“Oh God, don’t remind me.” I turned around, grabbing his coffee from my espresso machine. I didn’t want to think about that now. I had enough to deal with. “You still take it black, two sugars?”
“Yeah.”
I reached for the canister that held the sugar, but it was empty. Grabbing the stool from the pantry, I placed it in front of the cabinet where the extra sugar was and stepped on it. The floor was still damp from when I’d mopped it that morning, and it slid right out from under me.
“Shit!” I shrieked, but Jax was quick on his feet, catching me in his arms before my ass hit the ground.
I opened my mouth to thank him but was cut short. The garage door flew open and both of our eyes snapped toward the disruption. My heart dropped, sinking to the bottom of my stomach. I locked eyes with the man I least expected to see.
His seething glare shifted from me to Jax, who was still holding me close to his chest. From an outsider looking in, it appeared as if he’d caught us in an intimate moment. However, it couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“I’m going to fucking kill you!” was the first thing I heard Christian say since he’d tore apart our photo booth pictures.
—Christian—
They moved away from each other while I lunged toward Jax at the same time.
“It’s not what you think!”
Before the last word left her mouth, my fist was connecting with his jaw. Kinley loudly gasped as his head whooshed back, taking half of his body with him. He stumbled, trying to catch his footing while meeting my intense rage.
His hands quickly fisted at his sides.
“What the fuck is he doing here?!” I snarled through a clenched jaw. “This is still my house.”
“You need to calm down!” Kinley demanded.
“Calm down?! You want me to calm down when I just walked in on my wife in the arms of her best friend?”
I went for Jax again, but she stepped out in front of me.
“No!”
“Kinley, get the hell out of my way!”
“Yeah, Kinley! Get the fuck out of his way. I would love to finally lay him out!”
“Jax!” She snapped around. “Stop it! You’re not helping.”
“He’s just trying to take advantage of you. How can you not see that?”
“He is not! I was getting him sugar, and the stool slipped. He caught me before I fell to the ground. You should be thanking him. I could have been in the ER if it wasn’t for Jax.”
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever thank him for anything.”
“Christian, please…”
“Kinley, he’s trying to break us up.”
“No, asshole,” he spewed. “You did that all on your own.”
“Oh my God. Stop it! Please!” Her panicked stare went from him to me and back to him. “I’ve been getting in between the two of you for the last twenty years, and I’m over it. You’re grown-ass men, so stop acting like children.”
“Fuck him!” I roared, my blood seething. “Stay away from my wife, and get the fuck out of my house!”
“She won’t be your wife in a few days.”
“You son of a bitch. That’s what you want, isn’t it? It’s what you’ve always wanted—her to yourself and me out of the picture.”
“Do you hear yourself, Christian? That couldn’t be further from the truth, and you know it! He’s been nothing but a good friend to me all these years. Why can’t you see that?”
“Maybe it’s time she knows what a real man can do.”
“Jax!” she shouted, looking back at him. “Where the fuck did that come from? You’re just making things worse!”
I once again lunged at him, and she gripped onto my arm, holding me steady.
“He’s not a child, Kinley. Let him come at me like a man,” Jax baited, and if she wasn’t standing in between us, I’d wipe the floor with his ass.
“What are you even doing here?” I asked, demanding to know.
“What the fuck do you think I’m here for? I’m here for her.” He sternly nodded to Kinley. “She was bawling her eyes out over your ass last night.”
“She was?” I was taken aback.
After what I did with our first pictures, I was surprised she was anything other than pissed off. It was one of the reasons I was there in the first place. I wanted to apologize.
I fucked up, and it seemed like lately it was the only thing I could accomplish when it came to her.
Jax read my mind, spewing, “Yeah. How many times can you treat her like shit and then apologize for it, huh? You’re lucky I don’t knock your ass out for all the times you’ve made her cry in the last year alone.”
“Fuck you, Jax. You have no business getting involved in our marriage. You fuck anything with tits and an ass, so don’t try me with your martyr bullshit. But what you can do”—I pointed to the door—“is get the fuck out of my house.”