Page 45 of My Mom's Man
“What?” I ask grumpily as I make my way over to the couch. “What do you want, Amara?”
“You stink. Go shower, please.”
We have a silent stare off, both of us stubbornly refusing to back down. Since this is so far from her typical meek, pitiful behavior, I relent and do as I’m told. When I return fifteen minutes, feeling admittedly better, I find her scrubbing the kitchen sink. All the dishes have been done, the floor has been swept, and she’s organized the mail for me.
“Uh, thanks,” I grunt, shifting on my feet.
“Have you eaten today?”
“Just stop already. Why are you here?”
Ignoring me, she digs around in the fridge and finds some leftovers Brayden brought by. After nuking a plate, she hands it to me and then points toward the living room. When she finally joins me, she hands me an opened bottle of beer and keeps one to herself.
“I’m confused,” I state as I set the beer down on the coffee table so I can shovel in the piping hot food. “Last time I saw you, you wanted to murder me. Later, I found out you brought the sheriff by. Now you’re…” I wave my fork toward the kitchen and then stab more of my food with it. “This. Whatever this is.”
It’s strange to have her doing these things for me.I always took care of everything. Never the other way around.
A flash of guilt shines in her eyes and she rubs her thumb over the lip of her bottle. “I came to apologize.”
I nearly choke on a mouthful of green beans. “What for?”
“Wanting to murder you and trying to get you arrested.” She takes a long swallow of her beer. “And calling you a pedophile. That wasn’t fair.”
My stomach curdles at the reminder. I love Emma, but the romance between us was new and certainly long after she turned eighteen.
“For the record, she’s been avoiding me too.”
“She has?” I meet her teary eyes with a frown. “Why?”
She shrugs and hides her wobbling lip with another sip of beer. “Because I was out of line. I know this. I’ve been trying to apologize to her.”
“Where’s she staying then?”
Pain burns in my chest. This whole time I thought she was with her mom. But, if she isn’t with her or anyone in this complex, where is she? A flare of worry surges through me. The urge to text her and demand she come home is strong.
“With the Blakelys. I’ve gone by there a few times to make sure she’s okay. Didn’t see her, but Quinn was outside one day and assured me she’s fine.”
“Could he be lying?” I growl, no longer interested in eating, tossing the half-eaten tub of food on thecushion beside me. “We should go over there. What if she’s staying there because she feels like she has nowhere else to go? What if they’re not being good to her?”
“I said she’s fine,” Amara bites out. “And why do you suddenly care? You’ve been hiding away since I caught you two.”
I sear her with a fiery glare. “I’m doing it because she deserves to be happy. With her mother. I can’t come between the two of you.”
Her lips thin out and she looks at her beer. “You always do that.”
“Do what?”
“Suffer. Willingly. For others. Never once are you selfish, and the one time you do something that makes you happy, you immediately give up when someone pushes back on it.”
Anger, hot and explosive, surges through my veins. “You sound disgusted by that. But you’re also disgusted by me being with her. Which is it, Amara?”
“Both. Neither. I don’t know.” She sets the beer down with a loud clank. “I was sleeping with someone else, Reid.”
It takes several moments for my mind to catch up. “What?”
“All those nights cleaning? I wasn’t.” She darts her eyes away from mine. “I was having an affair. But Emma was so happy living with you. I didn’t want to take thatfrom her.”
I shake my head, bile creeping up in my throat. “You cheated on me? With who?”
