“No.” The word cracks through the room like a shot. He turns and points toward the table, the bottle still in his hand. “You’re not leaving. Sit down. Drink your wine. I’m finishing dinner.”
“But—”
“But what, Kiki?” He slams the bottle down and braces both hands on the counter, his breathing erratic. “What exactlydo you think is going to happen here? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I’m a great dad, and despite what you just saw, Deirdre is an amazing mom. We both love Theo. We both want what’s best for him.” He exhales hard and drags a hand over the back of his neck. “She’s just in a fucking mood because of you.”
He couldn’t have hit harder if he slapped me, and a fresh set of tears fills my eyes.
Eddie slumps, realizing a second too late what he said. He walks to me and rests his hands on my shoulders. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”
“It’s fine,” I mumble, my eyes glued to the floor.
“She’s been in a mood since I told her how much I care about you. Guess me being crazy about you didn’t go over very well. I thought we were past the jealousy bullshit, but seems I was mistaken.”
Normally, I’d be doing somersaults, knowing Eddie is as crazy about me as I am about him. But I don’t think Deirdre’s hatred is simply because she pines for Eddie, although it might play a role.
No, I think she wants distance between her family and the pariah of Sparkwood.
And the idea that him caring about me means he’s lost a night with his son hurts my soul in a way taunts never could, because I never want Eddie to feel an ounce of pain because of me.
My mouth parts, but he cuts me off before I can say a word. “Look, I am doing my absolute best not to lose my shit, so can we please have a nice dinner together and try to forget it for a few minutes?”
Chapter 15
About Damn Time
Eddie
Fucking Deirdre.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s a fantastic mother, and most of the time, she’s a damn good friend, too. But the stunt she pulled tonight? Unacceptable. And she will absolutely get a piece of my mind when I pick Theo up tomorrow.
I could have made a bigger deal of her sabotage, but I’ve known the woman for almost a decade. Deirdre was well past the point of reason. She wasn’t interested in explanations and she sure as hell didn’t care to hear anything that countered the narrative she’d built in her head.
It wouldn’t have mattered what I said. She wants to paint Kiki as dangerous and tainted by Drake’s crimes, which is insanity.
Look, I get Deirdre being pissed and protective. But she allowed her anger to splash all over a perfect stranger who already gets more hate thrown at her in a day than most people could stomach in a year.
She’d never met Kiki before tonight and yet, she was readyto throw her ass to the wolves. No chance to know the woman behind the headlines.
Deirdre is better than that, or at least I thought she was.
Then I have another problem right in front of me, because the last thing my girlfriend needs is yet another person looking at her like she’s the scum on the bottom of their shoe.
But here we are.
Kiki barely touches her dinner. She twirls the pasta around her fork, forces down a few small bites, then looks up and tells me how delicious it is. On repeat.
I know the spaghetti is good, but that’s not the point.
Once again, Kiki believes she’s done something wrong by simply daring to take up space.
God fucking forbid, we allow her a modicum of happiness.
Deirdre sees a threat. A menace to Theo and our way of life.
But that’s not what I see. Kiki claims she used to be sunshine mixed with a little hurricane, and I’ll do everything in my power to coax her back out again, even though today set us back a few steps.
Kiki insists on cleaning up after dinner, so I step into the other room to say goodnight to Theo.
