Chapter 65 Olivia
SIXTY-FIVE
olivia
When we pulled up in front of Jason’s house, he was outside doing yard work. He turned at the sound of our car in the driveway and glared at us. Austin’s car pulled up on the street, and all three of us got out and leaned on the side of my SUV.
“Well, well, well. I guess the rumors are true. I’d expect nothing less from you, Olivia.”
“You want to explain that?” Nate demanded.
“Hey, man. Just be careful. She’s a firecracker in bed. Don’t be a fool like me and get stuck with her for the next eighteen years of your life. No pussy is worth that.”
Nate launched at Jason, and Austin blocked Nate. “Don’t. You’ve got two more years on your rookie contract. You don’t need to give them any reason to let you go. Besides, I’ve been waiting a lot longer to do this.”
Nate stepped back. As Austin towered over Jason, the man cowered. “You want to repeat what you said?”
“Yeah. Your sister’s a whore.”
Austin moved so fast, I heard the crunch of Jason’s nose before I saw it. Blood dripped down his face, and Cooper came flying out of the front door.
“Mom!” Cooper threw himself into me. “I don’t want to stay here again. Don’t make me come back.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for strength. In all of the disastrous pickups, all the sad mornings where he’d sat quietly in my car and given me one-syllable answers, he’d never demanded not to go back. “What happened?”
“Dad was saying awful things about you, and when I told him to shut up, he screamed at me all morning. He’s been screaming at me since I woke up.”
The child custody laws flashed through my head. Cooper was ten, not old enough to make this decision. If I went back to court, Austin’s fist to Jason’s nose would come up. Fuck. But when your kid is shaking in your arms, you need to protect him.
“Nate, will you take Cooper to Austin’s car? I need to have a conversation with his father.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded. “I need to do this part alone, okay?”
Austin went to stand at the back of my car and leaned against the bumper. Giving me the appearance of privacy, but still not trusting Jason.
“What will it take for you to leave him alone? You can’t take out your anger towards me on him. It’s not fair.”
“What are you talking about, Olivia? Are you going to pretend as if you’re Mother of the Year?” he laughed, spitting blood as he glared at me. “Look at the violent people you surround our son with? What is he learning from them?”
“Oh, please, Jason. Spit it out. What do you need to leave us alone?”
“If I’m not going to see my son, I don’t want to pay child support.”
“Is that it? Done.” God, my lawyer was going to hate this. She’d always said never to give up child support, even if he never saw his son; he still should pay. But if money were my bargaining chip, I’d use it. Because, unlike Jason, I would do anything for my son, even if it broke me financially.
“Is that because you think you got that one on the hook?” He gave a nod at Nate.
“No. It’s because I’ve watched you continue to hurt your son, disappoint him, and even use him to impress whatever new woman is in your life.
He’s worth more to me than the pittance you send me once a week.
If someday he asks you to be part of his life again, I won’t get in his way.
But today—you’re doing damage. I can’t allow that. ”
“You’ll regret this.”
“I won’t. I’ll have my attorney send the papers over next week.”
With that, we all got in our cars and left. Nate and Cooper had moved from Austin’s car to mine.
“You don’t need to go back there.”
Cooper had been crying in the back seat, and looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “Really?”
“Really. You could have told me you were so unhappy there, you know that, right?”
“Yeah. But it wasn’t that bad until today. I mean, I knew he only came to my games ‘cause he had to, but he’d never said so many horrible things about you before today. Just the usual bad stuff.”
I winced. I knew what he meant by the usual bad stuff. I’d shielded him from the worst of it, but Jason could be brutal when he wanted to be. He never crossed a line—but rode it for maximum mental anguish.
“I’ll fill you in afterwards,” I mouthed to Nate.