It should be illegal how good he looks after what he did to me.
His hair is perfect like always, cut on, tight shirt and jeans. The man's a work of art, a lying, cheating asshole, but still a work of art.
I tense, noticing his wedding ring, and I narrow my eyes at him wondering why he has to still wear it, but his eyes aren’t looking at me. Instead, they are on the hand around my waist, anger radiating from him.
Great.
“Don’t forget our therapy session tomorrow, pixie!” Ty snaps out of the blue, and my eyes turn into slits as this time Talen tenses.
“Therapy?” Talen questions with a tightness in his voice, and my jaw ticks at the smirk Ty is giving right now.
Jackass.
“Yeah, so we can learn to co-parent properly,” I state instantly, causing Ty to scowl, one just like our sons.
I swear…
“Right,” Talen says, and I look to see his eyes on Tyler before he looks my way and smiles slightly. “I’ve got to get to work, but I’ll see you on Friday?” he confirms, and I nod, making him smile brighter, before he leans down and presses his lips against mine.
I hear a growl, and even though I don’t feel anything but filth, that my body is wanting to curl away from him for protection which is just so goddamn weird, I kiss Talen back as a screw you to my soon-to-be ex-husband before pulling away.
Talen smirks before saying, “See ya, Cole.”
Cole doesn’t reply to him, but he doesn’t take notice as he glares at Tyler, then walks out without looking back. I lock eyes with Tyler, whose eyes are burning with rage.
I have to admit, I’m loving the payback.
“Cole, let's go,” Tyler snaps, not taking his eyes off me, his body vibrating, and Cole sighs, “Fine,” with an attitude that I can’t help but roll my eyes at.
“Watch the attitude, young man,” I state as he kisses my cheek, and he hums, “Uh huh…” before walking out of the shop without looking back and I huff, “He’s your child.”
“Maybe his mama making out with that dickhead is what his problem is!” Ty snaps, and I raise a brow.
“Or, it could be because his father had a full-blown affair and his mistress went and told him at school while also dropping the bomb that he wasn’t wanted!” I snap back with impatience.
He has no right to feel jealous, whatsoever, so he can turn around and fuck off.
“Tomorrow, pixie,” he growls instead, not reacting to my statement, knowing how true it is, and I tense. “Yeah, I spoke to Dirty last week. You have until tomorrow at therapy, then let's see whose more at fault here shall we, if you want to turn it into a pissing contest!”
So adamant, so stuck in his own thoughts, so goddamn wrong…
“You,” I say softly, “you will win if I ever decide to tell you why I pulled back from you. You will always win because you allowed your mind to conjure up crap just so you could cheat.”
His jaw ticks, and he growls, “Tomorrow, pixie,” before turning and storming out, and I sigh as I drop my head, which is beginning to pound.
We can’t keep doing this, it isn’t fair to Cole.
Maybe I do need to tell him the truth so we can all move on, preferably with a divorce.
Three hours later, I walk out of Clark’s convenience store as an employee for the last time. I smile widely, knowing I can now start living my dream and hopefully move Cole and me into a better apartment without the roaches.
After years of working here and trying to get through vet school, I finally made it. I actually made it…
“Well, look who it is,” a woman says, gaining my attention, and I look up and lock eyes with ones just like mine and my sons and my smile fades.
My mama stands before me in a simple pant suit, her blonde hair neatly in a bun as she looks me over, my mama, whom I haven’t spoken to since she kicked me out and have only seen in passing across the street.
“Hello, Mama,” I say, keeping my head held high.
