He stood up abruptly, his face darkening. “This is the real me, babe. Don’t fucking mistake me; I’m the bastard you’ve always known.”
I looked up at him and shook my head. “No, I don’t believe that.”
“Believe what you want, Madison, but don’t delude yourself. I am who I am,” he muttered before turning to leave. He took a couple of steps and then turned back to me to add, “Like your new hair by the way; suits you.”
I gave him a huge smile. I’d added some highlights to my hair and had it layered two days ago and J hadn’t noticed. That had hurt. “Thanks, Nash,” I said.
He nodded and then he left me to sit and mull over everything he’d said. I must have sat there for ten minutes or so thinking about it before coming to the conclusion that Nash was right; my connection with J was off. Now
I just had to work out if it was because of life getting in the way or if there was something deeper that needed fixing.
Chapter 3
Madison
“We’re going out next Friday, right? Girls night.” I was at Harlow’s cafe and said this to her as she passed me my morning coffee.
She grinned at me. “Hell, yeah”
I drank some of my coffee before confiding, “Thank God. You have no idea how much I need a girl’s night.”
“What’s wrong, honey?”
I didn’t hold back; I’d been keeping this bottled up for too long and needed to talk to her about it. “It’s J. He’s pulling away from me and our sex life has gone to shit.”
“Wow, really? You and J having problems in the bedroom; never thought that day would come.”
“I know!” I blurted out. “But we are, and I hate it. I need to fix it so you have to tell me how.”
She laughed. “Why me? I’m far from a sex therapist. Trust me, I’ve had a lot of dud lays in my life.”
I shook my head. “No, our problems aren’t that the sex is bad, because it’s not. We have great sex, awesome fucking sex, and that’s why I need more. I need to know how to fix our connection and you’re good at working out people, so you need to work out what J’s problem is.”
“I still hardly know J. He’s distant and I can’t get a handle on him.” She had that thoughtful Harlow look in her eye so I knew she was thinking about it now. That was good; I had faith that she could help me crack this.
“Yeah, he’s slowly becoming more and more distant,” I agreed.
“You know, whenever your Dad is around or the conversation involves him, J retreats into his moody, pissed off self. It’s like he doesn’t want a bar of Marcus.”
“He doesn’t. He’s told me that.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Why? I mean, apart from the obvious, is there something else going on with those two?”
I thought about it for a moment. “I just thought it was because of their fight. Do you think something else has happened between them?”
“Maybe. You should ask him, suss out whether that could be it.”
Smiling, I said, “Thank you. I knew you would be able to help.”
“Anytime.” She looked at the clock. “Now, I hate to tell you to leave, but if you don’t go soon, you’re going to be late for work.”
I quickly finished off my coffee and stood up to leave. “You’ve always got my back, haven’t you?” I leant across the counter and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Love you.”
***
I was still turning this over in my head that night as I put J’s dinner in the oven. It was just after nine pm and he wasn’t home from work yet. He’d been coming home later and later, and I had no idea what time to expect him. But I’d decided to try to talk to him tonight; to find out what was bothering him.
I was startled out of my thoughts when I heard a crash at the front door. “J, is that you?” I yelled out.