AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sobs come harder and my chest goes tight with worry because he feels so small all of a sudden, so fragile as his body shakes and shivers and I need it to stop.
“Been trying really hard not to overstep and maybe that was the wrong move. Maybe I should’ve made it clear that as far as I’m concerned, you’re as mine as you and your mom want you to be. As mine as the baby is, if that’s what you want.”
It’s hard to make out but I think he says something along the lines of, “Really?”
“We’re family, kid. No matter what.”
* * *
For one of the very rare times in my life, I find myself grateful that Sun Valley is a pretty small town. It makes tracking down the Shays real fucking easy. And my shiny famous glow I’ve come to resent makes it even easier to get their room number at The Valley Inn.
After thirty seconds of pounding on a flimsy wooden door decorated with a rusty metal ‘13,’ it swings open. I promised myself I would only be indulging in verbal sparring tonight. But when I see John, I’m reminded of the mess I just left, and God, I want nothing more than to punch the weasley mouth that spits, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Letting myself in and slamming the door behind me, I answer his question with one of my own. “How much?”
John backpedals clumsily, only kept upright by Clare as she rushes to his side. A quick glance at the bed she was sitting on is all it takes to locate a half-empty bottle of liquor, no mixer in sight. He’s drunk. How unsurprising. The stench of alcohol smacks me in the face when he starts to splutter something about me being unwelcome, abruptly stopping when my words catch up with him on a delay. “What?”
I lean against the door as calmly as I’m capable of, my hands shoved in my pockets to prevent them from shoving themselves down John’s throat. “How much is it gonna take for you to leave them alone?”
“Are you shitting me?”
“No, I’m not.”
“He’s not even your kid.”
“Well, he’s sure as fuck not yours.” Pushing off the door, I close the gap between us, taking no short amount of foolish pride in the few inches I tower over his scrawny ass. “You could spend an entire lifetime trying to make up for how you treated him but you never would. You would never deserve him, or her.”
The motherfucker has the nerve to laugh. “Jesus, she’s got you good, huh?”
“How much?” I ask again, my patience wearing thin. I don’t want to be here. I know, on some level, I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be doing this without talking to Sunday. She wouldn’t want me to.
But I am so far past thinking about what I should do.
I’m just thinking about the looks on my family’s faces every time this asshole shows up and how much I never want to see them again.
There’s a newspaper strewn on the bedside table, a pen beside it, and I grab both, shoving them at Clare because God knows nothing John scrawls down would be coherent. “Write down your price and your address. My lawyer will send you a contract to sign. Only then will you get your money and after that, I never wanna see you again.”
“And,” I add, shooting a meaningful glance at the women in the room, at the couple peering in the doorway behind me, drawn by the noise—the worthless people who’ve hurt my family. “You’ll sign non-disclosure agreements, of course.”
“What, so this can be your dirty little secret?”
My gaze lands back on John. “So you can never use this against Sunday. So she never has to hear from you or about you ever again. So you don’t exist.”
So she can move on with her life, so August can move on with his life, so we can move on with our life, but I don’t voice that. I don’t want to imply John has that much influence, to give him that much power. I don’t want to give him anything at all, but fuck, this is all I can think of. All I can do. The one time where throwing my money at a problem is the easiest, clearest solution.
I can fix this for them. For the woman I love, and the kid I love too. I can fix it, so I will, damn the consequences.
For them, I’ll do fucking anything.
* * *
Two bodies are curled up beneath my sheets, wrapped around each other.
One sleeps soundly, worn out from shedding so many tears. The other stirs as I swap my clothes for pajamas, untangling herself from her son as I carefully crawl into bed beside her, rolling to face me. “Where’ve you been?”
Without answering, I pull Sunday as close as the bump will allow. Knuckles grazing her jawline, I tilt her face upwards towards mine. Kiss her soft and gentle and slow, savoring the feel of her, the taste, the warmth.
She sighs when I pull away, a content but weary noise. As she tucks her head against the crook of my neck, I coast a hand down her spine. I listen to her breathing slow as sleep takes her again. I feel the little foot kicking her stomach so hard, I feel it against mine. I watch the little boy I didn’t realize I loved so much until right now.
