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“Of course I am,” Dean replies before she can even open her mouth. “I have been for over a month.”
I glance back at him. “So you went on vacation with them?”
“Yeah. It was great. Just what we needed.”
“I’m sure it was.” I turn to Sabrina again. “Did I pay for his ticket, too?”
“I could hardly leave him here by himself, could I?” she says, barely controlling her temper.
I’m taking that as a ‘yes’. “For fuck’s sake…” I mutter under my breath.
Sabrina holds up her hand. “Don’t start, Tanner. I’m not in the mood.”
Dean huffs out a breath, putting his arm around Sabrina, although I notice she doesn’t lean in to him. She doesn’t pull away, either, but she’s far from comfortable.
“Sabrina didn’t want to tell you about us,” Dean says, obviously assuming a change of subject might help the situation. “But I think it’ll be better for everyone if we can be honest.”
“I couldn’t agree more, although you’ll find honesty isn’t Sabrina’s thing.” My reply seems to surprise him, and he releases her, pulling himself up to his full height before he steps out of the house. That means I get to look down on him, and while moving outside hasn’t diminished his muscles, like it has his height advantage, I’m not intimidated. I’m mad.
I’m also more than capable of holding my own, and I glare down at him. “What does that mean?” he growls.
“You’ll work it out. And now I need to speak with my ex-wife, so would you excuse us?”
He takes a couple of deep breaths, puffing out his considerable chest, but then backs down and stomps into the house. I hear a door slam in the distance and Sabrina lets out a sigh, joining me on the doorstep.
I can’t deny how beautiful she is. I can still remember the softness of her porcelain-smooth skin, but I don’t feel a thing for her anymore. Sure, her hair might be the color of mahogany, and her eyes might still have those tiny brown speckles amidst their gray-green background, but I know what she’s capable of. I know what she can do to a man…
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you being like this?” she says, speaking before I get the chance. “My personal life has nothing to do with you.”
“I know. Frankly, I couldn’t care less what you do, or who you do it with… until it affects Nash. At that moment, it becomes my business, whether you like it or not.”
She shakes her head. “What makes you think that Dean living here has any effect on him?”
“Because you’ve introduced another man into his life. How can that not affect him? You must have realized that… and if you didn’t, why have you been so desperate to keep Dean’s existence a secret from me?”
“I haven’t.”
“Really? Then why am I only hearing about it now… from Dean?” I fold my arms across my chest. “This is why you didn’t want me to come over here to collect Nash on Friday, isn’t it? It’s also why you were so keen to pick him up from my place today.” She doesn’t reply. But she doesn’t need to. “Why couldn’t you just be honest, Sabrina?”
“Because I knew you’d be jealous,” she says, her eyes sparking with anger.
“I’m not jealous. I just want you to tell the truth for once in your life. Is that too much to ask?”
“Would you tell me if you somehow persuaded someone to move into your crumby little apartment?”
I ignore her insults. I’m immune to them now. “Yes, I would.”
She shakes her head, like she doesn’t believe me, and steps a little closer. “You need to remember, we’re through.”
“Thank God,” I mutter and she sucks in a sharp breath, turning on her heel and slamming back into the house. As the door closes, I hold up my hand to stop it, because I’m not done yet. But I’m too late, and while I’m mad enough to hammer on it, I don’t want Nash to hear. There’s every chance he’s already heard our raised voices, so it’s best to leave it for now. I make my way back to the car, getting inside before I pull out my phone, look up his number and connect a call.
He might only be eight, but I got him a basic phone not long after Sabrina and I split up. At the very beginning, he was having to go through her if he wanted to speak to me, and sometimes she’d make it difficult. I didn’t like that, so I resolved it the only way I could, without resorting to yet another fight. I sigh deeply, trying to calm down, and put my phone onto speaker, resting it on my leg while I wait for him to pick up, which he does on the fourth ring.
“Hey, buddy. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you with your mom?”
