Move (Club Kitten Dancers #1)(16)

“Nothing that happens today will ruin what we have, honey.”

“Are you sure?” My poor Bailey looks close to tears, so I hug her tightly and kiss her tiny little nose. “We can go. We can go far away from here.”

I hate the idea of her mom hurting her feelings. I hate the idea of anyone being rough or careless with Bailey. In such a short time, she’s come to mean so much to me. That’s why I hate her * ex-boyfriend so much. It’s not that I’m jealous of their time together. I’m not. We all have people in our past we’ve spent a lot of time with, shared a lot of ourselves with.

What I hate is the fact that no one in Bailey’s life, except maybe Kasey, seems to appreciate her.

“It’s okay,” Bailey puts on a brave face. “It’ll be okay. We should just do this. I want you to be in my life for a long time, Cooper. You’ll have to meet her eventually. I’m just being stupid about this.”

Finally, we get out of the car and walk quietly up to the door. A woman – Bailey’s mother, I presume – opens the door when we reach the porch.

“Well, I was wondering when you’d finally get out of the car and come inside,” she says, but her voice isn’t playful.

I realize at that moment that we should leave, but for some reason, Bailey really wants to talk to her mom today. I think she wants to fit in, just for a little while.

So we go inside.

Bailey turns to her mother, who is staring at me.

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing a guest,” she says.

“Mom, this is Cooper. Cooper, Lucille.”

“Nice to meet you,” I hold out my hand, and she stares at me for a moment before shaking my hand, then turns back to Bailey.

“I didn’t know you were bringing someone.”

“I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“Well, you should have told me,” Lucille hisses, and I wonder why it’s such a big deal to Bailey’s mom, but then another person joins us in the living room, and suddenly, it all makes sense.

“Hey, is that Bailey?” The man is wearing a goofy grin until he spots me, then it falters. “Who the hell is this?” He glares at me.

“Dominic,” Bailey squeaks out. “What are you doing here?”

She tenses next to me and I know she’s as caught off-guard as I am. As far as I know Bailey hasn’t spoken with Dominic since he and her cousin got together. Well, at least since Bailey found out about him and her cousin getting together.

“I think we should talk, Bailey.” Dominic’s words are cautious, guarded, and I know exactly what the f*ck he’s about to say. He wants to get back together with her. Why else would he be here? What? Things didn’t work out with her cousin, so now he wants her back.

Bailey’s mom keeps glancing nervously at me, like she thought this would work, like she thought things would magically fall back into place between Dominic and Bailey.

I’m the wild card she hadn’t counted on.

And she has no idea how wild I can be.

“Why are you here?” Bailey repeats, then she turns to her mom. “Why didn’t you tell me Dominic would be here? You invited me to have dinner with you and Scranton.”

“Professor Scranton is in the kitchen making the potatoes,” Lucille says coolly. It seems like she’s gotten control of herself. She runs her hands over her smooth pastel skirt, getting rid of invisible wrinkles, then looks back to Bailey.

Dominic speaks.

“Can I talk to you alone?”

“No.”

“Bailey, I think you should hear what I have to say.”

“If you have something to say to me, you can say it in front of Cooper.”

Dominic shoots me a wary glance, but seems to weigh his options and realizes that I’m not going anywhere.

“Bailey, I forgive you for everything that happened between us.” Her jaw hits the floor, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Things are over between me and Pumpkin. Really over. I realized she was just a fling, that I was only using her because you hurt me so deeply, but I forgive you, Bailey, and I’m ready to try again.”

“What the f*ck are you talking about?” Bailey practically screeches.

“Bailey! Language!” Her mother frowns.

“I, I forgive you,” Dominic repeats, as if that explains everything.

“You cheated on me, *,” Bailey whispers. “Did you forget about that?”

“Well, but that wasn’t my fault,” he fumbles, and it’s all I can do to keep from laughing out loud at this jackass. Is he for real? “It’s because you were such a prude in bed, you know. I didn’t have a choice. I had to get satisfaction somewhere, and now that you’re taking those classes about how to be a better lover, well, I think we should try again.”

I’ve heard enough.

Bailey looks like she’s in shock and Dominic takes a step forward to touch her, but I insert myself squarely between them.

“Leave,” I tell him.

“What? You can’t-“

“Leave,” I repeat. “Before I punch you in your piece-of-shit nose. You cheated on her, f*cker. Do you understand that? You f*cked somebody else. She doesn’t want you back. You’re scum, Dominic. Bailey deserves someone who will love her no matter what. She deserves someone who is going to put her needs first for once in her life,” I shoot Lucille a pointed look, but then I keep talking.