“Not anymore,” I mumbled, my fist clenching.
My brothers made a tidy line behind Jess and me. Nick’s eyes swept over them, appearing both irritated and impressed. “Well, shit. That’s quite an entourage you’ve got there.”
“Took years to assemble,” I replied.
Nick scowled, reaching his hand out. “We haven’t properly met. I’m Nick.”
I had half a mind to slap his hand away but didn’t want to make it awkward for Jess or Noah, so I shook it.
“And, hey. Thanks for helping out with my kid.”
Helping out? I could feel my blood boiling. This douche hadn’t paid child support in years. He didn’t have the right to lump himself in with me.
Nick leaned in close, and the smell of alcohol permeated my senses. “And just so you know, I’m not here to scope out your girl. Trust me when I say she’s safe with you.”
Jess flashed me a warning with her eyes, leaving no question she wanted to handle this her way and for me to step aside.
“This isn’t appropriate,” Jess said, her voice strong and steely. “It’s time to go.”
Nick completely ignored her. “Go ahead, Noah. Open the gift.”
“Can I, Mom?” Noah questioned, now painfully confused by the exchange happening between the adults in the room.
Nick issued the reply without ever looking Noah’s way. His glare was on Jess. “You don’t need to ask her. I’m your dad, and I say yes.”
Jess was cornered, with only one way to answer if she didn’t want to ruin Noah’s day.
“Go ahead, bud,” she relented. “And then your dad has to go.”
“Ifhewants,” Nick replied, so condescending.
“No,” I stepped in, meeting his eye. “Notif. He leaves.”
Poor Noah ripped open his gift in the middle of the showdown and hugged his dad for the Tech Deck set.
“I’m going to leave now, Noah. Your mom and her boyfriend aren’t being real nice right now. But you were happy to see me, and that’s all that matters, right?”
“Right,” Noah replied, but he didn’t sound sure of anything.
Father and son exchanged goodbyes, but before Nick left, he got one last word in. “I told you I wanted to see my son. No need for a formal invitation.”
“Actually, there is. You only have supervised visitation rights.”
“What more do you want?” he scoffed, his hand sweeping over the back row of my brothers. “It’s supervised by half of fucking Hollywood.”
“Nick, please don’t swear,” Jess replied calmly. “He’s nine.”
“Like he doesn’t hear that shit coming out of your mouth. I know you, Jess. You’re no angel. You might have him fooled, but you don’t have me.”
“I’d appreciate if you didn’t speak to my girlfriend, and the mother of your child, that way.”
Uneasy, Noah took a step toward Jess. She reached out and grabbed him, drawing him back to her and wrapping her arms around his chest protectively. My hand went over the both of them.
“Oh, you’dappreciateit, would you?” Nick stepped into me, his chest inches from mine. Another waft of the heavy scent of alcohol told me Nick wasn’t in full control of his senses. “Well, I’dappreciateit if you took your hand off my kid.”
The stress of the confrontation was too much for his mind to process, and Noah emitted a soft, whimpering sound. Jess hugged him tighter.
“Cody,” she pleaded. “Please take him out of here before something happens that all of us will regret.”
