Bucking Bear (Pounding Hearts 3)

I break first, looking towards her.

“Just a couple more minutes, honey, I promise,” I try to reassure her. She pouts, crossing her arms over her chest but nods her head.

She’s definitely getting ice cream after this.

“Grace,” Carson says, drawing my attention back to him.

I shake my head. “You can’t just come barging back into our lives, Carson, and start changing the important decisions I made for her. If you wanted a say you should have been around in the first place.”

“I’m here now,” he argues. “And I’ve already apologized…”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry but I’m not changing her school. And it’s my choice.”

“That can be changed,” he snaps angrily, and there it is, the threat that’s been lurking beneath the surface. I’ve just been waiting for it to come out.

I pull open my door and murmur, “I gotta go.”

This is neither the time nor the place to discuss this, and we’re already starting to draw curious attention from the other parents. I know the gossip mommies are just eating this up.

“Grace,” he says angrily as I slip behind my wheel.

“I guess I’ll see you in court,” I say and shut my door.

Fuck.

Carson curses and I watch him stalk angrily to his car before I back out. I put on a good show but my hands are shaking as I grip the steering wheel. I flip on the radio, cranking up a bouncy pop song to calm my nerves.

Carson peels out of the parking lot before I’m even pulled out. I take a turn, pointing us towards the park.

Beside me my phone dings and vibrates. I pick it up at a red light to see I have a new message from Max.

Max: “Everything all right?”

I swear the man has a sixth sense when it comes to stuff bothering me. I chew my lip and debate telling him what happened until we pull into the park.

Springing Hope free from her booster seat, I watch her run off to have fun before I respond.

Me: Everything’s great. Decided to bring Hope to the park.

I just can’t bring myself to tell him what happened. He’s already got enough on his plate and it will just piss him off.

Max: Ah, okay. She having fun?

Me: Yep.

Max: So what time do you get off?

I smile and take a seat on a bench, settling in to watch her run around for the next hour.

Me: Oh, didn’t I tell you? Tonight I’m off.

Chapter Sixteen

Max

It’s fucking fight night! No more excuses, no more training for this moment. This is the moment!

This is the time I live for, the moments of chaos that th