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“I love you. I’ve got this. I promise. Go inside.”
Owen pulls his head back to look at me, and I smile at him, dropping my arm from his shoulders and holding my fist out to him. He gives me a fist bump and a crooked smile then turns and starts walking away from me, my heart swelling with pride and making me remember that no matter what Kevin says, I have done an excellent job raising him.
For once, I’m glad Owen isn’t a toddler when he slams his shoulder into Kevin’s as hard as he can as he walks by him, making me let out a snort of amusement. Especially when Kevin curses in pain like a big baby and starts rubbing his arm. As soon as Owen is up the steps and the front door is slamming shut behind him, I let go of that tight hold I had on my anger, not wanting my son to witness his mother losing her shit. Glancing down at my silent phone one last time just in case, I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
It’s fine. I can do this. This isn’t his fight anyway.
“Let me tell you what’s going to happen, now that—”
“In case you didn’t hear me the first time, eat shit,” I cut Kevin off, slowly opening my eyes. “Yes, I work a lot, and yes, I wasn’t aware that Owen had just failed a math test this morning, because I was at work. But where in the fuck have you been for the last fifteen years? You’ve never given a shit about my son, so don’t pretend to give a shit now. You’re just threatened, because someone else came along to take the place you never deserved. He’s better than you, and he’s kinder than you, and he only thinks of Owen’s happiness instead of his own fucking agenda, and God I love him so much for that. Fuck! You are such a piece of shit!”
I throw my hands up in the air in frustration, because it doesn’t even matter what I say to this man; nothing is going to get through that narcissistic, bullshit head of his.
“You sure do talk a big game, acting all tough when you actually called in the cavalry, because you’re weak,” Kevin mutters, jerking his chin back behind me.
Before I can ask him what the hell he’s talking about, I turn around to see Shepherd stalking across my front lawn, with Palmer, Bodhi, and Murphy not far behind him, as Tess and Birdie squeal up to the curb in Tess’s golf cart.
Shepherd’s eyes are locked on mine as he moves. My heart is pounding in my chest that he’s actually here, and I have just enough time to lock my knees and brace myself before he’s just walking right into my body, wrapping his arms around me, and crashing his lips to mine. My arms fly around his shoulders, and I cling to him as tightly as I can, whimpering into his mouth when he kisses the hell out of me, plunging his tongue through my mouth and bruising my lips with the force of his kiss.
“Um, hello? We were in the middle of a discussion.”
The annoyed complaint from Kevin has Shepherd yanking his mouth away from mine with a growl as I slide my hands down to rest against his chest to feel the steady beat of his heart beneath my palms, reassuring me that he’s really here and I don’t have to do this alone. I know I can; I just don’t want to. Shepherd keeps his eyes on mine as he quickly unwraps his arms from around me to bring his hands up and cup my cheeks.
“Sorry I’m late. Traffic was a bitch.” Shepherd smiles down at me, making me laugh and shake my head at him, knowing he probably passed a minimum of two golf carts on his way here. “You okay?”
“I am now. I just have a headache that weighs around 175 pounds, reeks of Axe body spray, and won’t shut the hell up.”
Shepherd chuckles, and I just stare up into his blue eyes looking at me with so much love in them, wondering how in the hell I could have ever compared him to Kevin.
“You came,” I whisper, finally feeling like I can breathe again now that he’s standing right in front of me and he doesn’t hate me for what I said to him last night.
“Of course I did. I should have been here sooner. I’m so sorry.”
“No.” I shake my head, fisting the front of his shirt in my hands. “I’m sorry. You are nothing like him, and I never should have said that to you. I was just scared, and I felt like I was losing Owen, and it has nothing to do with you or the money or what an amazing thing you did for him, even though I’m still kind of pissed you didn’t talk to me about it first, and that can never happen again, and I swear to God if my baby moves to California, I will gut you like a fish.”
