Page 43 of Golden Rule

Desperate to get at least five hours before my alarm goes off, I close my eyes again with plans to check the message in the morning. But with another persistent‘ding’,I turn onto my side, annoyed as I unlock the screen.

Sterling: Missed your call earlier. Still up?

Sterling: That shit Pandora posted has me fucked up.

The bed’s warm, and as if she knows I’m dreading the idea of slipping out, my wife—the beautiful tease she is—pushes her soft, perfect ass against my hip.

Fuck-ing hell.

I glance over at her, knowing she has a thing for middle-of-the-night sex. For half a second, I consider curving my body behind hers, pushing her nightshirt up her torso, waking her by sliding into her hot, tight pussy. But then my phone dings again, and I’m cursing under my breath as I hop up.

The door closes quietly behind me, and I make my way to the living room where I drop down onto the sofa. Sterling picks up on the second ring, and I can already hear in his voice that tonight’s been a rough one.

“Hey, thanks for calling.”

“No problem. What’s up?”

He sighs into the phone before answering. “Some shit went down.”

My back settles against the sofa, and I accept that this is probably going to take a while. “Talk to me.”

“Couldn’t pick up when you called a few hours ago because things got ugly between me and Tiff,” he shares, and I’m suddenly more alert.

“You guys good?”

He breathes into the phone, and I’m pretty sure I know what that means.

“Fuck if I know,” he grumbles. “But seeing as how my ass is sleeping on the couch tonight, my guess is we probably won’t be good for a while.”

I made it a point not to worry about him tonight, because I was positive Tiffany had his back. But now I’m thinking that, instead of calling earlier, I should’ve just stopped by his place after Blue and I left her dad’s.

“I’m confused. How the hell did Pandora calling youout about Jaxon lead to an argument?”

Sterling sighs again, and it’s like I can feel his frustration through the phone.

“Because my fiancé is a fucking child. That’s why,” he grumbles. “When I got pissed about the post, she assumed it was about the whole… Lexi and Matt thing. She completely missed the part about some random asshole being praised for being more of a dad to my kid thanIam.”

I’m recalling our conversation in Ricky’s bar. I asked my brother a very important question. I asked if he was sure Tiffany’s the one, and he couldn’t see past his pride to dig deep for an answer. But as I’m listening to him explain, I’m starting to think he should reconsider.

“I don’t know if it’s because of the move, the close proximity to Lexi, but I swear… Tiff’s so fucking obsessed with my past it’s driving me crazy.”

I note that he’s talking more quietly now, being careful she doesn’t overhear him.

“It’s like, she can’t get it through her damn head that that’s a closed chapter for me. So, every time I turn around, she’s in my ear about it again, freaking out when I pick Jax up, freaking out when I drop him off, ignoring the fact that I only pick him up from Lexi’s folks’ place,” he adds, reminding me of his and Lexi’s arrangement. “But what the fuck am I supposed to do? I’m not gonna stop seeing my son.”

“Fuckno. That’s not even an option.”

He goes silent again, and if I’m being honest? Hearing how unreasonable Tiffany’s been, it makes me so much more grateful for Blue. Apparently, having an understanding, level-headed partner isn’t something to take for granted.

“This shit’s really messing with my head,” he breathes. “Honestly, if I’d known she had it in her to be this fucking insecure, I wouldn’t have even…”

He trails off there, and I don’t make him finish his thought. We both know what he was going to say, and I don’t want him to regret letting it slip.

“Just… take a breath, man. It’s been a shit day.”

“Fucking understatement,” he scoffs.

He goes quiet on me, and I can’t help but wonder how long his relationship can continue like this. Neither Lexi nor Jaxon are going anywhere, and if Tiffany intends to be a part of Sterling’s life, she’ll have to not onlyacceptthat. She’ll have to embrace it.

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