Friction(60)

No matter what happens with Jace Exley and me, I already know that I won’t forget a damn thing.



I text my mother back just before I leave the workshop to let her know I'm on my way, and she responds with a curt okay. I don't think anything of it—after all, Mom isn't much for sending texts, she prefers talking over the phone—but as soon as I pull into the driveway of my childhood home, I come face to face with the source of her irritation. The luxury rental that Tom had driven to the workshop earlier this afternoon is parked on the curb, in my usual place. I pull my Jeep to a stop behind it, my face slowly going numb as I go over a hundred different reasons why he might be here. None of them are good, and I stare at the license plate of his car until the numbers blur, a cold dread settling over my chest.

He had told me he was leaving.

He had told me that he was going back to California today and that the next time he contacted me would be via his lawyer.

So why would he come here, to my mother’s house?

Drawing in a harsh breath through my nose, I turn off my car. For a long time, I stay within the safety of my vehicle, clutching my keys in my palm. I already know my ex has gone to my mother with something that will ruin my night—and I have a feeling I know exactly what that is. Closing my eyes, I take deep breaths but even those eventually fall apart. When I’m left with the choppy gasps that remind me of the way I sounded the night I found out about Tom’s affair, I press my lips into a firm line and stumble out of the car.

Whatever he’s told my mom—it’s better to face it now than to let it get worse. When I find that the front door is already unlocked, I trudge inside. They’re both in the living room, sitting on opposite ends of the couch and drinking coffee. Even though she’s never been particularly fond of Tom, and her tolerance for him went right into the shitter when she found out he carried on an affair with Shane the entire time we were married, she's always been a gracious hostess. Her expression is drawn, miserable, but Tom looks like he’s just won the world’s biggest dick award. I suck in my cheeks, shove my hands into the shallow pockets of my black skirt because there’s nothing I want more than to reach out and knock that cup of coffee right down the front of his perfect suit.

I slam the front door behind me.

“I thought you said you were heading back to California hours ago. Why are you still here?” I demand, refusing to give him a cordial greeting. He got one of those from me earlier this afternoon, and he responded by trying to manipulate me into returning to San Francisco and putting down my role at EXtreme. “I’m tired, Tom. It’s been a long day and Mom and I have plans tonight. Can we just—”

“My flight got canceled,” he says, his light blue eyes focused intently on me as I pace across the living room to stand in the center of the floor. Heat creeps over the back of my neck because, suddenly, I feel like I’m on trial. On one hand, there’s my mom who’s glaring at me condemningly, and then there’s Tom. My ex will go low to get what he wants, and I wish my former friend Sarah had mentioned that all those years ago when she encouraged me to call him. “I figured I would visit Susie while I waited.”

“Boston and the airport is in the other direction,” I point out, taking a few steps back to ease down on the edge of the coffee table. Normally, Mom would throw a fit and remind me that couches and loveseats are for bottoms, not coffee tables, but she remains silent, angrily working her lips together. I can’t tell if she’s upset because he’s here or due to what he might have said, and I move my hands from my pockets. I splay them on my stomach but it doesn’t stop the pressure that makes it hard to breathe.

“Wouldn’t it have been easier for you to wait at the airport in case something else came available?” I ask Tom.

“You are my wife, Luce—”

I clear my throat. “Was your wife, and that was before you cheated on me with your business partner.”

“And Susie was my mother-in-law. I don’t see anything wrong with coming by. If you hadn’t been so hell bent on getting promotions and being the best at WLC, she would have been the grandmother to our children.”

This isn’t the first time he threw those words up in my face—when I confronted him about Shane, he said that maybe he wouldn’t have resumed the affair if I’d put aside my career to get pregnant—but it still burns. He hadn’t wanted kids, had never even mentioned the possibility, until he needed a reason to place blame on me. Before I can stop myself, I’m back on my feet, glaring down at him.

“Get the hell out of here.” My hand trembles as I lift my finger toward the front door. I prepare to repeat myself, but he scoots forward on the couch, placing his coffee mug on the table behind me. My spine goes taut when his forearm brushes over my calf.

“I’m leaving in a few, Luce. Like I said, I just wanted to stop by and catch up with your mom.”

“And now that you have you can—”

“I thought you said she knew all about your … new job,” Tom continues, his blue eyes narrowing. “You never were the type to lie, but I guess that comes along with distributing porn.”

Even though I suspected he might say something about my role at EXtreme when I pulled up to find his car outside, nothing could have prepared me for my mother’s sharp gasp when he says those words. While the shock of my new job wore off for me after a couple of weeks, it’s a reality I knew Mom wouldn’t accept—even if I’m not actually involved in the lifestyle EXtreme derives most of its business from. I squeeze my eyes closed for a second, taking a deep breath before I focus my attention on her.