Page 40 of Colt
“No, you shouldn’t have,” she said, still angry. “I’m not stupid, Colt. Last night was just one of those things. Grief can make people do stupid shit. But did you have to embarrass me in front of Viper and Wolf?”
By this point, ‘asshole’ should have been my middle name.
“Ember…” She didn’t give me a chance to say anything else. Instead, she walked into her room and slammed the door in my face—the lock clicking into place a clear indication she wanted nothing more to do with me. I couldn’t blame her.
“Nice one, dickhead.”
I pushed past Viper on my way out. I didn’t have time for his bullshit. I needed to find a way to repair the damage I’d done this morning. Ember and I pretending to be in a relationship was a vital part of figuring out what was going on with Torch. I couldn’t let this fuck that up, but letting my guard down around her wasn’t going to be easy because I could actually see us together. Seven years ago had been the start of it. At some point, there would have to be an end.
But I didn’t have time to deal with everything right now. I was picking up Jett and Jasmine, and we were going to spend the day at my dad’s place. I jumped in my truck and drove off. I would figure out how to handle shit with Ember later. For now, I wasn’t going to let anything affect my time with my kids.
At least that was the plan until I saw Jenna standing on the porch with her arms crossed over her fake chest. A guy couldn’t catch a break. One pissed off female was more than enough; I didn’t have the energy to deal with another one.
“When were you going to tell me about your girlfriend?”
Damn, word traveled fast. I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Jenna acted like the club was beneath her now, but she still kept in contact with a few of the girls that partied with us. I believed that was more to keep tabs on me than anything else.
“Good morning to you, too, Jenna.”
“Cut the shit, Colt. Who the hell is she?”
Knowing I needed to answer her question so I could get my kids and get out of here, I took a deep breath and started to explain. I wanted to tell her the truth so she would back off, but if she found out my relationship with Ember wasn’t real, then she would go spreading that shit around, and we couldn’t risk that.
“Her name’s Ember. We’ve been seeing each other for a little bit. Happy?”
“Not even close. I want to meet her.”
“Not a fucking chance.” I scoffed at the absurdity of Jenna thinking she could demand anything from me.
“You wanted to sit down and talk with Jason when I was moving in with him. I want the same thing.”
She had me there. When I found out she was going to move my kids into a house with a man I didn’t know anything about, I demanded to have a conversation with him. The situation with Ember wasn’t the same thing, but Jenna didn’t know that. “It’s not that serious, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“What the fuck do you mean it’s not that serious? I heard you gave her my property patch.”
“I gave hermypatch. It was no longer yours the minute you decided to let another guy stick their dick in you.”
“Fuck you!” she shouted.
This seemed to be the way every conversation with her played out and I was done. “You’re not going to stand out here and bitch at me about who I may or may not be with. You’re my ex for a reason. The only topics we need to discuss are ones regarding the two kids that are waiting inside for their dad to take them out for the day. We’re done discussing this. Now go inside and let them know I’m here.”
She didn’t seem pleased with my little lecture, but she turned around anyway and called for Jett and Jasmine. Two tiny tornadoes came flying down the stairs; I wish I possessed even an ounce of their energy. Seeing their excitement over us spending time together filled me with pride.
It took a few minutes to get them buckled up, but soon we were on our way to my dad’s place out by Lake Mead. I looked at the two of them sitting in the backseat and couldn’t help but smile. I may act like an asshole to everyone else, but these two kids had me wrapped around their little fingers.
