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I woke up this morning wrapped from head to toe by his arms, torso and legs. When I tried to move, he tightened his hold on me. The weird thing was he was still asleep. It seemed King liked to look out for those around him while he was sleeping just as much as he did while he was awake.
I managed to wiggle my way out of his embrace and get up to use the bathroom. Entering the bedroom when I was finished, I found him awake, arms rested behind his head, watching my every move. “Morning,” I said.
“Morning.” Those eyes of his held a smile I wasn’t sure I’d seen before. It was subtle, but it was there. And I liked it.
“I’m going to make a coffee. You want one?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
I hit him with one last smile before leaving the bedroom. Thoughts of what I was going to tell my kids about him sleeping over filled my mind as I headed into the kitchen. I’d dated a few guys after divorcing Linc, but none of them had ever stayed the night, not even the couple of relationships that lasted longer than a few months. I’d never been comfortable having them sleep over, and I had to wonder why I’d thrown all those hesitations out the window for King. Maybe it had to do with the fact my kids seemed to really like him. Or maybe I really was that distracted by the man that all common sense eluded me.
I’d just filled the kettle and switched it on when Linc’s voice sounded from the back door. “What the fuck, Lily? You changed the locks?”
I stalked to the door and glared at him through the glass. “Yes, I did, to keep you out. You don’t live here anymore, Linc, and I’ve asked you multiple times not to come by whenever you want or let yourself in. So I changed the locks.”
“Fuck. Let me in, woman.”
Oh my God, he did not just call me that. “Don’t call me that! I am not your damn woman.”
“Lily, for fuck—” He abruptly stopped talking as his gaze was drawn to something behind me.
Turning, I found King watching Linc with a murderous expression.
Oh goodness.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Who the fuck is that?” Linc demanded.
King’s nostrils flared. He stepped forward, closer to me, and I knew simply by looking at him that this situation was about to go bad.
Placing my palm on his bare chest, I said, “King, let me deal with this.”
His jaw clenched, his eyes coming to mine only briefly before locking back onto Linc. Ignoring my request, he growled, “You need to pull your head in and apologise to her.”
Linc scowled at him. “She’s my fucking wife, mate.”
“And that’s why you’re standing out there and I’m standing in here,” King said. His shoulders were like rocks. “Back the fuck up, apologise, and then leave.”
Linc rattled the door. “Open this fucking door, Lil, and let me in.”
Before I could say or do anything, King slid the door open and stepped outside. I knew that if I allowed this to continue between them, someone was going to get hurt. And I was fairly sure it wasn’t going to be King. Moving as fast as I could, I got in between them and pressed my hands to their chests, trying to keep them apart.
Glancing madly between them, I said, “You two both need to take a step back. I have three kids in this house, and I do not want them to wake up to a punch up.” I glared at Linc and added, “Especially not one involving their father.”
Neither backed down straight away. It wasn’t until I pushed both of them that King came to his senses and took a step back.
I looked at him. “Thank you.” And then to Linc, I said, “The locks have changed. Deal with it. We’ve been divorced for three years, Linc, and we’re never getting back together. I am not your wife anymore, and you can’t keep dropping in here whenever you want. I’m not going to say this again. And also, you should know that I took your name off my gym membership, too.”
He stared at me like I had three heads. “You’re fucking kidding, right? We’ve been together since we were kids, Lil. Suddenly you meet a new guy, and I’m out in the cold?”
I expected King to get involved again, but he impressed me by staying back and letting me handle this. It was clear from his body language, though, that if I wasn’t able to deal with Linc, he’d be more than happy to step back in.
“You cheated on me, Linc! Remember that? This has nothing to do with King, and everything to do with me finally figuring out that I need to set some boundaries with you. I can’t expect you to respect me if I don’t respect myself enough to do that.” I jabbed a finger in the air at him. “Things will be changing around here, and that includes your freaking child support payments. I’m not accepting any bullshit from you going forward.”
“You’ve turned into a bitch, Lily,” Linc said.
King lost his shit at that. Moving to Linc, he grabbed him by the shirt and threatened, “You call her a bitch again, you and me are gonna have trouble.” He then shoved him away and guided me back inside, closing the door after us.
