“You, too, Jo, thanks.” Knox’s voice sounded off, and I wondered if he was remembering things better now. He held out a plate for me before he took one for himself, and I almost felt bad for him until I remembered the reason we broke up. He put his dick in another girl. That same girl who was now currently digging her claws in the man I loved. I turned briefly to see Madison glaring in our direction, but she raised her glass in my direction anyway with an evil smile on her face.
“Hey.” Jo nudged my side as she brought her face closer to mine. “Don’t let her win, Jill, because she wants you to have a meltdown,” she whispered. “Also, I would hate for you to ruin that dress you’re wearing, because Hutch and Knox probably have boners the size of downtown Chicago.”
I snorted. “You’re disgusting.” I tried not to laugh as I grabbed the tongs to drop some chicken onto my plate. I had picked my dress out back in New York because I had fallen in love with it hanging in the window of a second-hand store. It was a blue maxi dress with white flowers, and it fell straight to the floor. I love how it clung to me, showing off the little curves that I had, and for once, I actually liked how I looked. “We all know Madison has hated my guts since we were in high school, and now she’s trying to put the final nail in my coffin.” I was happy to have something in my hands so I couldn’t flip her the bird while I spoke.
I pretended not to notice the way she fawned all over Hutch. The way she looked at him with big doe eyes. Or the way she slid her hands up his chest and pressed a kiss against his mouth, leaving her lipstick behind just when she thought I might see.
Knox pressed a hand to my back. “Jill.” His voice was calm, but he wasn’t the one that I wanted or needed right now. No, the man that I loved was too busy whispering sweet nothings to my arch nemesis because I had been stupid enough to let him get away in the first place.
Chapter Twenty-One
Hutch
The urge to rip Knox’sarms from his body and then beat him with them was strong tonight. The moment I saw him walking down the sidewalk with Jillian this afternoon, I had to actually talk myself out of breaking his face with my fist and that was only because I had Hazel to worry about. Then, Jillian brought him as her fucking date tonight? Did she forget what he did to her or the things he said to me the night we went to the carnival?
Having a child was never high on my list of things I wanted in my life. I was beginning to have my doubts about Madison since she dropped that bomb at the Angry Egg this morning. Clearly, she had held on to that, waiting for the exact moment to release it.
I stayed when I knew it wasn’t right. I might have been a lot of things, but I was a decent human being. I stepped in, told Mads I would be there if she wanted me, and now? Well, here we were. Did I love her? Love was a strong word. I cared for her, wanted to make sure she and Hazel had a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. I didn’t see us getting married, although Madison dropped hints all the time. I wasn’t the white picket fence kind of dude and probably never would be even if I was with Jillian. Madison and I lived in an apartment over Zed’s Automotive, which I now owned, and even though it wasn’t as nice as the place I put together living at my parents, with a little work and a lot of love, it was home. Or at least, a place to rest my head at night.
“I’m going to call my parents to check in on Hazel.” Madison tried to be a good mother. The moment she found out she was pregnant, she stopped smoking, drinking, and anything else that might hurt our unborn child. “I’ll be right back.” She stood up, making sure to press a kiss to my temple. “You okay? I know this can’t be easy for you.” Madison knew nothing about my past. That was something I had only told to Jillian, my therapist, and my family, but only after Jills left. It had helped in my healing and to finally turn my life around. I was thankful I never told Madison because there was no doubt she would find a way to hang it over my head. My trust in her was dwindling by the second the more I thought about this morning.
I shrugged. “How do you think I am, Mads?” I drained the last of my beer.
“Do you want to leave now?”
“Not a chance.”
Madison’s eyes darkened. “Because she’s here with Knox?” She pursed her lips as jealousy ripped through my veins. “Baby—”
“You should check up on Hazel. Tell her I love her,” I reminded her. I wanted to tell her to leave and not come back, but I bit my tongue. I slid my eyes to hers. “I’ll be fine.”
Madison nodded, dropped another kiss against my cheek, and as I leaned back into my seat, I saw Knox leading Jillian out onto the dancefloor. Fuck my life, could this night get worse? I cursed myself for thinking that because Kenny Chesney’s “You and Tequila” began playing. Fuck. There was no way I was letting Knox Carson dance with my girl now. Wait, she wasn’t my girl anymore. Had Jillian ever really been mine in the first place?
Before I even realized what I was doing, I was out of my seat, striding across the room, and tapped Knox on the shoulder, probably a little harder than I needed to. “I’m cutting in,” I growled. “Don’t fight me.”
Knox glanced down at her. “Are you okay with that?” he asked.
