for a moment, and it looks like my mom is consoling Mrs. Hall. But… that doesn’t make sense. Why would she be doing that?
And it dawns on me. I told Mom that Elouise and I had reconnected, but I hadn’t exactly spelled out that we were dating.
I’d assumed that my cousin would gladly fill in those details.
Then I left for a week and it completely slipped my mind to prepare my parents.
Not that it should be a big fucking deal.
My family loves the Halls. They shouldn’t be acting this weird.
Looking through the closed patio doors, I see our dads standing next to the grill, but it doesn’t even look like they’re talking.
Seriously, what the hell is going on?
“What-” I start to ask, but before I can finish asking, my attention is drawn across the room.
I turn towards the movement, expecting to see Elouise. Only it’s not her. The face staring back at me is familiar, but it’s not the woman I want. And it takes my brain a long second to register who I’m looking at.
“What the fuck?” My words are a whisper of disbelief.
“Yeah, what the fuck!?” James’ angry shout hits me the same time that his palms connect with my chest, shoving me backwards.
Too stunned to even notice his approach, I stumble back, releasing my grip on the cake. The box thumps to the ground as I catch my balance.
“You lying, cheating, piece of shit!” James comes at me again, but I’m ready this time so I deflect his hands.
He reaches out yet again and I shove him away, “Knock it off!” I snap at him, “What-” I spin around to face Kira. “What the hell are you doing here!?”
She has the sense to look sheepish, “I came to see you.” She glances away, “I didn’t know you were seeing someone already.”
James scoffs, “You have your wife over here apologizing after catching you with some other woman.”
“Ex!” I toss my hands up, “My Ex- wife. We’re divorced!” I glare at Kira, “And already ? Really? We’ve been separated for over a year. I think I’m well within my rights to start dating again.”
Murmurs sound around us, and I hear the back door open. Perfect, the dads are listening too.
“Divorced?” Elouise’s mom repeats the word.
And my mom huffs, throwing up her hands, “No one tells me anything!”
My fingers pinch the top of my nose, “Mom, I told you we were getting a divorce.”
“I didn’t know it was done!” She rings her hands in her apron and I instantly feel like a jackass. “When Kira said she was here to see you, I assumed that you’d reconciled. And that I’d misunderstood why you were bringing Elouise over.”
The turmoil in my mind freezes, my fractured thoughts suspended as my brain catches on one word.
Elouise.
Taking two more steps into the room, I whip my head around. I was so stunned to see Kira, I didn’t even realize that Elouise was missing.
Understanding crawls up the back of my neck and I turn towards Kira. “Did you seriously walk in here, introducing yourself as my wife?”
When she glances away, I have my answer.
Cheeks I once thought I loved turn an ugly shade of red. But I don’t feel any pity for Kira. It’s not shame tinting her flesh, it’s embarrassment at getting caught.
“Fuck!” I bark. “What are you even doing here?” I hold up a hand before she answers and a derisive laugh escapes me, “You know what. I bet I can fucking guess. But I don’t want to hear it. If you have anything to say to me, send it through the lawyers.”
My mom gasps, probably at my tone, but I don’t have time for this.
Turning on my heel, I stride back towards the front door.
What a fucking disaster.
Heavy footsteps follow me down the hall and I know it’s James.
“It’s only been a couple minutes,” he says.
I rip open the front door, “Did she drive? ”
“No, she wanted to walk.” He heaves out a breath as I try to decide which way she’d leave. “Shit man, I’m sorry. I should’ve asked questions.”
This isn’t his fault, but I don’t look at him because I’m so pissed I might punch him, “Apologize by getting my greedy ex out of my parent’s house.”
As soon as I got over my shock at seeing her, I figured out what Kira is doing here. She must’ve heard that I sold my company in Chicago and now she wants some of that money.
Too fucking bad.
Not waiting for a response from James, I run to the sidewalk. Trusting my instincts, I turn deeper into the neighborhood. If she’s on foot, I’ll be too.
She could be trying to walk home, or to the lakeshore.
Or she could just be wandering the streets, angry and hurt, because I’m the dumbass who didn’t tell her I was divorced - that I’d been married.
And I’m such a dumbass I didn’t even tell my parents that the divorce had been finalized, simply because I didn’t want to talk about it.
Fucking hell, she must think I’m a cheating asshole. Again.
An invisible rope cinches around my heart and I break into a sprint.