“I know,” she replied softly. “We will. But this ridiculous dick-measuring contest”—she shot a glare at both of us—“will only make things worse.” It wasn’t a win for either. She was pissed at both of us, and I could feel it.
George exhaled sharply, stepping back.
“Fine,” he paused. “But I don’t want to see him near the kids until we talk.”
The words hit harder than I expected. A protective part of me bristled, wanting to argue that I wasn’t some random guy. But I kept my mouth shut. I’d only been around the kids for a few days, and the truth was, Ididunderstand where George was coming from. I hated it, but I got it. He was protecting his kids from the famous actor, who could potentially drop in and out of their lives whenever he felt like it.
Jules nodded slowly.
“Okay…” She looked relieved that this wasn’t escalating into something she couldn’t control. I had to hand it to her; she handled this mess better than most people would’ve.
George turned to leave, but not without taking one last shot. He paused as he passed me, leaning in close to whisper.
“You don’t get to use my wife and kids to play your regular guy fantasy, you hear me?”
My jaw tightened, but instead of snapping, I leaned in to whisper back, letting a smug smile creep onto my face.
“Ex-wife…” I said, slow and deliberate, savoring the way his face twisted in anger.
I could feel Jules’ eyes on me immediately. When I glanced over, the disapproval was clear. George’s eyes were pure anger at this point. But instead of firing back, he turned that fury into a smug smile. He wanted to get under my skin, and he was doing a damn good job.
“Hey, kids!Dadis here!” he called out, putting deliberate emphasis on“Dad.”The jab landed exactly where he wanted it to. My jaw clenched so hard I thought I might break a tooth. He didn’t even look at me as he walked toward the stairs, his grin widening. “Who wants ice cream?” he called, way too pleased with himself.
Liam and Nova came running down the stairs.
“We do, we do!” they yelled in unison.
“Alright, let’s go! Say bye to your mom.”
“Bye, Mom! Bye, Chris!” We heard their voices, already halfway out the door.
Jules’ face was flushed—not the shade of pink I loved seeing when I touched her, but from a mix of anger, worrying and fear heating her skin and twisting her expression. I could see her mustering every ounce of strength to force a cheerful tone. “Bye. Have fun!”
I managed to echo her, even though I wanted to punch something.
“Bye, you guys.”
The front door clicked shut, leaving a silence so heavy it felt like it might crush me. I turned away from Jules, trying tokeep my temper in check. I was still too wound up from the confrontation with the lumberjack, and I had to be careful not to let the remains of it spill over onto her. She was already carrying too much. But it was… So. Damn. Hard. Seeing her with him just now was the last thing I needed, and a giant red flag dangling right in front of my worst instincts, dragging them up to the surface.
My hands went straight to the cabinets, rummaging through them for something to dull the sharp edge cutting through my chest. Finally, I found a bottle of vodka. I grabbed a cup from the counter, poured in some orange juice left sitting there, and then topped it off with a long, unmeasured splash of vodka. I could feel her watching me.
“A little early for that, don’t you think?” she finally said.
I paused, the glass halfway to my lips, and glanced at her.
“I would normally agree with you. But I wasn’t exactly ready to deal with your ex-husband, who’s clearly still in love with you.” I knew I was being unreasonable, but I couldn’t help it. Ten minutes ago, I’d felt like I could finally have everything I’d been dreaming about for years—her, the kids,us. Then came the fame, the paparazzi, Vanessa, and Jules’fuckingex-husband, and it all came crashing down like a wrecking ball.
She shook her head.
“He’s not in love with me. He cares about his family.” Her voice wavered.
Bullshit.
Jules was a terrible liar. She knew it. And now I knew exactly where George’s heart still lay. I could handle losing the battle with myself, but for some reason, the thought of losing Jules to someone else stripped away whatever sliver of the decent guy act I had left—which wasn’t much to begin with.
I set the cup down harder than I needed to, the bang echoing in the room.
“You’re saying I don’t care?”
