Page 99 of The Forever Play

I gasp in fright, his strong fingers digging into my skin.

“Great, so you’re just going to walk out on this conversation? Real mature, Sienna.”

The way he spits my name makes me want to slap him, and it takes everything in me not to bite back. By some miracle, I keep my tone calm and even. It helps that Zoey is quietly crying against my neck. I refuse to raise my voice around her and scare her even more than Russell has.

Licking my lips, I softly reply, “This isn’t a conversation. This is you getting annoyed at me for no good reason. I haven’t done anything wrong, and you can’t control me like this. Now let me go.”

“I’m just trying to protect you from your own idiocy and keep Zoey safe. You’re not thinking straight. You’re not thinking about her well-being!”

“I know what I’m doing, Russell. And she’smydaughter. Not yours.”

My words are an obvious blow, and he reels away from me like I just slapped him.

His chest heaves as he glares back at me and hisses, “You’re gonna regret this.”

I sigh and shake his hand off my arm.

“You will. And then you’ll be back on my doorstep, crying and looking for help.” Tapping his forehead, he looks like a slightly crazed version of the boy I grew up with. The one I always looked up to like an older brother. The guy who has helped me out so many times in the past.

But this version?

I don’t know him… at all.

“You need to start using your head and stop following your emotional, brainless heart. You’re wasting your time with him.”

“That’s my decision to make,” I hiss, hating how much this is rattling me.

Spinning out of the kitchen, I storm to Zoey’s room, but Russell follows me, bleating on about what a loser Zander is. Zoey starts to cry harder, and I decide to bail on getting us changed. Instead, I push past Russell to the front door, snatching the stroller and wrestling Zoey into it.

I don’t even know where the car keys are right now. I just want to get out of this house!

Zoey’s wailing incoherently, and Russell’s still shouting.

I shove my sneakers on and unbolt the front door.

“No,” Russell barks, snatching the stroller handle. “She’s hungry. Leave her here.”

“What?” I throw him a horrified glare.

“If you’re making stupid decisions like this, she’s better off with me.”

“You’re insane.” I throw the door open and yank the stroller out of his grasp before wrestling it down the front steps and hitting the curb with a bump.

Zoey gets jostles and cries a little louder while Russell stands at the front door yelling at me.

“You can’t just take her away from this safe haven. Where the hell are you gonna go? To him? To that football frat?” He spits out the words with such derision, and now I’m fighting my own tears as I push the stroller away from him.

“How could you be so selfish, Sienna? You’re a shitty mother!”

Zoey lets out another loud wail and starts sobbing about elephants and “amimals.”

“Amimals!” she screams and kicks her legs while I lose the battle with my tears and start running with the stroller, trying to get as much distance between me and Russell as possible.

Shit, I must look insane, running down the street in my Tweety Bird pajamas with a wailing baby.

As soon as I round the corner, I slow to a shuffle and try to pull myself together.

I don’t want to be a shitty mother.

---