Page 15 of The Problem with Fire
I had been a growling jackass, and Kellen had locked me in the Division Chief’s office until the inspection had been completed. Once we had passed and Kevin had gone on his way, Chief Malone had demanded to know what was going on. It had been on the tip of my tongue to tell him, but I had decided against it. I was a firm believer that harassment cameafteryou’ve already told someone how you felt about their behavior, and they made no effort to fix it. I had made it clear to Daria how I felt about what had happened with Monroe and how I felt about her snooping into my personal life. She had a choice to make on how she would conduct herself from here on out, and that would determine if I went to the Chief or not with a formal complaint.
After everyone had kept mum on why I’d been acting like a lunatic, Chief had just grumbled about us being a bunch of children and had gone on with his day. Everyone else, including Daria, had steered clear of me until end of shift.
I’d had to work through Sunday, but Monday and Tuesday, I hadn’t seen hide or hair of Monroe Stewart. And, believe me, I’d had my face glued to my windows for a chance to see her and make things right.
I just never imagined I’d finally catch a glimpse of her while she was on her porch, fighting with her ex-husband.
Was it immature that I hated that she had an ex-husband? A bit.
I didn’t mind the guy, though, because I could take him if it came down to it. And I didn’t mind the daughter because she seemed like a sweet kid from the very few times I’ve interacted with her. But it annoyed me that, at one point in time, Monroe had loved this tool enough to marry him and have a child together. It bothered me that he might always be special to her.
And that’s how I found myself standing next to Monroe, taking liberties I had not been granted permission.
When I had first heard the words carry, I had realized quickly that they were arguing about their daughter. I had also realized that it wasn’t my place to interfere in something like that. But when he started calling her out and accusing her of still being hung up on him, well…that was a different story.
It also hadn’t helped when my dick had heard (because he’d had ears for this part) Monroe’s account of the past three years. If we were paying close attention (and we had been) she hasn’t been with anyone in three fucking years. There was no way I was not going to be her next.
So, I had walked over, and now I was standing next to her being a liar, liar pants on fire.
“Oh, how cliché,” he sneered, his eyes on Monroe. “The pool boy, Monroe? Really?”
“Fireman, actually,” I corrected with a smirk on my face. I wasn’t dumb. Thomas wasn’t a bad-looking guy, but he had to be forty or forty-one, somewhere around there. And though he looked to keep himself in shape, he wasn’t built like I was. He didn’t have a six-pack for Monroe to run her tongue and fingers over. And though there was only about a five-year age gap, it was obvious I was younger than they were. He was jealous. He may have wanted her to move on, but he had wanted her to move on with someone less striking than he was. He had wanted her to be the loser in all this.
“Make up your mind, Thomas,” Monroe said. “You come here upset, thinking I haven’t moved on, but now you’re upset that I have. Which is it?” I snorted because I couldn’t help it. I knew it was her pride making her go along with my outrageous claim, but I’d take what I could get at this point.
His eyes flittered between me and Monroe. “So, if this is real, why doesn’t Leta know about it?” he challenged. “Why does she think you’re not dating?”
This prick.
If this is real?
Seriously?
Before Monroe could say anything, I stepped behind her and placed my hands on her shoulders. She didn’t lock up, and that was a good thing if we were going to sell this lie. And since it was my lie to begin with, I didn’t want to put her in a place where she had to come up with some bullshit story. I wanted this asshole to believe I was dicking Monroe down every fucking night.
“We’ll tell her when it’s the right time to tell her,” I told him. “This isn’t something we want to rush.”
Thomas folded his arms over his chest and scoffed. “You mean, you don’t want Leta knowing that Monroe’s spreading her legs for the neighborhood,” he glowered. “If this thing were serious, you-”
Before I could punch him in the face, Monroe was seething up at him. “Listen, you narcissistic asshole. We haven’t told Leta about our relationship because there hasn’t been a chance to tell her.” As much as I wanted to kill the bastard in front of me for talking to Monroe the way he has, I was more interested in what she was about to say, so I kept my mouth shut, my hands still on her shoulders. “She’s so upset every time she comes back from staying with you, it takes days for her to settle back down. And by the time she’s in a good place again, I’m not actually up to disrupting her contentment by announcing that I’m seeing someone,” she spat. “Announcing that I am seeing someone, and that it’sserious, will do nothing but further cement the fact that her family is never going to be whole again. You might have walked out on us three years ago, but my relationship with Sayer is what’s going to prevent Leta from ever having her family back together again.”
Was I a complete asshole for wanting every word out of her mouth to be true? Probably.
This was a family we were discussing here. We were addressing a girl’s family and how she’s still suffering from the separation, three years later. We were talking about people’s lives and their real trials and tribulations. But all I could think about was how Monroe was going along with my lies, and how I wished it were all true.
“Serious?”Thomas balked. “You’re telling me you are in a serious relationship with a…a…” His eyes darted my way before landing back on her. “…goddamn guy half your age?” Now he was just being a bigger dick than before. It might be obvious that I was younger than they were, but half her age?
C’mon.
I stepped aside and tugged on Monroe’s hand until she was standing behind me. I didn’t bother hiding the distaste and anger I had for this man when I told him, “Last time I checked, thirty-five was well above the legal age limit for all the shit I do to Monroe in the bedroom.” Dick thing to say with the woman standing right behind me? Yeah. It totally was. It was rude and disrespectful to be honest. But he had attacked her integrity when he had accused her of not moving on from him, and he had attacked her self-esteem when he had insinuated that she wasn’t hot enough to land a younger guy. So, I was just clearing up those two misconceptions. “Trust me when I tell you that Monroe is over you and hasn’t thought about you once since I started sleeping in her bed,” I informed him viciously. “As for Leta, maybe we just have a little more respect for her and her feelings than you do in wanting to make sure we do this in the best possible way forher. Not for us.”
Thomas’ face took on an ugly red hue. “You don’t know shit about my family,” he spat.
“Don’t you mean yourex-wife and daughter?” I fired back mercilessly. “Because Monroe is no longer your family. While Leta is yours, no one is arguing that point.” I stepped closer to him just to be a possessive dick. “But Monroe? Monroe ismine.She’s mine every fucking night that you have Leta staying at your house,” I lied through my teeth. “And the only reason you’re still on your feet is because I don’t want to upset Monroe any more than she already is. But if you ever talk about her like she’s some trashy slut ever again, or think you can come here and yell at her like you still have the right, I will lay you the fuck out and smile while they put the handcuffs on me.”
Thomas wasn’t a little bitch, though, I’ll give him that. “You sonofabitch. You-”
“That’s enough,” Monroe hissed, coming out from behind me. “Thomas, you need to go.” She shook her head. “And the only thing I can tell you about Leta is to talk to her or go to counseling with her, even though we both know how you feel about counseling.” I could tell it was a jab even if I didn’t know the details of their divorce.
