Page 18 of Axe
CHAPTER EIGHT
Axe
I would like to have been able to say that the next day brought some kind of breakthrough, but it was the fucking opposite. She clammed the fuck up and spent the day doing her best to avoid and ignore me. I didn’t leave the house, and while I didn’t follow her around watching her every move, I did have my eyes on her the entire time.
I should have pushed her but for some reason, I just didn’t have it in me to do so. I wanted to blame it on the fact that there was a kid there. A kid, who seemed to be holding onto my every move. Whenever we were in the same room, his tiny baby blues were glued to me.
Allison found some cleaning stuff under the sink in the bathroom and she spent the morning scrubbing down every surface she could think of. I watched with silent amusement as she dragged that kid jail into every room as she cleaned it. It was like she didn’t want the kid out of her sight, not that I could blame her. She didn’t know dick about me and I hadn’t exactly been friendly.
Finally around four in the afternoon, she stopped her frantic lame excuse to keep busy. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, Neiryn toddling around her legs while she seemed unfazed. Her eyes pinned me with a hard look and I did my best not to chuckle. She was a damn firecracker but I had a feeling that once she cracked it might be the end of it all.
That was what worried me the most. I could tell there was something up with her. I had enough sense in me to see that she was running from something—or someone. It brought me back to my childhood and my mother. I knew first hand how an abused woman acted. I’d spent years with one, and even though I was a kid, I saw through my mom’s carefully placed façade. I saw how she was always right there on the edge and I was constantly waiting for the moment she snapped.
I couldn’t risk that with Allison. So I gave her the day to stand her ground or whatever. I gave her the time to let her think that she had the control. Instead of feeling like I somehow had an advantage over the situation, I found myself wanting her to be comfortable with me. I didn’t want to push or mentally beat her into telling me everything. In my chest, I felt this weird sensation like I needed her towantto tell me. I felt this deep itch in my soul that I wanted her to trust me enough to open up to me.
But sitting there staring at the fire blazing in her eyes, I had my doubts that it would ever happen.
“I need to shower,” she said with displeasure dripping off her tongue.
“Okay. Do what you gotta do, babe,” I said, flipping through the channels even though my attention wasn’t on whatever was on the screen.
“You need to leave.”
“Nope,” I said shooting her a smug smirk.
“I…I don’t feel comfortable…leaving Neiryn while you’re here,” she said with a hint of regret in her tone.
I got that. I was a stranger. A stranger that had his fingers deep inside of her last night. Just thinking back to that moment had my dick pulsing in my pants. Fuck! I needed to get a hold of myself.
“I won’t do anything to him. You could just leave him down here with me. Me and Lil man can watch some cartoons or some shit.” I smiled trying my best to get her to relax.
Her head shook as she looked down at her boy.
“Look, I’m not goin’. So, you can look into my eyes and see that I’m not going to do anything to him while you take a shower or you can stress the fuck out, get yourself all worked up, and make this harder on all of us. I’m sure he can sense your uneasiness and it’s only going to make him more upset.” I was pulling shit out of my ass because I didn’t have the first clue on how kids worked.
However, my words seemed to make her pause. I could see the back and forth playing out in her head, and I wanted to open my mouth and tell her this wasn’t a war she was going to win. But I didn’t, I sucked in a deep breath and bit my damn tongue.
“Fine,” she said hesitantly. “I’m choosing to believe you.”
Eh, that was close enough to trust, right?
“Come here, Lil man,” I said as I looked at him and patted the cushion beside me.
He looked up to his mom then back at me. With uncoordinated legs, he made his way over to me and tried to climb onto the couch. I reached down, picked him up, and gently plopped him down beside me. He smiled up at me and patted my leg. I let out a little laugh and ruffled his hair. Surprising the shit outta me, he scooted closer and leaned against my arm. Without even thinking about what the hell I was doing, I moved my arm around him and hugged him close to my body.
“See, we’re good,” I said moving my gaze back to Allison.
“Yep, good,” the little kid said mimicking the look on my face as he looked over to his mom.
“Oh great, you two are going to gang up on me now,” she said with little irritation in her tone. All I could do was smirk at her. I liked seeing her ruffled. I liked getting under her skin. It should have been so wrong, but it felt so fucking right. “I won’t be long.”
She raced up the stairs and I swear it wasn’t even ten minutes later she was coming back down, her wet hair soaking the top of her shirt. She sat down on the other side of Neiryn and I could see the tension tight in her shoulders. She wouldn’t allow herself to relax, but I felt like I was getting somewhere because she had gotten somewhat close to me.
“I need to make dinner,” she said a little bit later.
Her bottom lip was in between her teeth as she nervously nibbled on it. I wanted more than anything to make her stop. Hell, I wanted to be the one biting it.
“Okay, we’re good here for a bit. Right buddy?”
