He was a bit cranky but seemed to actually want to be here to see Becca and his mom. He hadn’t called first, which still made me nervous, but he was here. He was here, and that was a good thing, a step in the right direction. He was probably tired, which was making him moody. Nothing new there.
I tore off my sneakers, socks, shorts, oversized T-shirt, and underwear. I tossed the clothes into the wicker basket and got in the shower, more relaxed than I’d been when I first entered the house.
Ten minutes later, I was in my bathrobe, heading back to my room, rubbing a towel through my wet hair. After applying my body and facial moisturizers, I tugged on a pair of cropped yoga pants and my new bra and panties. I found my favorite pale pink T-shirt in my drawer.
Dizziness swirled in my head, and I held on to the edge of my dresser as I took in a breath. The T-shirt fell from my feeble grasp.
“Hey, where are the diapers? Ma said you had more in here. We gotta talk, too.”
I pivoted toward Catch’s loud voice.
He stood in the doorway, his eyes trained on my body. His head jerked back, nostrils flaring. “What the fuck?”
“What?” I leaned over and grabbed my shirt. The dizziness surged inside me again, and I teetered and stumbled back against the bed.
He charged into my room and grabbed my arm, pulling me up from the bed.
“Ow! What the hell are you doing? Let go!”
But he wouldn’t let go. His grip on me tightened, and he shook me.
“Stop it, Catch! You’re hurting me!”
“You’ve been here a few months, and you’re already knocked up with some other guy?”
Oh dear God.
“You did it with me, and now, you’re doing it again?” His voice shook.
“What? I never did anything on purpose! You were the one who didn’t want to use anything, remember? You wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Now what? You just got knocked up again to get with somebody? I don’t even have to ask whose it is. I’ve had eyes on you, you fucking slut, and sure enough, my point has been proven.”
“You’ve had me watched?”
“You are such a fucking joke! You ran off from me, all accusing and a total fucking bitch about me and other women and how you were being treated. Then, you come here, and bam, you hook up with a One-Eyed Jack. You’re such a fucking train wreck.”
“Shut up! Your mother—”
“Yeah, you came up here to take care of my ma, to make a family for our daughter. What are you doin’? Skipping out in the middle of the night to fuck your Jack? Or maybe you’re letting him in here to fuck your brains out while our kid is in her crib in the next room? This was my room, growing up. My bed!” He pointed to the bed I slept in. “Jesus!”
“That’s not how it is. It’s not what you think!”
“You think I’m an idiot?”
“No. No, of course not. But it’s not—”
“Are you pregnant or not?”
“Catch—”
“Answer the motherfucking question.”
“Will you lower your voice? Please—”
His eyes seethed. “Answer me!”
My stomach curled. “Yes, I’m pregnant.”
He gripped my chin, his fingers digging into my jaw. “Is that what you do? Go from man to man, club to club, getting knocked up?”
I shoved at his chest. “Fuck you!”
“What are you, his mistake, and he’s out, partying with his bros?”
“’Cause that’s the way you did it, didn’t you?” I scooped up my T-shirt and tugged it over my head.
“What we had was different. I used to think it was. You used to say—”
“I used to say a lot of things,” I spit out. “Things that fell on your deaf ears.”
“My sister whoring herself out to them, too?”
“You are such an asshole.”
He smacked me, and I fell back on my hands on the bed. My face burned, tears sprang in my eyes.
He towered over me. “What I gave you wasn’t enough?” His voice was low, controlled, yet full of fervor. “I need to remind you?” His fingers went to his belt.
My hand shot up, my legs coming up against my tummy. “Please, please don’t do this! God, please—”
His hand lashed at my face again, and I fell further back on the bed, the wind knocked out of me. His fingers dug into my hair and pulled. My scalp screamed. I choked on a breath.
“You’re not worth my dick, bitch. I knew it would happen, was waiting for it, but not this.” He shoved me onto my back, his eyes smoldering over me. “The Jacks think they can fuck with me? With the Flames? What did they promise you, huh? You been telling them shit about me? About my club?”
“They’ve never asked me a thing. And I’ve never said anything to anybody.”
“You think you’re the shit, don’t you? So smart. Instead, you got yourself pregnant, like some idiot teenager who didn’t know any better. They’re just using you to get to me.”
He yanked at me and gripped my arm. His large hand clamped over my shoulder, steering me, shuffling me out of my room, pushing me down the hall.
“Ma, me and Jill are gonna go out and grab a drink.” He swung open the front door. “We got stuff to talk about.”