“It’ll be fine,” I say.
“Yeah, whatever. Nothing is ever fine with you.”
“Go to bed. Shandy, hang up and stop causing trouble just because your own life is a shit show.”
“Hey,” she says as I stand and walk away, heading for the shower.
As I step in, her smell instantly falls off me. Throwing my head back, I wonder if fucking her was the smart thing to do.
But I had no choice.
My body wanted it.
It wanted her.
I may pay dearly for this.
But it was totally worth it.
Chapter 14
Jacinta
His mirrored sunglasses reflect my approach the next morning as we get on the boat that will take us to our plane. I saw no one this morning, and I was thankful for that. My head is sore, and I hardly slept a wink. My dreams consisted of his hands on my body, roaming around, then what they could do if I let him touch me again.
It’s dangerous.
It is stupid.
We sit opposite each other, and he doesn’t speak the whole trip. He works on his phone as I lean against the edge looking out over the water.
If you have never been to the Whitsundays, I highly recommend you go. The water is next-level, crystal clear, pristine, and so incredibly blue. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
When we arrive, Beckham stands and walks off without me. I take my bag and follow him straight to the plane that is waiting for us.
He doesn’t speak to me on the flight home either.
I pretend to sleep, so even if he wanted to talk, I’m choosing my own path.
As soon as we land, I’m off, straight out to where I left my car for the weekend.
“I’ll see you Monday.” I stop at that voice behind me, and when I turn to look over my shoulder, he has his glasses covering his eyes.
“Okay,” is all I manage to say.
Do we pretend what we did, didn’t happen?
I’m not really sure how it works. But I am also fine with playing dumb. Because now I have to look for a new job, and while I do, I somehow have to go into work every day and see him there without showing how I feel.
Rylee is standing at my door with Oliver next to her, and they are both grinning at me. When I open it, he barrels into my legs, hugging me tight, and I pick him up and hug him back.
“I missed you.”
I kiss his cheek. “I missed you more.” And I did, I always will. When I put him down, he runs to his room, leaving me standing there with Rylee.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“I’m fine,” I reply, smiling. She stares at me, and I instantly know that she knows what happened. “You know?” I ask.
She nods. “I do. Do you need me to transfer you? What he did is not okay.”
It wasn’t only him. We both had a part in it.
“No, it’s fine.” I check on Oliver, who’s going straight to the fridge before I look back to Rylee. “Do you want to come in?”
“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” I tell her.
Her head drops to an angle. “I feel like you tell yourself that, but you don’t really believe it.”
“Beckham …” I don’t finish my thought because when I turn around, a car I don’t recognize pulls up behind Rylee’s. A blond man gets out, and my heart rate picks up as I take a step back into the house, somehow hoping he never saw me.
Even though I know he did.
“What the fuck! When did he get out?” Rylee states. Her history with him is much deeper than mine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have one with him as well. He is, after all, Oliver’s father.
“I don’t know,” I manage to say.
“I wouldn’t recommend coming any closer,” Rylee says.
“I’m not here to see you.” His eyes fall to me. He looks bigger, different, but still Anderson. I’m not even sure what I saw in him all those years ago. Maybe I had too much to drink, I’m not sure, but I was stupid. I know that much. “I came to see our son.”
“You can’t just turn up to her house demanding to see your son,” Rylee butts in.
I grab her arm and squeeze it. She is visibly shaking, and I don’t blame her, considering all the things he’s done to her. How he tried to control and hurt her so badly she ended up in the hospital.
“Can you please go in and make sure Oliver stays inside?” I ask Rylee.
Her gaze bounces from him to me, then back to him. “I don’t want to leave you alone with him.”
“I’ll be fine. Please. All I care about is Oliver.”
She nods as if she understands, then walks inside, and I shut the door behind her. I step down until I’m closer but not within reach, and I glare at him.