Page 14 of Wild Side
She shakes her head, rolling away from her parents’ place. Hands at ten and two. Knuckles white like she’s pretending the steering wheel is my neck. “It wasn’t meant to be.”
“Sure seems?—”
“Listen, you’ve done nothing but insult my family and me since I came to get my sister’s things. You insinuated I was there to rob her and accused me of not being sad enough. Then, you popped out of the bushes, trying to catch me doing god knows what, like we were on an episode ofCheaters. Now you casually suggest I’d leave my nephew somewhere without a car seat as though I don’t care about his safety at all. So excuse the fuck out of me for not smiling and nodding at every low blow you lob out.”
I settle back in the seat of her truck and cross my arms before grumbling, “You’re not very likeable.”
And I mean it, even if everything she said is true. I’m suspicious of her and her intentions—how could I not be?—but she’s combative and accusatory at every turn.
“Thank you,” is her off-the-cuff response before we fall into a beat of silence. And when I look over, a subtle curve lifts her lips. “It must be hard for you.”
“What?”
“Not having a woman just fawn all over you. It’s like if you have to do more than be a big, broody, poor man’s Jason Momoa, you get your panties all twisted.”
“Charming,” I grumble, forcing my mouth into a frown. I don’t want to admit out loud that was humorous.
“I’m not remotely interested in winning over the man who’s responsible for my sister’s death.”
“I’mresponsible?”
“You pinky promised.”
I blink, letting her words sink in as I attempt to piece together where she’s coming from without giving too much away. I still don’t trust her. And based on the way she continues, she doesn’t trust me either.
“You’re just lucky Milo likes you. Hard to account for the taste of a toddler, but he’s still the only reason I’m tolerating your presence.”
I know I should rise above. Just sit here and let her take her shots.
But I don’t.
“That’s funny. I thought it was the legal will that was forcing you to tolerate me.”
I know she heard me, because the stubborn set to her jaw becomes even more apparent, but that sentence strikes us both silent for the entire ride back to her house.
CHAPTER 7
TABITHA
I’ve beenpretending Rhys doesn’t exist ever since he reminded me that the law is on his side when it comes to my nephew’s future. But he still followed me into my home office. I could feel him glaring at me the entire time, and he’s so damn big that I swear the old oak floorboards shook with each of his steps.
When I plunked down in my office chair and went to open the Zoom link, he took it upon himself to retrieve a chair from my dining table. He’s now placed it next to me, facing the computer screen in my office.
I can see us side by side on the screen. Close enough for both of our faces to show in the window, but not a single smidge closer.
We both know we have to be here together, but we don’t like it.
At all.
We both stare straight ahead, not turning to look at each other. Some sort of Medusan standoff—if that’s even a thing. And we definitely don’t talk.
I think we both understand that we need totalk. Crack this whole mess open and share some cold, hard truths. But I don’t think either of us knows where to start.
I’m a confusing mix of furious with my sister for giving my nephew’s guardianship to a fucking stranger and devastated that I could even be angry with a woman who’s just passed. But putting Rhys in her will has completely blindsided me. It has me questioning her health and state of mind in the last several months. It leaves me feeling… betrayed.
I wish she were here. I wish she were here so that I could ream her out and then hug her so fucking hard that it might even hurt a bit. What kind of person does that make me?
I avoid thinking about it all too much because it makes me so damn anxious, and, truthfully, it’s all just a little too painful for me to face head-on right now.
