Ride Steady (Chaos #3)(161)

“This is… it’s…” I struggled to find words before I found them. “It’s very nice. It means a lot that you’re thinking of Travis and want to give him a family. But families come in a lot of different ways, and now he’s got a big one. You and your parents. Me and Joker and our friends.”

“Yes, I want to give our son his family, but you’re missing the fact that I also want my wife back,” he returned.

“I think I’ve responded to that, Aaron,” I told him.

“I got rid of Tory for you,” he snapped.

Got rid of?

I pressed my lips together, chanting in my head, do not get mad, do not get mad, do not get mad.

I got a hold on it and said carefully, “I’m sorry you’ve broken up. That must be hard.”

He threw up his hands and hissed, “What do you want? She’s gone. She was a mistake. I don’t even know what I was thinking. But it’s done. I’m giving you money. I’m being cool about that f*cking guy. Do you want me on my knees? Do you want me to beg? Do you want an apology in skywriting? What the f*ck do you want?”

“I told you what I want, Aaron,” I reminded him, trying to do it calmly.

He leaned toward me. “This is the best thing for our son. For us. For you.”

I held my ground and his gaze when I replied, “I think I know better what’s best for me.”

“Yes?” He leaned back, throwing a hand toward the hall. “And he’s it? Carson f*cking Steele. High school loner. High school loser. Biker gang member. What kind of life is he going to give you, Carissa?”

He was going too far, saying those things about Joker.

I knew I shouldn’t engage. I knew it.

But I did anyway.

“He won’t cheat on me, for one,” I replied, and Aaron’s eyes narrowed. “He loves me, for another, really, truly, in the sense that it’s genuine. In the sense that I believe in it… totally. In the sense that I believe in it in a way I know in my heart of hearts it’s forever. Then there’s the fact he doesn’t ask me to change my dress for one he thinks is more appropriate. There’s also the fact he doesn’t look down on my job. He loves my son just like he’s his own. He has fantastic friends who are loyal and care a lot about him, something he earned. He’s talented. He has a great job that he’s so good at, even Wilde and Hay know it, which is why they want to do an article about his work.”

Aaron stared at me.

“But in the end,” I carried on, “I really shouldn’t be asked to explain this because it’s really none of your business.”

“I can give you a better life,” Aaron told me.

“I already know that’s not true,” I retorted, and Aaron’s face turned to stone.

“I love you too, Riss,” he bit out.

I now knew what love was.

And I knew I gave that to Aaron.

He just didn’t give it back.

“I hope you listen to this, Aaron,” I replied. “Because it’s important for you and your future and the woman you may someday have in it, but if you think that’s love, the way you’ve treated me, you need to rethink it. I have love now, so I know by the way you treated me that you don’t understand the right way to do it.”

His eyes flashed with hurt, and I knew that was not a good thing. Aaron lashed out when he hurt.

I was right.

The hurt vanished and his lip curled as he said low, “Never thought that was you. If I’d known how you like it, I wouldn’t have had to find Tory.”

I was confused, so much so, I stupidly asked, “What are you talking about?”

His sneer turned to a leer, he inched closer, tipping his head down to me, and even though he was really close, I thought it best to stand my ground.

That time, I was wrong.

“You like it nasty, baby?” he whispered. “You like it rough? You like to get f*cked?”

I felt steel coat my spine, didn’t look away, and replied, “Actually, yes.”

His head jerked with surprise.

“I like taking my f*cking, getting it hard and rough on that couch,” I told him casually, throwing a hand out to the couch. “In bed. On the floor.” I threw my hand behind me. “On the hood of one of Joker’s builds.” I rolled up on my toes and changed my tone to suggestive. “Anywhere he wants it, any way he wants to give it, and he gives it good, Aaron. I know because I get it good, every time, and I’ve had it the other way around, where I didn’t know if my man would put in the effort. So yeah, oh yeah, I like it just like that.”

He lifted his head so he could look down his nose at me. “You’re disgusting.”

I tipped my head to the side. “I don’t understand. You just told me you found Tory to give you the nasty. You don’t like it like that?”

He clamped his mouth shut.

“You are very, very done, friend.”

I jumped and stepped back, my head turning to see Joker standing with his shoulder leaning against the wall of the doorway to the hall.

Travis was in his arms, crawling and burrowing, pulling hair and babbling.

The stance was calm and relaxed.

But Joker was absolutely not.

His eyes were locked to Aaron, and it was a wonder a trail of fire didn’t go from them to my ex.