“I’m sorry about Ashleigh,” I manage to tell him, despite my wildly hammering heart. He’s so angry I can feel it in the air around me and it’s freaking me out.
“You’re not sorry you betrayed my trust and told Luc?” he growls and turns, bare-chested, his dark eyes narrowing angrily on me.
“No. I’m not sorry for that,” I tell him calmly. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You could have minded your own fucking business!” he screams so loud and hard the veins in his neck pop out and his face goes instantly red. “You could have fucking respected me when I said I didn’t want anyone to know!”
“Your family loves you and you need that around you right now,” I reply quietly and clasp my hands together to keep them from trembling.
“My wife fucks other guys? You think Luc is going to make me feel better about that?” He’s still yelling, eyes bright with anger. “You know nothing about what I need. Fuck off!”
I stare up at him, trying to remain calm, and as his gaze sweeps my face, the fire and darkness in his eyes soften and he heaves out a breath. “Callie, I’m sorry; I just—”
“Don’t be. I did betray you. But I felt I had to,” I tell him and fight like hell to keep the quiver of fear out of my voice. “I’ll go.”
I turn and leave him in his room by himself. I head straight to my room and send up a prayer of gratitude that I didn’t unpack very much. I shove everything haphazardly back into my suitcases, zip them up, grab the handle on the biggest one and start down the hall toward the stairs.
I’m moving as quickly and quietly as possible. I’ve never seen Devin—or anyone—so filled with rage in my entire life and I just want to get the hell away from it. As I pass Conner’s open door, Devin steps out into my path.
I literally jump and let out a squeak, then slam a hand over my open mouth. He looks truly shocked by my overreaction, like he has no idea why in the world I would be on edge. His half-naked body is still rigid and his eyes are still red and puffy, but they don’t look as angry.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
“For good?”
“You asked me to go.”
He stares at me and then turns his head to glance into his son’s room. He’s obviously taking in the toys and accessories I bought last night. “You did all this?”
I can’t tell from his facial expression if it makes him want to strangle me or hug me. I nod proudly, because no matter what he thinks, doing this was the right thing for Conner.
“He needs to feel like this is his room. He needs to want to be here,” I explain.
Devin glances back into the room, his eyes sliding over the red stripes across the wall behind the dresser. “Don’t go.”
I don’t say anything. Devin takes a deep breath, holds it a minute and then exhales loudly. “Conner needs you here.”
“Okay,” I say simply and wheel my suitcase back into the guest room. When I come back into the hall, he’s leaning against the railing by the stairs.
He looks up at me, his face completely devoid of emotion, which is definitely better than the rage that was all over it before. But it’s also scary in a different way. “It’s my night with Conner tonight. I don’t want to see her. Can you pick him up for me later?”
“Of course,” I agree and nod. If he doesn’t want to see her, he shouldn’t have to. I don’t want to see her either, but I’ll do it for Devin. “I have to go to work. I’m late.”
“Okay.”
“Devin…” I open my mouth to say something but I don’t know what.
“See you later,” he says and walks back into his room.
Chapter 7
Devin
Icall the coach and tell him I’m sick and won’t be at practice. He wants to send the team doctor over to check me out, but I refuse. Maybe he can tell from my voice that something is up because he doesn’t argue like he usually does. Or maybe Loops told him what’s going on. I don’t know and I honestly don’t care anymore.
I lie in bed but I don’t really sleep. I’m exhausted, both emotionally and physically, after spending the night walking around aimlessly with nothing but my dark, angry thoughts. But despite the fatigue, my brain still won’t shut off.
