CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“What the hell is going on here?” Mother asks as she sets down a screaming Lilly who wipes at her eyes when she sees Nathan before running over to him. She raises her hands to him and he shoots me a look of worry but picks her up anyway.
I sit up, pulling away from a now fully alert Chase and a bewildered Emmet.
I look at Tanner who is standing behind my mother with wide eyes.
“Ivy Hendersen, I asked you a question,” the woman snaps as she moves closer into the living room.
“Tanner, go to your room and close the door,” I direct, trying to keep my temper cool. I can already feel a storm brewing between my mother and I and I don’t want him here for it.
He doesn’t argue, just hurries down the hall and I listen for the slam of the door.
“Don’t you ever talk to me like that in front of him again,” I tell my mother, moving closer in her direction.
She puts her hands on her hips and turns her glossed lips up. “Me yelling at you can’t be any worse than the orgies you have been performing in front of him.”
My breath leaves my lungs. “What?” I ask, squinting at her.
She turns her gaze to the men, her eyes full of rage. “Tanner told me all about your sordid acts. Three boyfriends, Ivy?” she asks. “And the fact that you had the nerve to tell a child about such a devilish act.”
Oh fuck no.
This was what I was trying to avoid and I have no doubt that Tanner didn’t know telling his grandmother about my three boyfriends would cause a shit storm.
“That’s my business,” I tell my mother, trying to remain firm while keeping myself under control.
“Not when you perform it in front of my grandkids,” she argues. She looks at the coach and it’s as if suddenly recognition flares in her eyes. “Aren’t these the men you claimed were helping you move a table.” She shakes her head in disgust. “I can only imagine the activities you were doing before I got here.”
I clench my fists as my heart pounds in my chest. “Yeah, that’s rich coming from a woman who’s cheated on every man she’s ever been with. At least I’m in a relationship with these three men and not sneaking into their windows when their wives leave-”
Her hand cracks against my face and my head whips to the side.
I feel hands on me as fire burns in my jaw but my gaze doesn’t leave my mother’s. “Don’t like the truth do you?’ I ask, lowly. It takes everything I have not to strike her back. I’m not sure I’d be able to stop if I started.
“I’m taking my grandkids,” she hisses out. “You mark my fucking words, Ivy. I won’t have them here being raised by their slut of an aunt and the men she’s fucking.” She sneers at me before turning on her heel and marching down the hall.
Anger consumes me and I have to take deep breaths as I watch her leave. The guest room door slams and it rings through the house.
“Ivy,” Chase’s voice is right by my ear and I turn to find him and Emmet standing behind me.
Nathan is standing across the room with Lilly’s head tucked into his shoulder, keeping her from seeing the showdown between me and my mother.
“Are you okay?” Emmet asks, his hand touching my cheek gently.
I nod sharply. This isn’t the first time my mother has hit me, maybe it’s the most embarrassing because of who she did it in front of, but it isn’t a surprise. Not in the slightest. “I’m fine,” I tell him. “The sting will go away.”
“Do you want me to call a patrol to come out and put her out?” Chase asks, his hands already pulling his phone out of his pocket. He shakes his head as his hazel eyes meet mine, full of anger. “She can’t be here if she’s getting physical with you.”
“I hit her the other day so I guess we can consider it squared,” I say, but the words feel hollow even as I say them.
“Ivy,” Nathan says, moving closer. Lilly peeks her head up and her eyes move to me. She leans her body away from Nathan and reaches for me.
I take him from her and feel a shudder run through me as I’m consumed with emotions. Can she take them away because of my relationship?
I’ve never given it much thought since it seems like an outrageous concept but with the problem now in front of me, I must take it seriously.
Being in a relationship with three men isn’t normal and my mother has already managed to twist it in five minutes.