“Go, please,” she said, looking away before rattling off her address.
“Boyfriend troubles?” the cabbie asked as he drove off, and Kacey shrugged as her hands cupped her growing belly. Her ring caught the light of the sun and her eyes clouded with tears. She was supposed to be happy, excited for her future with Jordie, but she felt like everything she’d thought was good was a lie. That the foundation of their relationship was built on dishonesties. For the longest time, she had thought it was the help of AA and therapy that had gotten Jordie through his problems at the beginning, but instead it had been Natasha.
Someone he cared for.
Someone he hid from her.
Someone who wasn’t Kacey.
Wiping away her tears, she guessed the other shoe had finally dropped.
Screaming out in frustration as the taxi pulled away, he turned just as Natasha came out, a napkin under her nose as she glared at him. But he didn’t care. He could give two shits that her nose could be broken or that she was mad, because he was furious.
“How dare you?” he sneered and she shrugged.
“You are making a mistake,” she said nasally. “You love me.”
“No, I do not!” he yelled. “I don’t fucking love you, not even a little bit. I love that woman, the one that just got a cab to go home because of the shit you started. Do you know how fragile pregnant women are? Oh wait, no, you don’t, because you don’t have kids or even want them because you don’t get close enough to anyone to even start to have a relationship.”
“I got close to you!”
“But I don’t want you!” he yelled back, his heart pounding as his mind reeled with ways to handle Kacey. She was overly emotional all the time, with good reason, and he knew he was in deep shit. She was right; he should have told her about Natasha, but honestly, he never even thought of her. He was so happy with Kacey that he didn’t need Natasha anymore. He knew that sounded horrible and maybe made him an ass, but he only needed Kacey.
Natasha’s eyes widened as she slowly shook her head. “You don’t mean that.”
What the hell was up with all these crazy people? First Liam, then his mom, who was straight from crazy town, and now Natasha? When was he going to catch a break? If it wasn’t fighting his alcohol issue, it was batting away crazy people who wanted to fuck with the one great thing in his life. The one thing that mattered more than the next drink, or the people from crazy town. His everything.
Stepping toward her, he took her by her shoulders. “Listen to me, Natasha. I don’t love you, I never said I’d love you, and I never will. That woman though, that woman I love. More than I could even try to put into words. You know how much she means to me. Please stop this,” he begged, but Natasha shook her head.
“I miss you.”
He let his head fall back and he couldn’t believe it. She had been such a cool chick, a wonderful fuck, and an okay person, but when did she take a detour to Crazyville and why was she doing this? Shaking his head, he said, “Natasha, don’t. Because I will never be yours. I’m Kacey’s. Only Kacey’s.” Her lips trembled as she looked away and he asked, “Please don’t call the cops on her. Let that be your apology to me.”
“Who said I’m apologizing?”