Page 11 of Knocked up By the Minotaur

“What?” Brad repeats, and when I open my eyes, I see that his eyes are darting about nervously, now. “That’s not—That isn’t what we’re talking about.”

“Isn’t it?” I ask, and even though I take another deep breath, this unnatural, angry calm in me is starting to slip away. “You didn’t make the long trip here today because your Call of Duty got cut off on you, and you don’t have the funds or the desire to pay for your own internet? You’re not looking for your wallet to come back home and set it all up for you again?”

Olistaire has one arm laid casually over the table, and I notice his fingers squeeze into a fist.

“Don’t change the subject,” Brad snaps. “I missed my baby-bear. I came here because I love her, and she said she wanted to work things out between us, for Lucas’s sake. But apparently, she doesn’t care about her own son anymore. Instead, she’s out here fornicating with—with—animals!”

I leap up out of my chair, only just managing to keep myself from yelling. “Don’t you talk about Lucas or Oli,” I start, but he raises his hands as if in surrender, wriggling his fingers mockingly.

“Oh, Oli, is it? It has a name? Please…”

Where the hell did this… this racist? Speciesist? Side of Brad even come from. Has it really always been lurking under the surface, and I just never saw it? I shudder with a renewed disgust in him. It’s like I’m finally seeing him clearly for the first time.

“I am not with you,” I hiss, gathering my anger tight and refusing to let myself shout in this cafe. “We are not together. You and I have nothing to do with each other anymore.”

“Don’t say that, pumpkin…” Brad’s face immediately falls, his clear eyes widening in that stupid, fakeearnestness that used to have me thinking he really meant what he said. “We can still make this work. You just have to—”

“It’s too late!” I burst out, and suddenly I don’t want to fight anymore. I’m tired of trying to convince him of anything, even if it’s just to make him leave. He always twists my words, manipulates the conversation away from me and has my head reeling, and without thinking I just… “I’m with Olistaire now, and there’s nothing you can say to change that fact.”

There’s a stunned silence between all three of us, even as the clinks of cutlery and murmur of patrons continue to waft over us.

“You’re… You’re withit?”

“I’m with him.” I lift my chin and send an imploring look at Oli, who blinks at me several times before snapping his mouth shut with a soft clunk.

“I don’t believe you.”

At those four words, I feel my shoulders slump and my expression fall, as an overwhelming exhaustion hits me. Is there nothing I can do or say to make this man just… leave me be?

“You’re lashing out, trying to hurt me,” Brad continues, and I can practically hear the way his mind is churning as he figures out how to turn my words to his advantage. “And even though you’re being a bitch right now, I can forgi—”

The sound of a chair scraping across the floor grates out, and abruptly, Brad stops talking.

Olistaire stands up, calmly and slowly, and though all he does is stand there and look at my ex, Brad swallows thickly and doesn’t continue.

“You should go,” I eventually say into our silence, and Brad’s eyes dart back to me.

“Baby-boo, please, just listen to me for a second—”

“You heard her,” Oli interrupts.

I catch something like hatred flash across Brad’s normally puppy-wide eyes. “You stay out of this, beast.”

Olistaire takes one calm step forward, and Brad immediately scurries away from us. He’s absolutely dwarfed by Oli, in both height and sheer bulk, and I suspect the two gleaming, long black horns that he tips slightly down towards my ex help the situation immensely.

“Grace asked you to leave,” Olistaire says in a low, polite tone that still manages to hold a wealth of warning. “And as her male, I’m afraid I’ll be forced to remove you from her presence, if you don’t.”

Brad stands there gaping like a fish for several long seconds. “You… You’re not her…”

Oli reaches his hand towards me, and I immediately place my fingers in his and allow him to draw me into his side, watching as Brad’s eyes widen in real shock now, and he takes another step away.

Oh my god, is this really going to work? Will he believe us? Will he finally leave me the hell alone?

When Oli snakes his hand around my waist and bends to nuzzle at my cheek, I do nothing to stop him, leaning eagerly into his touch as I watch Brad’s stunned reaction. Yes, yes, yes. He’s falling for it!

Oli’s breath hitches quietly as I press into his touch, and his fingers tighten at my waist. But when I turn to him, he only leans back with a playful look in his warm brown eyes. “Pookie-bear,” he mutters in a disgustingly sweet voice I’ve never once heard from him, and I fight mightily to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “Would you like me to dispose of the trash?”

“Well, that depends.” I turn to Brad, whose face is smashing through too many emotions now to count. “Bradley?”

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