Page 9 of Jagger

“But that’s not fair! I want to be with you!”

“Mila! Give me that phone,” Calla hollers angrily, stomping back into the room.

It takes everything in me not to go off when she audibly snatches the phone away from our daughter’s grasp and in turn snarls at me, “What the hell did you say to her?”

“That I couldn’t pick her up.”

“And why the fuck would you tell her that,” she hisses.

“Because you won’t allow it. It’s Sunday, remember?”

“Oh, how convenient, right?”

“It’s not convenient when it’s the truth. You know damn well you’re not going to let me pick her up,” I counter, barely keeping myself in check with Mila clearly in tears somewhere in the background.

“Not with that nasty attitude of yours, I’m not.”

“My nasty attitude? Are you hearing yourself right now? It’s no wonder she wants to come spend time with me.”

“Fuck. You. Jagger. Just fuck you, okay? God, I can’t fucking stand you! The day Mila turns eighteen will be the best damn day of my life,” she exclaims, stomping around her apartment like the child she is.

“The feeling is mutual, Calla, trust me. I’ll call back again tonight before she goes to bed.”

“We won’t hold our breath, but okay.”

Click.

Pulling the phone from me ear, I stare at the screen in shock.

She hung up on me.

Not the first time she’s done that, but what in the actual fuck? I groan in frustration and toss my phone onto the counter, flipping on the tap to splash some water on my face. My heart races, and not in a good way. I need to calm the hell down.

But how the fuck am I supposed to do that when I know my daughter is hurting? Hell, I’m hurting, too.

Bad.

Knock, knock.

The soft sound tears my attention away from those heavy thoughts. Grabbing one of the towels within reach, I wipe my face and pull open the door to find Kat on the other side. A small smile hikes up one corner of her mouth, sleepy green eyes regarding me sympathetically.

“I need to pee,” she says by way of explanation, but I know she heard what went down, at least a portion of it.

“It’s all yours.” I peck her cheek.

She catches me by the arm, prompting me to whip my head back as I jerk to a stop. “You okay?”

“I will be, once you bring your fine ass back to bed,” I quip, because fuck do I need a distraction from all this shit right now.

“Give me two minutes.”

I hold up two fingers. “Two minutes, that’s all you get.”

Kat nods and shuts the door as I pad across the room and slide back into the bed, trailing a hand along Desi’s curves. She stirs with a hum and peeks over her shoulder.

“How are you awake right now?”

I chuckle. This girl could sleep through a war.

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