Overtime(154)

Slowly nodding, Natasha looked away as she whispered, “Sounds good.”

“Good luck,” he said before turning.

“You too,” she called out to him and he waved a thanks.

Because he was going need it.



Walking in the back door, he found Kacey right away.

Sitting on the barstool, she was demolishing a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, Notting Hill on the kitchen TV.

“You and this dumbass movie,” he joked, but she didn’t even knowledge him.

“Go pack your shit up and leave,” she called and he scoffed.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said and she glared at him over her shoulder.

“Yes, you are, out that damn door,” she yelled, turning off the TV and getting off the barstool. “Our whole relationship is a lie.”

Confused, he held his hands out. “What the f*ck are you talking about? How is it a lie? I love you. That’s pretty well-known and true.”

“No, you never told me about her, that she was what helped you get through rehab. You lied to me!”

“Um, no, I didn’t. But really, why does it matter who helped me as long as I got through it and became the man you needed?”

“It matters because you didn’t let me in! I wanted to help you.”

He set her with a look as she chucked her Ben & Jerry’s in the sink, the spoon making a loud noise, before she turned to look at him. She was blisteringly mad and he got that, but really?

“Do you know how stupid that is? You’re mad, no, not even mad, jealous because someone else helped me and it wasn’t you. But the thing is, you’re helping me now. Just by loving me, you help.”

Her eyes widened as heat crept up her neck. “No, I’m not jealous! I’m broken.”

“Broken?” he asked, completely confused. “Please, enlighten me because I really don’t understand how the f*ck you’re broken.”

She glared at his display of aloofness. “You hid her because she meant something to you. She was probably your backup plan if I didn’t give you a second chance.”

He pointed at her. “Wrong. If I couldn’t have you, I wasn’t going to be with anyone,” he said simply before crossing his large arms over his chest.

“I don’t believe you for a second. That girl was just your type. A huge slut!” she shot at him and he rolled his eyes.

“Was my type,” he said slowly before shaking his head. “Don’t know if you know this, but my type is a crazy pregnant lady who has a wicked right hook and eats more Ben & Jerry’s than a fat kid eats cake,” he said, but this time she shook her head.

“No, if I were your type, you would have let me in.”

Totally exasperated, he glared. “Kacey, I couldn’t even look you in the eye after what I did to you, let alone open up to you. I was f*cked up, remember? And you said you wouldn’t throw my past in my face. Natasha is my past.”

“That was before your past came barreling into my life, stabbing me in the chest with the rejection all over again.”

“What rejection?” he yelled. “I’m with you. I sleep with you! I impregnated you! I am marrying you!” he said, each sentence louder and with more meaning.

“The hell you are!” she snapped, and she might as well have hit him.

“Oh, really?” he roared. “What, you aren’t marrying me now?”

“I don’t know what I am doing! I am so damn mad at you I could scream!”

“You are screaming, crazy,” he said matter-of-factly, and her face went red. He understood she was upset, but she was being downright dumb.

“You need to go! Get your shit and go!” She seethed, and for some reason, that bothered him. He got that they were arguing, even that he was an idiot for withholding that piece of information from her, but he would not accept that she wanted him gone. Bullshit.

He glared, striking his hands to his hips. “If I’m getting my shit, saddle up, baby, ’cause you’re coming with me.”

“I am not!” she yelled and he went toe-to-toe with her.

“Yes, you are, because you are mine. This baby is mine too. I am not going anywhere without the person who completes me. Get over this shit and kiss me!”

But she pushed him away, her eyes filling with tears. “If I completed you, then you would have come to me instead of going to her.”

Roaring out a sound of distress, his arms shook as he let his head fall back. “Oh my God, Kacey, I wasn’t in my right mind back then. I was f*cked up. We both know this. Why are you acting like this?”

When he looked back down at her, she was glaring, tears rushing down her beautiful, angry face. “Because it hurts. It hurts to know that I couldn’t be there for you, to help you, that you pushed me away and clung to her.”

“So it’s your pride, your jealousy, that has you acting like this? Wanting to throw everything away for something that I did so long ago?”

She glowered. “You know how bad it hurt me when you didn’t want me to help you, and instead of being truthful with me, you lied about her. Hid her.”

“I never even thought about her because I don’t f*cking care about her. Yes, we talked a lot, but that’s all it was. I didn’t even sleep with her but that one weekend. Even when she pestered me to do it when I was in rehab, I never did. I didn’t want her! I wanted you!”