Page 81 of Wasted On You

Mike Paul had some questions—more than one— but he started with the obvious. “What’s there to explain? This screwed-up thing you two concocted is over.”

“It’s not that simple.” Ivy tugged on his arm. “And keep your voice down. We don’t want to wake him up.”

“Why is his grandfather staying with you?”

Ivy’s face fell, and she cleared her throat. “His whole family is here. His parents are staying with my mom, and his brother is at a hotel in Bozeman.”

He had nothing for that. What in the actual fuck?

“My mom…well she…” Ivy looked up at the ceiling. She took a deep breath. “She does what she always does. Pokes that nose of hers where it’s not wanted. She invited them to Montana and didn’t tell us. We thought we’d have time to deal with this and?—”

“Deal with this?” Anger lit a fire in his gut. “You two aren’t a thing.”

“I know that, but they don’t, and they’re here, and it’s complicated, and I told you to lower your voice.”

“This is insane.” He turned to Lafferty. “Am I the only one who realizes that?”

“Ivy, we can end this now. That was the plan all along.”

“No.” She turned to Kip and shook her head. “Your family flew all this way, and your grandfather is the sweetest man, and it’s Christmas.” She looked at Mike Paul. “It’s only a few more days. We just need to get through tonight and tomorrow. Kip’s family will leave, and then…”

“Then what?” Mike Paul asked, doing his best not to lose his shit.

“Then we can figure things out.” She exhaled and tried to smile. “We can figure us out.”

Figure us out? He was all in. Didn’t she know that?

His good mood long gone, Mike Paul moved past her and strode to the bedroom. He didn’t trust himself to speak. Instead, he pulled on his jeans and then spent too much time searching for his T-shirt until he realized she was still wearing it.

“Hey,” she said when he turned to leave her bedroom. “Please don’t be mad. This is something we’ll laugh about one day.”

“You think so?” He walked down the hall and ignored Lafferty. “Because I’m not so sure.”

“Don’t leave mad.”

Mike Paul ignored her and shrugged into his jacket.

“I’ll see you tonight at the Triple B?”

His jaw was clamped so tight it ached, but he managed a reply. “I don’t know. We’ll see.” Then he yanked open the front door and jogged to his truck. He was jacked up on anger. Confused as hell. And cold to boot.

His cell phone pinged. It was his mother.

I expect to see you in church for the Christmas Eve service. Not negotiable.

Fuck. Me.

He backed out of the driveway and pointed his truck toward home. He had low expectations for the day, and as he flew down the road, Mike Paul had no idea what was in store for him. Because his day was about to get worse, and it was the kind of day that changed a man. The kind of day a man didn’t see coming.

The kind of day he might not survive.

Chapter22

When she was a young girl,Christmas Eve had been Ivy’s favorite day of the year. More so than Christmas Day. Back then, her parents were still in love. Back then, they liked to laugh. They danced around the living room, uncaring if they had an audience. They had date nights and romantic dinners, and they held hands and kissed.

They’d been in love. Happily married. They had a wide group of friends, and on Christmas Eve, there’d be revolving open houses and Christmas cheer until well after midnight.

It had been a magical time, and to a young child, that one night seemed to last an entire week. Then, one year, everything changed. Her father left. Her mother’s soft touch was replaced with a sharp tongue, and Ivy’s new reality, not unlike so many other kids her age, took hold, and the magic was lost.

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