“I doubt it if Ophelia’s going to go for that. She wants a princess party with Bella. Get over this bullshit with the neighbors and plan a party. Learn to keep your mouth shut and you wouldn’t have to worry about people talking about you. That’s why you shut up when we’re in public. That’s why you don’t talk about our personal life with other people. There’s some things I’m just not going to permit. That’s one of them.” Paxton sat back up and brushed his hands up and down my arms.
I turned on him. One knee in his crotch and one over his hip. His body was forced back to his elbows when my lips pushed his. “I’m cool with that. Let’s go away for Phi’s birthday.” I didn’t wait for a response. I parted his lips with my tongue and dropped my weight to his. Both his hands went up my shirt and around my back. We made out like two teens in love. For a brief moment there was nothing else. Just Paxton and me. I could hear the girls laughing, and the waves crashing behind us, but it was still only us. Paxton and me in alone in the moment.
I gasped from the cold. Ophelia’s wet body fell to my legs and Rowans landed on my back. Paxton grabbed all three of us in one quick scoop. His fingers dug into my hip bone and I thrashed, trying to use Rowan as a human shield. He tickled her, too, sending her body crashing into mine. Ophelia escaped and tried like hell to roll him off us. Her body was sent into a laughing frenzy next with stiff fingers to her hipbone.
Lane staring at us in a distance, broke the moment. It was the weirdest thing ever. Like he was pissed at me. I could see the distaste on his face when he blew out a puff of air and walked away, shaking his head in disgust. My eyes went to Paxton’s next. He glanced in the direction of my distraction and back to me.
“Come on, munchkins, bath time,” Paxton said in a sad tone, eyes right on mine. Paxton knew something, or at least he felt it, but what? What did I do? I mean, surely I wasn’t stupid enough to cheat on a man like Paxton. He’d kill me.
I saw Lane, running in a distance when Paxton pulled me to my feet.
“I read where some of these cases can stay dormant for years because the patient doesn’t want to remember. Usually because of a trauma, but not always. Just saying,” Paxton said with a shrug and an open hand toward the path.
I took a deep sea breath, filling my lungs with a push. That’s how it felt. It didn’t matter that we both felt the pull. That unquestionable attraction that kept us tangled in this web of deception. Something stronger always pushed us apart.
That’s the way it was with Paxton and me. One step forward and two leaps back.
Paxton tried like hell to revert to dick-headedness. I wouldn’t let him. Not with the girls. That was bullshit. As soon as they were in the tub, he ordered me to my room to shower and wait for him.
I refused. “No, you’re not doing that, Paxton. You heard me tell Phi, I’d read the shoe book. I’m reading the shoe book and then I will wait for you in my room.
Paxton jerked my arm and squeezed hard. “You’ll fucking do what you’re told when I tell you.”
His angry words through gritted teeth did little for my submission. Not this time. I couldn’t even see a filter, let along control it. My fingers tried to ease the hold around my arm and I spit. Right in his face. Both his eyes closed and then opened. Oh shit.
The pain from his grip loosened when he removed it to wipe his face with his shirt. I didn’t move. I stood perfectly still, waiting for the inevitable. Paxton would kill me dead.
“Get the fuck away from me before I knock your teeth down your throat.”
“Paxton, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Gabriella?”
I smiled a sad smile and stepped around him. I felt so lost. One minute I was happy and content, and the next this. “Head injury,” I said while shrugging both shoulders. I stepped away and went to the kitchen.
Two glasses of milk and four Graham crackers waited for Rowan and Ophelia on the table. I pulled my butt to the counter and waited for them, trying to figure things out. Any things. I didn’t care what. Something just had to fall together. A memory from somewhere other than before Paxton. Whatever went on with Lane would have been nice.
Rowan showed up for her snack wrapped in a towel, and Phi came with her pajama-shorts twisted to one side and no shirt. I smiled at both of them without a word. They both climbed to the stools in front of me and bit into Graham crackers. The girls talked about seeing a snake when they walked to the shop earlier with their dad. That was before the blink of an eye. When Paxton wasn’t angry.
“I don’t get Graham crackers and milk?” Paxton asked, interrupting my trance. I was focused on Row and Phi. At how different they were from me and my sister. So far, I hadn’t had one memory of being angry with her. I loved her with my whole heart. Of course Rowan and Ophelia did, too, but man could they ever fight.
I let my eyes drift to Paxton as I slid from the counter. He kissed two wet heads and moved beside Rowan.
“Where’s your clothes?” He asked Rowan when he realized she was wearing a towel. He turned and said the same thing to Phi when he noticed she was half naked, too.