Page 122 of Mommy

She shakes her head, her feet moving her closer. So close, her scent wafts over to me and makes my head dizzy.

Fuck.

If she wants me to grovel, I will. I’ll do anything she asks of me, if⁠—

“Give me the leash, Derek.”

What?

No, I can’t do that. I won’t hand Posie over, not even to her.

“Ivory, please, let me explain.”

“No!”

She doesn’t want to listen to me.

I suppose I can’t blame her. I should’ve reached out a lot sooner, and this is probably the worst possible scenario for us to talk things through. It’s definitely not helping her willingness to listen to my explanation.

The tears that line her baby blue eyes speak louder than her angry words. She’s not even looking at me, and instead keeps her eyes glued to our connected hands.

I’ve hurt her.

It’s not that I didn’t know that before, but now that it’s staring me in the face it’s even more painfully obvious.

Her pain is making me want to wretch, it makes me want to run away and hide… it makes me want to… fix it.

Go back in time and be a better man. Make the right decision. Be what she needs.

She’s still grasping for the leash, but I’m holding on tightly. I’m not letting go, and not only because the way Ivory’s fingernails scratch over the back of my hands has my skin catching fire.

Fuck, I missed her.

“I’m not surrendering Posie.” I feel like these are the only words I can say that Ivory will actually hear.

She stills, her eyes finally moving to meet mine.

In the corner, Ezekiel shifts uncomfortably in his chair and even Shelly stops in her tracks of sorting through papers.

They might not have seen this, but I know exactly what Ivory was thinking. She stormed in here and the hurt I caused made her mind jump to the only possible conclusion.

“What?” Her voice is so small.

“I am not surrendering Posie. That’s not what’s happening here.”

I hold her eyes, desperate to say more, but biting my tongue. This is not the place, and we are not in the right company for that apology.

Ezekiel has kept his trap shut this far, but I wouldn’t guarantee that’ll hold on much longer.

“Well, this is awkward.”

What did I say?

“Maybe we should give you guys some space.” Shelly gets up from her chair. “Ez, I was going to ask you something about one of the dogs anyway. I think I need a specialist on behaviour.”

They file out of the room, but before he closes the door, Ezekiel throws me a look that says don’t fuck this up, bro.

As if I didn’t know that myself.