I only pray that it’s enough.
JAGGER
I sit in bed later that night staring at that photo. The boy looks just like me, I have no doubt he’s mine. My son ... She had a baby. My son. I swallow and run a swollen finger over the picture. This changes everything and she knows it. I’ve fucked up. I’ve made her think I don’t care, I’ve kissed Sharleen in front of her, and all along she was just trying to help me and let me know I had a son. Fuck.
A soft knocking at my door has me looking up, and I see Sharleen walk in wearing some skimpy fucking night gown. I know what she thinks, and she’s fucking wrong. I kissed her tonight because I knew Willow was there, nothing more. She doesn’t know that though and obviously thinks I want her. This isn’t going to end well, likely with a black eye and another split lip. The woman has a foul temper.
“Hey, about tonight,” she begins.
Here goes nothing. “Sharleen, I fucked up. I shouldn’t have kissed you. Didn’t want to. I was proving a point.”
She was leaning a hip against the door in a sexy way, now she’s dead straight and glaring at me. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t mean to be an asshole about this, but I was high as fuck and trying to piss Mick off. It wasn’t about you.”
I’ve done drugs once or twice since I’ve been here but she thinks I do a lot more than I actually do. My story will work, and I know it does when her face scrunches and she looks like I’ve slapped her.
“What?”
Here goes.
“How many times do I have to remind you that we aren’t a couple? You’re fucking my father, for Christ’s sake.”
“So what? Doesn’t mean we can’t fuck, too.”
I glare at her in disgust. “Do you have no self-respect? Do you honestly want to be that girl, Sharleen?”
She gapes. “What do you mean that girl? Are you calling me easy?”
“You’re offering yourself up like some sort of toy to anyone that’ll have you, even if that person treats you like a dog. Have some respect. The girl I love would never do what you’re doing now. I have more respect for myself then to ever touch a woman who clearly doesn’t care about herself.”
I feel bad, only a touch. Sharleen deserves every horrible word she gets thrown at her, but I don’t exactly want to be the one tossing them around. Still, I have to get it through to her and the only way is to be cruel and cold. She doesn’t hear anything else.
Her eyes widen. “Fuck you, Jagger, you’re a waste of my time.”
“Right back at ya, babe,” I mutter, glancing at the television playing in the background.
She turns and storms out.
I don’t bother looking up when she slams the door. I pull out the picture and stare down at it.
My son.
I have a son.
This changes everything.
8
WILLOW
“Do you think he’ll show?” I ask, fumbling my hands together as my eyes dart back and forth, nerves settling in my stomach.
Ace shrugs casually, even though I can see his fists keep clenching and unclenching. “I don’t know.”
Angel, Ace, and I are at the wharf sitting in the car and waiting. It’s half past noon, and Jagger hasn’t shown. I stare back at Cody in his seat, he’s staring at a tree out the window. I nearly didn’t bring him, but Angel insisted that it would help Jagger make a choice. I didn’t want him to make a choice just for Cody, but I also know he deserves to see his son, even if it is just once.
A black car pulls into the empty car park, and my head snaps around. When it stops and pulls up, I zone in on the door. Jagger gets out. He’s dressed in black jeans, a black shirt and black sunglasses. Oh god, he looks so perfect, so gorgeous. My heart aches for him. How can I ever move on? How can I just forget? I hang my head. The hurt runs so fucking deep. He wants her. I have to remind myself that he’s no longer mine.
“Give us a minute.”
Angel and Ace get out of the car. I stare with bated breath as they go over and greet Jagger, a moment later they’re hugging. They talk for a moment, and then Jagger’s gaze swings to the car. I watch him lift his sunglasses and narrow his eyes. Taking a deep breath, I get out of the car. Jagger stares at me for a long moment when our eyes meet, and I hold my breath, terrified. So many things pass between us, so many unspoken words. His blue eyes crush my heart in ways that are so unimaginably painful.
“You came,” I say simply when he walks over and stops in front of me.