Cole pulled in the drive of the house he shared with Mandy. It was down a quiet, shady street of an older neighborhood. There was a white picket fence in front and a wrap-around porch. The driveway to the left of the house ran back to a large, two-and-a-half car garage in back that he had taken over completely. It was filled with partly built bikes and parts of all kinds. He spent most of his time there when he wasn’t at the clubhouse. Crash or some of the other guys would come over and they’d sit around drinking beer and working on bikes.
A rear-side entrance faced the driveway. A couple of steps led up to a covered porch.
Cole walked up the stairs and into the house. He walked over to the counter that overlooked the small kitchen and flipped through the pile of mail. She can’t even open a damn electric bill and pay the damn thing, for Christ’s sake. He flung the envelope down.
“Cole? Is that you?”
“You expecting somebody else?” He turned and saw her standing in the doorway that led to their bedroom, which faced the backyard. She had on a sexy nightgown. What shit was this?
She walked to him and slid her hands around his waist. “I missed you baby.”
He pulled out of her arms. “We need to talk.”
“Can’t we talk in bed?” she purred.
“No. We can’t. I’m moving into the guest room until the baby is born.”
“What? What are you talking about?” she asked, her tone sharpening.
Cole shook his head, staring at her. “I’ll stay with you, for the baby’s sake. But you need to understand, that’s the only reason I’m staying.”
“You’ve been drinking.”
“Yeah. I have.”
“Tomorrow, once you’ve sobered up, we’ll talk about this. Now come to bed, baby.”
He gave up talking and walked into the guest room.
She followed him to the doorway. “You’re serious? You’re really staying in here, tonight?”
“Yup. And not just tonight.”
“Why, Cole? I don’t understand. What did I do?”
“Nothing. I just don’t want to be married anymore.”
“So you’re going to divorce me? Is that it?”
“No. I said I’d stay for the baby.”
“It’s her, isn’t it? You want to go be with that bitch.”
“Leave her out of this. This is between you and me.”
She stormed off, and he was relieved. He got up and slammed the door. After locking it, he stretched out on the bed. No matter how much he’d drank that night, it wasn’t going to ease this pain he felt.