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“All of it. Your schedule, the distance, the media, obviously.” The camera angled to the floor briefly before her face came back on the screen. “I got used to having you around with Max and now you’re not. I don’t like feeling like this. I’ve worked so hard to get my life to a good place. Where I’m proud of myself, proud of what I’ve built with Max.”
“You should be.”
“I know, and it surprised me how quickly that disappeared when I read those articles.”
“It didn’t disappear, Kia. You still have everything you’ve built. What you’ve done is amazing. A few dickheads chirping online doesn’t change that.”
“Tell that to my parents.”
“Fuck your parents,” he growled. “They don’t know shit about you and what you’ve accomplished. They should be ashamed of themselves, not you.”
Kia’s eyes warmed as she looked at him through the screen. “Thank you.”
“Yeah.” He stared back at her. “Do me a favor. Kill the google alerts on your phone so you stop looking at that shit.”
“Tell that to Vika,” she scoffed.
“I’m more than happy to call her and tell her the same thing. While I’m at it, I’ll tell her to have Tyson knock some sense into that useless friend of his.”
“I think Vika’s already on that. And if Ty doesn’t want to sleep on the couch, there will be some words being had with Austin.” She sighed. “I still can’t believe Austin did that. Asshole.”
“Yeah, you definitely upgraded when you dumped him for me.”
“I didn’t dump him for you. I dumped him and then you and I hooked up.”
“Keep telling yourself that, baby, but we both know you dumped his ass for me.” He grinned.
“Alright, whatever you need to tell yourself.”
The tension in his spine eased off as Kia relaxed in front of him. Before they’d talked, he’d been worried this was going to be enough for her to cut and run. He wasn’t naïve enough to think they were out of the woods yet, but thank god for FaceTime. It wasn’t as good as being able to touch her, but it was a hell of a lot better than not seeing her face. At least this way, he’d been able to reassure her. See the look in her eyes and know she was hearing him, not locked away in her own thoughts.
“How’s Max doing?” he asked.
“He’s fine. Completely oblivious to everything that’s going on, thank god.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way. If some asshole kid says something let me know and we’ll figure out a way to handle it together.”
“What are you going to do from Phoenix?”
“You’d be surprised.” If some shithead tried to hurt his kid, it wouldn’t matter where he was on earth, he’d get shit done. “We’re in this together. You and me.” He did his best to hold her stare through the phone to ensure she heard him. “You aren’t alone in this, Kia, no matter what it feels like. You feel me? I got your back. Believe it.”
Her eyes welled. “I’m trying.”
“Don’t try. Believe it. I’m not going anywhere. I gotchu.”
“Kay.” She nodded. “Thank you. I’m feeling much better now.”
“Good. I’m sorry for my part in all this shit.”
Kia’s brow wrinkled. “Your part?”
“Yeah, if I hadn’t been a jealous asshole, they wouldn’t have had a picture to take.” He hated his actions had once again hurt her. “But you’ll be happy to know that even if our conversation on my stupid jealousy hadn’t done the trick, seeing those photos would have. I can promise you, lesson learned.”
“I’m glad. Like I said, it’s a wasted emotion.”
“I get that,” he agreed. “Are you feeling better now?”
“Yeah, much.” She nodded.
