“B,” Kai says softly.
“Don’tBme. Where the fuck have you been? Have you been with that slut all night and day?”
“No. It’s not like that?—”
I cut him off. “Then what is itlike, Kai? You leave me and your daughter at home on another holiday for what? So you can go fuck around. Are you fucking around on me?” I yell, seeing my hot breath with the cold of this night. I’m so hurt and mad I don’t feel any cold. My body’s been stiff since I saw those two talking to each other. No warmth or cold is connecting with my body.
“No.” He furrows his brows. “I would never do that to you.”
“So you wouldn’t cheat on me but you think it’s okay to leave your family for a whole day with no word to them. I’ve been sitting up all night worried sick, and you’re over here just fucking around.”
He steps closer to me, and I move to the side to get away from him. Kevin comes closer to us. “Kai, you told me she was okay with you going out. Then I found out you’ve been going out more than I knew. What the hell is going on with you?”
Kai turns to Kevin with a clenched jaw. His eyes flash intensely at him with anger. “Why is it okay for you to go out but not me?”
“I don’t have the responsibilities that you have.”
“I take care of my responsibilities. I go to work. I pay our bills. I’m home every night.”
Kevin shakes his head with raised brows. “You think that’s all you have to do? You can’t do this bullshit when you have a family. You should know that after what we’ve been through. Look at how dad?—”
Kai cuts Kevin off. “Don’t you dare bring him into this!” he yells.
“This has everything to do with him and you need to come to realize that and fix whatever it is you’re going through. Numbing whatever the hell you’re feeling isn’t going to help.”
Tears roll down my cheeks as I listen to how hurt he is. All he is doing is putting his pain on others and I can’t sit and be in the turmoil of his pain if he won’t find a way to deal with it better than partying.
“I’ll come home right now,” Kai says.
The sight of him and Allison replays in my head, sickening me with what could or may have happened. “I don’t want you to come home,” I say.
Kai’s mouth falls in disbelief. “Where am I going to go?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Maybe your so-called friends will find a spot for you.”
“You can stay with me,” Kevin says as he gets in the car. Kai walks to the back door and starts opening it until Kevin stops him. “No. You found a way to get here, you can find a way to get home. Come on, Blakely. Let’s go.”
I slide into the passenger seat without looking at Kai. As we drive away, I glance back at him. He remains in the same spot, his expression frozen in shock.
As the light from the day seeps into my room, so do the memories of last night. My eyes are blinking and squinting as I adjust to the light. Amari’s empty bed catches my attention. I look over my shoulder and notice Paige is gone, too. I let out a sigh, knowing that Paige has Amari.
A smoky scent of bacon swarms my kitchen as I walk in and find Paige eating next to Amari in her highchair.
“Good morning,” Paige says. “I made breakfast if you’re hungry,” she says in a sympathetic tone.
I glare at the bacon and eggs sitting on the stove. “Where did you get this?” I know I didn’t have this food here.
“Kevin.”
“Really?”
“I asked Kevin to bring me some food to cook since you didn’t have much. I was going to go to the store, but I didn’t want to wake you or take Amari out without letting you know. So, he brought over what he had.”
After coming home last night, I was worried Kai would try to come home even after I told him not to. To my surprise, he never came home. Paige stayed the night. Mostly because by the time I got home, she and Amari had already fallen asleep. I snuck into the bed next to Paige and tried my hardest to erase the memories of last night. I’m not sure when I fell asleep.After hours of crying, I finally drifted off out of pure exhaustion.
“What happened last night? You got home pretty late.”
I sit across from Paige and tell her everything that happened. I’m not sure if she felt shocked, confused, or at a loss for words. Her facial expressions changed so much while I told her everything.
