AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, I saw you guys at the game, and it looks like maybe you’re trying to do the whole happy family thing with Smitty.”
She rubbed her hand across her forehead. “Austin, I’m not doing this with you.”
“Not doing what with me?” he asked. “I’m worried about you. Come on, Kia. It’s not like he’s going to end up with someone like you. We both know that.”
“It’s not your problem. We broke up. What I do. Who I date isn’t any of your business anymore.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t still care about you.”
“Austin, I don’t want to hurt you. When we broke up, I wasn’t dating Jeff, but yes, now we’re dating.”
“I always knew you were interested in him.”
“That’s not why we broke up. I told you that you and I just weren’t gonna work. It just wasn’t there. You didn’t want to be around Max. I didn’t want you around Max. Clearly this was never going to go anywhere.”
Austin turned. His face marred with some weird emotion. She wasn’t quite sure what it was. Anger. Jealousy. Pain. “The reason we didn’t work is that you weren’t willing to try. You never gave me a chance. You never let me be around Max, so I didn’t want anything to do with him. Why would I? Every time I asked if we could hang out with him, you said no.”
“Come on, let’s not try to rewrite history. You never were interested in having a relationship with Max, and that worked just fine for both of us. That was exactly what we both wanted. What we had was fun. It worked, but now it’s done.”
“And you think it’s going to work with Wonder Boy?”
“I don’t know, maybe, I hope so.” Did she think it was gonna work? Who knew? Everything in her said what Jeff and she had was worth fighting for. It was worth the risk of trying to see if this relationship would work. She’d never been willing to do that with anyone else. She’d never been willing to risk it, but for whatever reason with Jeff, she was. There was something there she’d never had with anyone else. She prayed it worked because Max deserved everything.
“Yeah, you’ve seen what he’s like online. You see all the girls he dates. He’s not going to settle down with you. You’re just going to be some notch on his belt, some other woman he bangs and leaves, and you’re going to get hurt.”
“I’m willing to take that risk.”
Austin crossed his arms over his chest. “Why weren’t you willing to take that risk with me?”
God, how was she supposed to explain to somebody that it just wasn’t there? She’d thought he felt it, too. They barely saw each other. Their relationship had been purely a physical thing. Sure, they went out for meals now and then, but that was just to fuel the night ahead. It meant nothing. Now he was all butt-hurt because she’d picked Jeff. His ego couldn’t handle feeling like she picked someone else over him. He hadn’t thought what they had was worth fighting for before, but now that Jeff actually seemed interested, suddenly she was worth fighting for. It was ridiculous, and she wasn’t going to play this game.
“Look Austin, I’m sorry that you’re upset that Jeff and I are trying to make this work. And that your feelings are hurt by that, but I’m not going to change my mind. I appreciate you coming by, and I wish you all the best.”
Austin crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “That’s seriously all you have to say to me?”
Exhausted by the conversation, she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah.” She turned and walked toward the front door. At the base of the steps, she stopped and looked at him as if to say this conversation was done, but she wasn’t going inside until he left. There was zero possibility she was bringing this conversation anywhere near her son.
Austin’s eyes narrowed. Anger radiated off his body as he took a step toward her.
Where the hell had that come from? Why was he so pissed off? She’d never seen this side of him. Nothing about him even hinted at this type of aggression before. Why she felt a little afraid she couldn’t say. But she turned fully around, prepared for action if necessary.
“You’re going to be sorry you picked him over me, Kia.”
“Goodbye Austin.”
Austin stormed toward his truck, hoisted himself up into the big vehicle. The engine roared to life. His tires screeched as he ripped away from the sidewalk. Watching him drive away, a sense of foreboding zipped down her spine. With a shake of her head, she brushed off the feeling. She pulled the front door open and joined her son.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Surprisedbythe10:00pm airport traffic, Jeff checked his rearview mirror as he changed lanes. After some careful maneuvering, he flew past the majority of slow drivers, merging onto the freeway. Thank god their place wasn’t too far because he couldn’t wait to get home.
Kia shifted in her seat as she set the water bottle in the cupholder between the two car seats. “Thanks for picking us up. We could have grabbed an Uber.”
His mouth pulled tightly. Like he was going to let that happen. “Of course I’m gonna pick you up. I would have picked you up last time, but your plane arrived during a game so I couldn’t get away.”
She squeezed his arm. “Well, I appreciate it.”
Every time he looked at her, he had the same physical reaction. Sure, part of it was chemistry, but it felt like so much more than that. Before Kia he hadn’t found the whole tattooed badass thing all that appealing, but now he certainly understood it. Taking his eyes off the road briefly, he flashed her a wicked grin. “I’m more than happy to let you show me your appreciation.”
