“Okay.” He eyeballs me as he brushes some of her hair aside to kiss her neck. I want to cut his lips from his face so he never touches her with his mouth again.
West watches his parents with curious eyes while I quietly seethe when Kendall brings her hands up over Curtis’s at her waist and holds on to him. She avoids looking at me, and that only pisses me off even more. I grip the edge of my chair and count to ten in my head. Anything to stop myself from lunging at him and ripping him off the woman who ismine.
24
KENDALL
Idon’t know what Curtis is playing at, but I am going to fucking kill him for this. While he refuses to rush the divorce through, he has agreed to speak with the children tomorrow to tell them we are separating and he is moving out. He wants them to get used to the idea of us splitting up before formalizing the divorce. I know from speaking with my attorney and what I have seen of cases at work it will take months to finalize everything, but if he thinks I’m going to let him drag his heels indefinitely, he has another think coming.
I would’ve thought he’d want to be free of me as quickly as possible so he can be with his “serious” girlfriend. Perhaps she’s not as keen on the baggage he brings to the relationship and he wants more time to nail her down before dropping the bomb about the divorce. I don’t know. I have no clue what goes through his brain anymore, and I have no desire to decipher it. I don’t care about him. I just want him out of my life. Getting myself and the kids through it is my priority, as well as figuring out what to do about my feelings for Vander.
I have been a complete wreck all week. Unable to sleep, hardly able to eat, and barely functioning at the office. I can’t get him out of my head, and I’m still struggling to process the things he told me. The dream. Dee’s assertions. My beliefs on reincarnation and the memories flitting through my mind. Seeing Vander’s painting unlocked something inside me, and now I’m being deluged with images of a previous lifetime, and I’m so confused. It’s pretty freaking scary too. I wish I could talk to someone about this. I have been tempted to confide in June, but I’m terrified she’ll think I’m crazy and recommend a trip to the loony bin. So, I left a message with Dee, and I’m hoping she can fit me in for a private session soon.
“Darling.” Curtis approaches me as I stand, lost in thought, at the top of the marquee beside the cake, watching Vander entertain Gayle Turner with a growing pain in my heart. Vander is angry. That much I can tell. Though I don’t know if he’s angry because I ran out on him, stayed away from him all week, or if he buys into Curtis’s performance and thinks I have forgiven him. “Are we ready to do this?” he asks, sliding his arm around my back and gripping my hip with his hand.
“What are you doing?” I hiss, forcing my lips to smile instead of snarling at my soon-to-be ex-husband.
“Acting like your husband. Which I still am, I might add.”
I narrow my gaze as I look up at him, itching to remove his hand from my hip, but we have several eyes on us, and I don’t want to make it obvious that I loathe my husband with the intensity of a thousand suns and his touch makes my skin itch. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, Curtis, but you need to cut it out. This is West’s eighteenth birthday. A night he will remember forever. I don’t want him looking back on it and believing the entire night was fabricated. We agreed to be civil to one another and to smile. We didn’t agree to grabby hands and fake PDAs.”
It’s crazy, but standing here like this, knowing Vander is watching, feels like the biggest betrayal. Memories of our heated make-out session have been replaying in a loop on my mind all week, and my little electric friend has been getting a vigorous workout after months of minimal use. My body tingles every time I remember how incredible it felt to have Vander’s touch all over me.
I panicked when his fingers brushed against my panties because I knew if I let him touch me there we wouldn’t stop, and I couldn’t let it go that far. Not while I’m still officially married to Curtis and not until I’ve had time to think about everything and whether I’m ready to take a giant step and start something with my son’s eighteen-year-old friend. Knowing what I know now, it’s hard to think of him as eighteen. If his soul is the other half of mine, then age really doesn’t matter.
When we kissed, it was both familiar and new, but it didn’t feel wrong. Nothing has ever felt more right, and it terrifies me. I’m on the cusp of something life-changing, and I don’t know if I’m brave enough to take that leap of faith.
“You need to learn to relax,” Curtis says, squeezing my hip as he gestures for West, Stella, and Ridge to come forward. “Or you need to get laid.” Before I can stop him, he swoops in and plants a hard kiss on my mouth. “I can take one for the team tonight, for old time’s sake. What do you say?”
My entire body shakes with rage and not being able to release it makes me want to scream. “I say you’re fucking crazy and hell will freeze over before I ever have sex with you again.”
“I know you’ve got to be gagging for it,” he says, smiling as our kids approach. “Consider it my last act as your husband.”
I dig my fingers into his hand, uncaring at this point if the kids see. “Unless you want me to stab you with the cake knife, take your fucking hands off me and keep your disgusting offer to yourself.”
“Mom.” West’s brow creases as he steps in front of me. “Are you okay?”
I force a wide smile on my face. “I’m fine, honey.” I loop my arm through his and hold him close as Ridge sidles up to me, and I tuck him into my other side. My youngest yawns, and I reach down, kissing his cheek. He’s exhausted, but I know I’ll most likely have a fight on my hands when the time comes to leave. Curtis wraps his arm around Stella, beaming at the crowd as they gather around us, like he isn’t the son of Satan.
Pain tightens my chest as my gaze locks on Vander’s. His cold green eyes are devoid of emotion as he stares at me while cradling Gayle against his front, her back to his chest. His arms are encircling her waist, and she’s clinging to his muscular forearms and beaming like she’s just won an Oscar.
I look away, focusing on West as he thanks everyone for coming before thanking me and Curtis for hosting the party. He calls Hazel forward, and I step to the side to let him hug his girlfriend. She beams up at him as he makes a wish and blows out the candles. After, I make myself scarce cutting up the cake and placing it onto plates so I don’t have to watch Gayle fawning all over Vander from her new seat on his lap. The more time that passes, the angrier I am getting. I thought Vander was more mature, but if this is some kind of game, he can play it alone.
I am done with men trying to manipulate me.
Viola, Shirley, and June help to distribute the cake, but I insist on serving my son’s table because I want to make a point. “Cake for the birthday boy and his girl,” I say, sliding plates in front of West and Hazel.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Hazel squeals, immediately grabbing her fork and diving in. “I’ve been looking forward to eating this all night.”
“How about you, Vander?” I ask, plastering a smile on my face as I turn to face him. “Would you like to have your cake and eat it too?”
Gayle’s brows knit together, and she giggles. “As opposed to what?” She eyes me with clear amusement.
“As opposed to having your cake and not eating it,” West mumbles, around a mouthful of sugary goodness, rolling his eyes.
“Or not having cake and therefore not eating it,” Hazel adds, swirling her tongue around the frosted icing on her fork.
