Chapter 26 #2
Vanessa’s lips curled into that insufferable smirk of hers.
“Oh, of course. That will make a difference.” I barely heard her. My focus was locked on the man standing in front of me.
George.
He was tall, about my height, and I hated that I couldn’t say anything bad about him, other than his fashion choices.
He wasn’t terrible-looking—not at all. Of course, he wasn’t.
Jules was Jules. Gorgeous, smart, funny.
Of course, she would’ve married someone…
nice. That made me angry. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to avoid this guy forever if I wanted to be part of Jules and the kids’ lives.
But right now I wanted to pretend he didn’t exist, for a little while longer.
I wanted to play house with my wife. My wife.
Because that’s what Jules was supposed to be. She was meant to be mine.
Jules, trying to manage the tension between us, said softly, “Hey. What are you doing here?”
George’s eyes flicked to me, scanning the rumpled state of my clothes, and I knew he’d clocked that I’d spent the night. His reply came laced with subtle tension.
“Your phone is going straight to voicemail. I was… worried.”
I could see I made him uncomfortable. Good.
“Oh, I think I forgot to recharge it. I’m sorry,” Jules said, soft and careful. She was trying to keep things from escalating.
“Can we talk?” he asked, doing his best to pretend Vanessa and I weren’t standing right there.
“Of course, come on in,” Jules said quickly, taking his arm and guiding him inside. She didn’t look at Vanessa or me again, and that… that made my blood boil.
“You should go,” I said firmly to Vanessa.
She opened her mouth, her eyebrows raising like she was about to argue.
“I’m not—”
“Now,” I cut her off, my voice sharp enough to make it clear I wasn’t playing around. Her mouth snapped shut, she looked pissed, but she didn’t say another word. I closed the door firmly behind her.
Turning back, I saw Jules and George walking toward the kitchen. My jaw tightened as I noticed his hand resting on her waist. It was nothing, probably something he’d done a hundred times during their marriage, but it stirred something primal in me. I wanted to rip that hand off her.
I took a deep breath. I needed to calm down. I had no right to act territorially right now; they had history, and we were standing in a complicated situation. But there was no way in hell I was going to leave them alone in that kitchen.
As I approached the room, their voices became clearer.
“So… how are you?” Jules said.
George’s response had a sharp edge to it.
“Not as good as you, obviously.”
Dick.
“George…” she started, but then he pulled out his phone, and I caught a glimpse of the screen. It had to be one of those viral photos—me, Jules, and the kids.
“Apparently, it’s all over the internet,” he said, clearly frustrated.
“I can explain…” she began, but he cut her off, not even giving her the space to try.
“You didn’t want us to post photos of the kids on our own social media, but it’s okay to have their faces all over the tabloids?”
I could see how his words hit her, the way her shoulders slumped as she whispered, “I know. I’m sorry.”
I wanted to lunge at him. He’d been married to her for almost a decade; he should know by now that she didn’t need anyone piling on when she already did it to herself. Jules was her own harshest critic. He kept going like he needed to twist the knife.
“I don’t want to seem like the jealous ex-husband here, Jules. But how well do you know this guy to let him near our kids?”
That was it. My cue. There was no way I was going to stand by and let him make this whole situation worse.
We were walking on thin ice, and if counterfeit Dean Winchester here was the push that drove her away from me, I wouldn’t be held responsible for what happened next.
Before she could respond, I stepped into the kitchen, making sure to make my presence known.
“Hey,” I said, extending my hand like this wasn’t the most uncomfortable encounter of my life. “I’m Chris. Nice to meet you.”
George glanced at my hand, then up at me, and didn’t move to shake it. His eyes narrowed slightly.
“I know,” he said coldly. He wasn’t even going to pretend to be polite.
Fine.
For a split second, I considered punching him. But then I remembered I’d promised Jules to keep my asshole tendencies in check. So, I swallowed the urge and plastered on a calm expression instead.
“Don’t worry,” I said, keeping my tone steady. “I’ll schedule a meeting with my team this afternoon. Nothing like that will happen again.”
“You can’t guarantee that,” George said, being confrontational.
Who did this guy think he was?
The kids’ father, I reminded myself. I clenched my jaw and forced myself to keep it together. I needed to play nice. I raised an eyebrow.
“Well…”
“And I can’t say you look like the kind of guy who would care enough to do something about it,” he cut me off.
My hands flexed at my sides, and I could see his fists clench, too. Our unspoken resentment was boiling over, ready to explode. I couldn’t keep the nice guy act any longer. I looked him up and down, letting my own intensity match his.
“I can’t say you look like the guy who would have the means to actually keep them safe.”
His expression hardened instantly.
“We were all doing fine before you showed up.” There it was. That jab, that bitterness, like he’d been waiting to get it out.
I leaned in slightly, deliberately keeping my voice calm but letting the provocation land.
“Come on, Gabriel,” I said, throwing in the wrong name on purpose. “I got it from here. I can give them what you never could.” Then, because I couldn’t resist, I punctuated it with a pat on his shoulder. It wasn’t friendly—it was dismissive, condescending.
His face turned red, his fists clenching even tighter.
For a second, I thought he might actually take a swing at me.
But before he could, Jules stepped in between us, her hands pressing against George’s chest to hold him back.
The sight of her going to him first, instinctively choosing to calm him down instead of me, hit like a sucker punch to the gut.
“Please,” she said, looking him straight in the eyes. “Since you’re already here, why don’t you take the kids for ice cream? We can talk when you get back.”
She didn’t even look at me.
I swallowed hard, holding back the wave of jealousy and frustration growing inside me. George’s jaw tightened, and his eyes locked onto mine, the silent confrontation between us stretching longer than it should. I kept my gaze steady, daring him to make the first move.
God, I wished he would.
One swing, one excuse to break his pretty-boy face.
“George,” Jules’ voice broke off the standoff.
He finally looked at her, but his posture stayed rigid.
“We need to talk about this,” he bit out his words.
“I know,” she replied softly. “We will. But this ridiculous dick-measuring contest”—she shot a glare at both of us—“will only make things worse.” It wasn’t a win for either. She was pissed at both of us, and I could feel it.
George exhaled sharply, stepping back.
“Fine,” he paused. “But I don’t want to see him near the kids until we talk.”
The words hit harder than I expected. A protective part of me bristled, wanting to argue that I wasn’t some random guy.
But I kept my mouth shut. I’d only been around the kids for a few days, and the truth was, I did understand where George was coming from.
I hated it, but I got it. He was protecting his kids from the famous actor, who could potentially drop in and out of their lives whenever he felt like it.
Jules nodded slowly.
“Okay…” She looked relieved that this wasn’t escalating into something she couldn’t control. I had to hand it to her; she handled this mess better than most people would’ve.
George turned to leave, but not without taking one last shot. He paused as he passed me, leaning in close to whisper.
“You don’t get to use my wife and kids to play your regular guy fantasy, you hear me?”
My jaw tightened, but instead of snapping, I leaned in to whisper back, letting a smug smile creep onto my face.
“Ex-wife…” I said, slow and deliberate, savoring the way his face twisted in anger.
I could feel Jules’ eyes on me immediately. When I glanced over, the disapproval was clear. George’s eyes were pure anger at this point. But instead of firing back, he turned that fury into a smug smile. He wanted to get under my skin, and he was doing a damn good job.
“Hey, kids! Dad is here!” he called out, putting deliberate emphasis on “Dad.” The jab landed exactly where he wanted it to.
My jaw clenched so hard I thought I might break a tooth.
He didn’t even look at me as he walked toward the stairs, his grin widening.
“Who wants ice cream?” he called, way too pleased with himself.
Liam and Nova came running down the stairs.
“We do, we do!” they yelled in unison.
“Alright, let’s go! Say bye to your mom.”
“Bye, Mom! Bye, Chris!” We heard their voices, already halfway out the door.
Jules’ face was flushed—not the shade of pink I loved seeing when I touched her, but from a mix of anger, worrying and fear heating her skin and twisting her expression. I could see her mustering every ounce of strength to force a cheerful tone. “Bye. Have fun!”
I managed to echo her, even though I wanted to punch something.
“Bye, you guys.”
The front door clicked shut, leaving a silence so heavy it felt like it might crush me.
I turned away from Jules, trying to keep my temper in check.
I was still too wound up from the confrontation with the lumberjack, and I had to be careful not to let the remains of it spill over onto her.
She was already carrying too much. But it was…
So. Damn. Hard. Seeing her with him just now was the last thing I needed, and a giant red flag dangling right in front of my worst instincts, dragging them up to the surface.