Chapter 11
MICAH
“What the fuck are you doing here, Laura?”
The amount of anger and confusion that’s resting in my chest is giving me severe anxiety.
I never thought I’d ever lay eyes on her again, and here I am looking at those same hazel eyes and blonde hair.
I hate that she looks the same.
I hate that she appears well and that she doesn’t have some sort of visible issue. That she’s lived the last five plus years with no issues, no hardships, nothing to carry around with her but a fulfilled life.
“I came to see you…and Heath.”
“No.”
The answer to that is final.
We’re not doing this shit.
She’s not going to waltz into our lives and fuck it up. Not when my son is doing fine, and I’m moving on finally.
Finally.
After too many years of just not wanting to deal with another broken heart, and when I finally found someone worth risking that over, she’s back.
Fucking up my life again.
“Micah—”
“Go fuck yourself,” I leer, my fingers balling into fists. “You have some balls to seek me out and think I’m going to allow you to see my son.”
Her face skews a bit as if at a total loss of why I would feel this way. I can’t stand to look at her, but I don’t want to appear as though I can’t.
Her lips, the ones I loved to kiss, press firmly together, and she’s thinking about plan B on what to do now.
She couldn’t believe I’d give her an easy in. Laura isn’t that fucking stupid.
We dated for years, so my thought process is pretty ingrained in her head. The betrayal that she left me with isn’t something that is ever going to leave me.
“I understand that you’re upset,” she starts, and I roll my eyes because that’s the understatement of the millennium. “But I’ve changed.”
“I don’t give a shit.”
“And I want a relationship with my kid,” she clips out, her entitlement now starting to shine through.
“Why?” I press back, happy that I decided to move us outside because there would be less chance of any scene that is caused out here right now to not be seen. “Did you find someone you’re in love with, Laura, so you have to look like Mother of the Year now?”
“Yes…I did.”
That shouldn’t make my stomach twist.
It shouldn’t do anything, actually, but the thought that she’s happy with someone else makes me even more pissed.
Because she left you and Heath and decided you weren’t good enough.
Neither of us were.
“Good for you,” I quip before pointing to the parking lot. “Now get the hell out of here.”
She pinches her brows. “I’m not leaving here without seeing Heath.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Micah, I made mistakes, but I shouldn’t have to pay for them for the rest of my life.”
“You should’ve thought about that when you signed all your rights away,” I retort. “Now you’re fucked.”
“You can’t do this to me.” She takes a step closer and wrecks my resolve. Makes me want to go back to the life where it was just Heath and me, because it was easier than this. Than dealing with someone else and how it would affect Heath, who’s the most important person in this scenario right now.
“I can do whatever the hell I want. You’re done.
We’re over. I make the rules. And you’re not going to fuck up his life as you did mine.
Heath doesn’t ask about you; he doesn’t wish for a mom.
He doesn’t fucking care. As far as he’s concerned, it’s him and me.
You’re an inconvenience at this point and just another person to know because you couldn’t do this.
You don’t get to play a mother. You gave up that right. ”
“I wasn’t ready—”
“I wasn’t either, Laura,” I snap. “Who the fuck is? But you man up, and you deal with it. You don’t abandon your child.”
“So, what, you fuckin’ his teacher now?” I snap my brows together. My skin tingling with dread because it’s me. It’s the way I vibe when I’m around Sienna, and she’s probably not the only person who saw it, or she just has that female intuition going on. “That’s being a real role model, Micah.”
“I am,” I bite back. “Because I stuck around. I raised him and put a roof over his head. You bailed.” A wave of nausea hits me, and I need to grab Heath and get home. “We’re done here.”
I round her body, careful to keep enough space between us so she can’t reach out for me. So she can’t touch me.
“This isn’t over, Micah.”
And I know it’s not a threat, it’s a promise.
Laura ruined everything again.
Now, Sienna and I have to pay for it.
Now, she’s going to fight me like hell for my son.
Now…she’s going to drag me back to the dark place I spent forever trying to get out of.