Unbreak My Heart (Unbreak My Heart #1)(65)

“What about me and Kate?” I asked distractedly as I saw Anita and Kate coming through the trees. I was going to be pissed as hell if Katie had been telling this girl a bunch of lies.

“She talks about you all the time,” Rachel said as I slid my hands down to her ass. “I thought maybe—”

I cut off her words as Kate and Anita reached the tree line a few feet from us. “There’s nothing between Kate and me,” I said against her mouth as Kate came to an abrupt stop and our eyes met. “She has a thing for me, but I’ve never been into her.”

I pressed my lips against Rachel’s, moaning when she slid her tongue into my mouth. My eyes never left Kate’s—even as she stopped Anita from storming toward us.

Kate moved toward the fire with tears rolling down her face, and I closed my eyes relishing the way Rachel’s hips had started rolling against mine.

As far as I knew, Kate had never said a bad word to Rachel about me. Within six months, I’d talked Rachel into moving to San Diego with me, and a few months after that we’d gotten married. I’d ignored Kate when she’d moved down after us—a little worried that she’d come for me—but she’d never said a word. After the first couple of years, my wariness had turned to apathy, and the fact that Kate seemed to hang out with Rachel whenever I wasn’t around had no longer bothered me.

If she’d planned on telling Rachel what a dick I’d been, I’d assumed she would have before the wedding.

I’d ignored her presence in our lives for years, tuned out every conversation when Rachel had tried to mention her, and pretended like she didn’t even exist.

Looking back, I couldn’t fathom how I’d done it. Kate f*cking lit up a room. She was so happy and just f*cking fun. I wasn’t sure how I’d ignored her for so long.

I tried really hard not to compare her and Rachel. That wasn’t a fair thing to do—but I couldn’t help but notice the differences between the women.

Where Rachel was reserved, Kate was outgoing. Where Rachel was willing to sit with the kids through a Disney movie, Kate was there with snacks and all the makings of a blanket fort. Rachel never told me if something was wrong, instead preferring to work shit out herself or completely distance herself from me until I figured out what I’d done wrong and fixed it. Kate told me straight out if something was bothering her, and then moved on, almost too quickly for me to rectify anything.

What little relationship I had with Kate was so incredibly different from what I had with Rachel that I had a hard time keeping up. Kate just kept coming back. I loved that about her. She was so tenacious when she cared about someone.

I also hated that about her. I hated that I’d been such a f*cking dick, and I hated that she’d let me.

For the past couple of nights when I’d lain down beside her, after she’d fallen asleep and I knew she couldn’t hear me, I’d promised her that she’d never have to forgive me again if she could do it one last time.

I finally finished my run and walked the last quarter mile back to our house. Oddly, Miles’s Jeep was parked in my driveway.

“I’m home,” I called out as I opened the front door. I walked through the house when no one answered and found Kate and Miles sitting at the patio table laughing and watching the kids play.

My stomach turned, but as I reached for the handle of the sliding glass door, I paused. I smelled like ass.

I turned and ran up the stairs two at a time, throwing my clothes off as soon as I’d reached my room. After a fast shower, I threw on some basketball shorts and a T-shirt, not even bothering with boxers. I wanted to get outside and figure out what the f*ck Kate had been laughing at.

As I hit the hallway, I heard Iris fussing in Kate’s room. She’d left her in the f*cking house?

“It’s okay, princess,” I called softly, walking through the open doorway to find Iris jerking her arms and legs furiously in her bassinet. “Did Mama leave you all alone in here?”

I picked her up out of bed and rubbed her back for a minute while she hiccuped.

“Daddy’s here,” I murmured against her bald head, rocking her from side to side. “Let’s get that wet diaper off you.”

I laid her on the bed and grabbed a diaper from the top of Kate’s dresser, talking the whole time. “I don’t know what your mommy was thinking, leaving my princess in here all alone,” I crooned, my voice somehow keeping Iris calm. “She’s outside with your brothers and sister and Daddy’s friend Miles. He’s a jackass. You stay away from him, okay?”

I smiled as Iris froze, like she was listening intently.

“Daddy was not very nice,” I said, pulling her little pants down her legs and unbuttoning her onesie. “I wasn’t even there when you were born, and I’m really sorry about that. But your mama came home with me anyway, so that means there’s a chance, right? As long as Miles keeps his you-know-what in his pants.”

Iris lifted her hand to her face and tried really hard to get it to her mouth, her eyes unfocused as I babbled.

“You’re doing so good, princess. Look at you, not even crying while I change you. Such a big girl.” I finished re-dressing her and pulled her to my chest. “You think your mama could love me again?” I asked, kissing her little cheek. “Probably not, huh? We’ll just have to keep working at it so you can live with Daddy forever.”